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Nancy
Love Kiev! Thank you!
The team named themselves ‘Love Kiev.’ While at home churches around Winnipeg participated in a city wide event called ‘Love Winnipeg’ where they do practical acts of kindness for people all over the city, Kilcona Park Alliance Church (our home church) sent a team to us in Kiev to do a very practical act of kindness- Renovations!
We have a large building that actually used to be a restaurant boat. With very little insulation, in the winter time everyone inside had to run space heaters and even then were still cold. You can imagine how cold and uncomfortable everyone was, plus the electricity bills were super high! In just 10 short working days the team managed to insulate the entire lower level (pulled off siding, built framing, put in new insulation, vapour barrier, OSB and then finished with new siding. We ran an small AC unit in one of the rooms and with the new insulation it stayed nice and cool (in the past even two AC units running wouldn’t cool the room).
If that wasn’t enough the team decided that they would pull up the floor in our large student lounge and put down new laminate, plus change a very ugly tree pole into a nicely framed in pole. Plus new furniture and moldings, and lights! Of course as a mission we don’t have an abundance of money, but everything was bought and paid for by the team’s prior fundraising efforts!!
Thank you everyone for coming!!! You are all AMAZING! And thank you to everyone who sent little gifts for our family and for our mission- what a huge blessing that we can’t even express a proper thank you for!
The good ‘ol chicken pox
It is never fun when your kids are sick because you know it is going to be ‘cranky city!’ But thankfully Cassie already had the vaccine and Jay and Kai seem to be dealing with the pox easily (beside the waking up at night thing!) And so we are enjoying our first week in Turkey mostly home bound.
Life in Turkey will definitely be different. We don’t have a car and we live on the outskirts of a small beach town. We set up a little schedule of school, colouring, swimming, snacks, meals etc. It helps to keep the day moving, but even I feel like I am always thinking “it is only 3:30pm, I thought it was at least 5:00pm!” With no internet at home and no way to really get around besides walking our life will be MUCH slower.
Pray for all of us to find things to do in these next few months when the colouring books are all filled up.
Before we were missionaries!
Before we were missionaries we had a life-changing experience in South Africa. A nation, no, half a continent who had heard and believed in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their guilt but had not heard that Jesus also wanted to show them how to live a whole new way of life.
We were reading a book called the Shackled Continent while we explored that incredible country. The author was describing some of the social problems in Sub-Saharan Africa and one of them was that people were stealing telephone and electricity lines. It sounded too crazy to be true! But as we drove around we noticed that at random locations whole stretches of cable would be missing from the poles. This broke our heart – shouldn’t people who believe in Jesus know better? Shouldn’t we do something to help them live differently? Shouldn’t we teach them not to steal?!
Well, God used that experience to lead us into cross-cultural ministry, but our friends, DeWet and Marysol, who moved there and started Titus Project, the ministry we also work with, had that exact thing happen to them last week! It still happens! Most sadly, the thefts happen not in the downtowns of major cities where the powerful might feel it and do something about it, but in the poorest neighbourhoods, where small business and ministries have no ability to deal with it. Read our friends post and pray for them as they fight for the poor in South Africa!
Happy Kaiser
Potty Party
This week was Jay’s potty party! What a celebration it was – eating and drinking, salty snacks and sweet treats and every yummy drink you can think of. Oh baby!
Well, he’s done extremely well. What a great little guy growing up way too fast!
He makes us so proud every day. Being a great big brother to Kaiser when Mom has her hands full. Learning things from Cassers, playing imaginary games with her and racing around the trampoline, pushing each other on the bikes and digging in the mud with her (I think they were making cakes together). Who could ask for more? Not us! We love you Jay!
Jay Turns 3
Alla & Kai
First Steps
He took his first steps today. Well, a couple days ago we sat across from each other and held his arms and he took one step before falling into the others arms. But today, we were just sitting on separate couches talking and badda boom – 3 steps across the room!
It’s a good day to take your first steps, just a few hours before you turned 1.
Kaiser accomplished something else today. He found Angela’s Bible and decided he would rip out a page (oops!). To top it off, he got a piece of the cover and started chewing on that too!
Sadly, Angela was alone as she joked about Kaiser really ingesting the Word of God and how he seems to be taking it a little to literally.
The Sky is the Limit
It was a shocking realization. This was my first real kid concert. My little girl is growing up. Ahhh!
If you’ve got kids over 5 you’ve probably had this moment a dozen times over in all sorts of ways. I know I have already had a few, but so far they are always just as shocking!
But Cassie’s concert was great! The first class was putting on the show and they rocked it! The girls were dressed in wedding dresses, the boys in tuxes. They sang songs, danced dances and told stories. The evenings performances concluded with the helium balloon release and everybody cheering them on as they raced into the sky!
I’m sure that’s part of the story they were telling (my Russian isn’t good enough yet). And I’ve got a good feeling that Cassie will be doing the same thing – racing ahead into life where only the sky is the limit!
Planning for next year
Isn’t it amazing how every year comes and goes! Life moves so fast.
Sunday night we are having a planning meeting with our team for 2014, so please pray for us. We are going to decide when to have Titus Project, SBS and some other important events.
As we plan and decide those things we also are beginning to plan and think about our 6 months at home in Canada in 2014. We have friends and family spread out all over the country so we will probably spend half of our time in Winnipeg and half of our time travelling in other parts of Canada. We are looking forward to that a lot!
Self-Haircut
he came down the stairs after a VERY quiet rest time… She had taken the scissors and cut just below her ears most of the way around. I tried hard not to smile because of course every curious kid wants to try cutting their own hair, but I had to be stern so she didn’t do it again. Now she has a cute bob cut that matches her friend Denae’s hair. So cute.
Sweet Sleeping
Kai, we realized something this week. Mostly because you were sick you fell asleep on both of us a few times. As we held you in our arms while you slept we realized there aren’t many more days left where you will sleep in our arms. You are such a sweet, active little boy, that although of course we don’t want you to be sick, we sure did cherish those times this week where we could hold you and watch you sleep. We love you Kaiser.
Happy Easter
An exciting Easter surprise came in the mail: an activity book, chocolates, and a sticker album from Nanna and Grandpa! But the best part of all for Jay was the singing card! He wouldn’t stop pressing that button! Finally for bed we had to hide them away, only of course to be found the next morning! So much fun! Thanks Nanna and Grandpa!
When you wish upon a star
The other day Cassie asked me if she wished upon a star would it come true? Well, no I said, there is such a thing as prayer, but just wishing to get something isn’t going to make it happen. After some probing I found out she asked because she wants a bag just like the one we bought for another girl’s birthday. A perfect teaching opportunity. We talked about how in order to buy something we need money, and in order to get money we need to work. So, if she wants that bag, she is going to have to work. We made up a work chart (1 dollar for clearing the table, 3 for dusting and watering the plant etc.) and she’s been saving. Just tonight she counted up her money and realized she has enough! So exciting! Way to go little girl!
Another Memory Maker
A week ago we all started getting feverish. Hello winter flu! Thankfully no throwing up, but lots of coughing, noses running and of course grumpy attitudes. It didn’t help that we didn’t go anywhere not wanting to infect the masses. Well, by Saturday we couldn’t handle it any more. We needed some fun! So we had a special waffle brunch with smoothies, followed by toy Story 2 and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. A little later we all went outside, built a fire, captured some worms, and ate hotdogs. A fun family day (we all just had to ignore the hacking that Mom and Dad were doing, I’d call it coughing, but that would be misleading). Spring please come soon!
That’s All for Now
Teaching Adventures 