we thought about having Christmas on the 25th, but despite plenty of white snow, it didn't really feel like Christmas. After all, there was school the day before and the day after. Christmas in Russia is January 7th. Since schools have classes six days a week, it was nice that our Christmas was on a Sunday, so that we didn't have school on Christmas day. Anyway, we've decided to celebrate Christmas every day from Dec. 25th until Jan. 7th (I guess that's kinda like the 12 days of Christmas).
In Russia, the big holiday is New Year's, which is celebrated for about a week or more. Christmas is a minor, one-day kind of holiday. Many people here don't really know what Christmas is, or what it celebrates. Vera's music teacher asked her to bring a poem about New Year's, and when Tonya asked if Vera could bring a poem about Christmas instead, the lady asked, "What's the difference?"
Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR'S and a MERRY CHRISTMAS.
The ice sculptures are in the parks again. That's Deanna and a friend.
Number one son, Timothy.
And Vera, who turned 12 today. Happy Birthday!
My Permanent Resident Permit was not issued in December as we had hoped. When I went to the office to check on the progress of the application, they said it will probably be ready in April. Nothing I can do about it. We'll just wait and pray.
The Bible School was in session this fall. We didn't teach, but did interact with students since my office is in Hope Center where the classes are held.
I was invited to the consecration of a new church building in Komsomolsk, the next city north of Khabarovsk. It is about a seven hour drive. There was also an ordination ceremony, and four couples received ordination. Here are the bishops praying with one of the couples.
I was invited to give one of the sermons. It was indeed an honor to speak at the event.We continue to have birthday parties for orphans at Hope Center. Here's a photo from the December party.
The BIG news from our orphanage ministry is that we have started ongoing Life Skills classes on Thursday afternoons. The Lord has enabled us to put together a small team, and we are presenting the Life Skills materials from the conference we hosted in November. We also give a cooking lesson. We and our team will be doing this for the next five months. We thank the Lord that He has given us favor with the new director at the orphanage near our house. Please pray for these classes that the young people attend and are able to apply the lessons to their lives.
Tonya recently fell outside on an icy patch. Her elbow was injured (praise God it was NOT a broken bone). She is wearing a a cast for two weeks.
The pastor at our church asked Tonya to help lead a women's Bible study. Tonya asks you to please pray for her to have wisdom and balance with ministry and family.
I recently came across a very interesting piece of investigative reporting. The video does a good job of showing a Russian train, as well as countryside, and some insight into things here. It is a seven part series, and in part two the journalist's tongue seems to get lubricated by vodka in the dinning car and some of the language is a bit impure, so be forewarned and skip that part if it would offend you. Otherwise, I found the article fascinating. You can see that article about North Koreans in Siberia and the Russian Far East at:
The Lord be with you!
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna
