Thursday, January 14, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
"Every Wise Woman Buildeth Her House"
Tonight as Eric was scrolling through my blog, he started laughing. He found my titles...or more the order of them...amusing. "Are you really going to eat that?" then "Better than Egg Salad". Guess I need to think about my titles a little bit more before posting them.
The services today went very well, except for the fact that Lina was home sick. (She usually shows up no matter what, so we know she's REALLY sick if she's not there.) Elena was able to come today and also Tamara's mom, Baba (baboushka - grandma) Shora! We were very excited that Baba Shora came as she has been one of our biggest village opponants. (She is a big reason that Feodosia stopped coming, wouldn't take Bible lessons any more, and gave her Bible back.) It sounds like she is planning on coming next week too and bringing two more baboushkas with her! Praise the Lord! Please be praying for her.
It has been an exciting time in our ministry as we have seen the Lord working upon the lives of those we have been praying for and to see the church growing in size. At the same time, this has brought to my attention how unlovely, selfish, hypocritical ... my heart is. As the church has grown in size, so have the responsibilities. Many times Eric leaves just after the girls wake up and doesn't return until close to their bedtime. People call early in the morning and late at night - all with 'urgent' problems. My selfish self wants to pout and say, "You don't love us anymore. Everyone else is more important. You do more for everyone else than us." I constantly need to quote Philippians 4:8 "Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." The more we see God work in this ministry, the more Satan wants to see it fail...and what better way than through the missionary's wife? The Bible is full of wives who turned their husbands astray. I pray that will never be my testimony. I praise the Lord that He has helped me to be supportive of my husband so far. I ask that you will pray for me in this area that I will continue to be my husband's help meet, encouraging him as He serves God in whatever area God opens up and also providing a peaceful, happy home for whenever God allows for him to be home.
The services today went very well, except for the fact that Lina was home sick. (She usually shows up no matter what, so we know she's REALLY sick if she's not there.) Elena was able to come today and also Tamara's mom, Baba (baboushka - grandma) Shora! We were very excited that Baba Shora came as she has been one of our biggest village opponants. (She is a big reason that Feodosia stopped coming, wouldn't take Bible lessons any more, and gave her Bible back.) It sounds like she is planning on coming next week too and bringing two more baboushkas with her! Praise the Lord! Please be praying for her.
It has been an exciting time in our ministry as we have seen the Lord working upon the lives of those we have been praying for and to see the church growing in size. At the same time, this has brought to my attention how unlovely, selfish, hypocritical ... my heart is. As the church has grown in size, so have the responsibilities. Many times Eric leaves just after the girls wake up and doesn't return until close to their bedtime. People call early in the morning and late at night - all with 'urgent' problems. My selfish self wants to pout and say, "You don't love us anymore. Everyone else is more important. You do more for everyone else than us." I constantly need to quote Philippians 4:8 "Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." The more we see God work in this ministry, the more Satan wants to see it fail...and what better way than through the missionary's wife? The Bible is full of wives who turned their husbands astray. I pray that will never be my testimony. I praise the Lord that He has helped me to be supportive of my husband so far. I ask that you will pray for me in this area that I will continue to be my husband's help meet, encouraging him as He serves God in whatever area God opens up and also providing a peaceful, happy home for whenever God allows for him to be home.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
~Better Than Egg Salad~
Our dear Valentina has been making this for us for a while, but I had never made it until just a couple days ago. It is definitely MUCH tastier than plain old egg salad.
4 eggs
8 oz cream cheese
4 cloves of garlic
mayo
salt
Shred eggs, cream cheese and garlic into a bowl. Add mayo and mix. Spread on bread or serve with crackers.
Not exactly sure on the amount of cream cheese and next time I think I'll add 6 cloves of garlic. You may prefer more or less. Also, I think our cream cheese is a little firmer than what I've used in America and it has a cream tint to it, but I think it taste the same.
4 eggs
8 oz cream cheese
4 cloves of garlic
mayo
salt
Shred eggs, cream cheese and garlic into a bowl. Add mayo and mix. Spread on bread or serve with crackers.
Not exactly sure on the amount of cream cheese and next time I think I'll add 6 cloves of garlic. You may prefer more or less. Also, I think our cream cheese is a little firmer than what I've used in America and it has a cream tint to it, but I think it taste the same.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
It has been SO long since my last post that I don't think it's possible for me to remember everything that has taken place. I had some pictures ready to be posted every Wednesday a few other blogs, but then our computer decided to stop working. We were told "3 days and it'll be fixed"...this went on for 3 to 4 weeks. Praise the Lord we finally got it back!
Since my last posting on Sveta, I have seen her 3 or 4 times. The first time I saw her she was walking. She said she was still interested in Bible lessons and said that she had been sick and that is why she never showed up. Since then, she has attended church 2 times, a Bible study at Yuri's once, and come over to our house once. She said she is too busy now to take Bible lessons. Please be praying for her. Every time we see her she smells like achohol and Yuri says the reason she doesn't come is because she is usually too drunk. What a testimony to this village it would be if she got saved!
During this time, Lina had started Bible lessons with an older lady named Feodosia. She came to church 3 times and always said "I don't understand anything." She did two lessons with Lina. After the first one she still did not seem to understand, but we could see God starting to open her eyes after the second. After that, she gave her Bible back and said "Don't come see me." This village is very small and the babooshkas (gramdmas) are against us. They all started harrassing her for coming to our church and convinced her that we were trying to steal her house. We pray that people can see past the village gossip and come to know Christ.
Tamara has had a very hard time as well. For one, she was a well known witch here. Even after her salvation someone came to her and wanted her "help." Tamara pulled out her Bible and said, "This is the help you need." The person of course did not want that kind of help. She is also getting harrassed by the village babooshkas and her mom. Please be praying for her. At times she is very discouraged.
If the Lord allows our computer and internet to work tomorrow, I will post a picture (or pictures :)) of the girls. They are growing SO fast! Also, be sure to check out our ministry blog to read about the newest answer to prayer.
Since my last posting on Sveta, I have seen her 3 or 4 times. The first time I saw her she was walking. She said she was still interested in Bible lessons and said that she had been sick and that is why she never showed up. Since then, she has attended church 2 times, a Bible study at Yuri's once, and come over to our house once. She said she is too busy now to take Bible lessons. Please be praying for her. Every time we see her she smells like achohol and Yuri says the reason she doesn't come is because she is usually too drunk. What a testimony to this village it would be if she got saved!
During this time, Lina had started Bible lessons with an older lady named Feodosia. She came to church 3 times and always said "I don't understand anything." She did two lessons with Lina. After the first one she still did not seem to understand, but we could see God starting to open her eyes after the second. After that, she gave her Bible back and said "Don't come see me." This village is very small and the babooshkas (gramdmas) are against us. They all started harrassing her for coming to our church and convinced her that we were trying to steal her house. We pray that people can see past the village gossip and come to know Christ.
Tamara has had a very hard time as well. For one, she was a well known witch here. Even after her salvation someone came to her and wanted her "help." Tamara pulled out her Bible and said, "This is the help you need." The person of course did not want that kind of help. She is also getting harrassed by the village babooshkas and her mom. Please be praying for her. At times she is very discouraged.
If the Lord allows our computer and internet to work tomorrow, I will post a picture (or pictures :)) of the girls. They are growing SO fast! Also, be sure to check out our ministry blog to read about the newest answer to prayer.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
He was a Good Pig
Some of you know about how I was not looking forward to eating sala - raw salted pig fat. And for the first 2 years I have been able to avoid it, as no one has offered it to me. That has changed. Not only have I had to eat it on several occasions now but Yuri has also given me a nice big chunk of it that he himself preserved. I found ways to use it by putting it into soups and frying it with potatoes for breakfast (the Ukrainians would think I was crazy!). Tonight, not only were two pieces put on my plate (to be eaten with bread), but also a LOT of some type of salad with carrots, garlic and meat. Thankfully I had already finished about half of the salad when they told me what the meat was...pig's heart. Seeing my face, they all began to assure me that "he was a good pig". Next, I need to figure out how to eat my Thanksgiving gift...salted fish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
