New Developments

I can't remember if I mentioned that my landlord wants to raise my rent or not, I probably did. Well, today I looked up the going rent rates and they are generally a LOT less than what my landlord is asking. So please pray about that. I have to discuss it further with them later this month. I really don't want to move out, but...
The difficult thing is that inflation is on a continual rise here. Marshrutkas (public transport) just went from 1 hrievna to 1.50 hr.
I know I've posted about this before, but this is a continual concern for us. Last year I was able to put aside some money every month for emergencies, but I am not sure I will be able to this year. It just adds stress, esp. with this apartment situation. I've done a lot to fix my place up and in May I just repainted the living room and everything. So please pray that my landlords will be willing to reach a compromise and that I'll be willing to rest in God's hands until I talk to them and after I talk to them.

QUILT!!! :D :D :D

:D This is a project that I have been planning for about three years and started last summer with buying the material for it. I actually started the serious cutting and sewing work in February or March though. It is a gift for Sam and Melissa. I would have liked to have made it for their wedding, but when you only give two months warning... :P

This is a different quilt from any that I have made before. I am trying applique as well as something that is almost trapunto. This was how it all started. Choosing the colors for each tree and laying them out and doing some drawing with chalk. I spend a little time on the internet trying to find trees that I liked and copied them a little.
Each tree represents a family. On the left is the "oak" which represents Melissa's family: grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, her parents and her brother. The tree on the right is a pretend poplar and represents Sam's family. Same groups included as on Melissa's except that I also put Pris' kids on this one (Melissa has a bigger extended family, so I needed to even things out). The middle tree is a little maple and it, naturally, represents Sam and Melissa's family.
You can see the development in each picture. These pictures actually represent hours of work and agonizing over design and cutting things "just right", which really never happens. This is actually just the center piece of the quilt. I'm planning on putting a wide border on it too. The center piece is I believe 4"x5" but I can't remember just at the moment. The whole quilt will be king-sized in the end to fit their bed and mostly to make sure it covers Sam from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. ;)
Each family member is represented on the trees by a leaf or a flower. Boys are leaves; girls are flowers. Above is a family grouping from the poplar tree, it looks like Uncle Jerry's family to me. And yes, the leaves are similar in shape to real poplar leaves, but no, the flowers are actually based more off a dogwood in shape and the red color was chosen for Melissa and to match their bedroom.
This grouping is from the oak tree and they are a type of oak leaf. I think "English Oak". The flowers are fruit tree blossoms in shape.
I chose the oak for Melissa's family, partly because she has more people and it had more room, but more so because somehow in my mind I associate oak trees with America. With American heritage. The poplar was chosen for Sam's family because it reminds me of Holland and Ukraine, particularly Holland. A lot of the roads there are lined with poplars as they are here in Ukraine, plus it's a tall thin tree and that works for him too! :D
The maple was chosen for Sam and Melissa's family because I wanted something different and maples are both pretty trees and of course the maple leaf is on the Canadian flag, plus grandma and grandpa had one in their yard by the house in Damascus.

So that's a little about the quilt. I'll put more photos up next week. I'm actually a lot further along, but I was trying to keep it a secret from Sam and Melissa for a long time, but I just couldn't anymore!
Quilting is my hobby and perhaps something I do to leave my mark on my family so that I won't be forgotten too. I just enjoy creating new designs and trying out new techniques. I am not an expert quilter and my quilts really show that, but they are always made with love and many prayers!

Passing It On

Here is an email that my mum sent recently. They are presently in the great country north of Ukraine. They are leading a three conferences for training and accountability for spiritual leaders there. This is the extension of my work. I hold down the office so they can go and do these things, plus our work here in the office contributes to their work there.

"Well, the first session is history and the second begun. You can praise God for answering prayer and blessing the people, and thereby blessing us. Two of the young men decided to give up their secular jobs to work full time. This totally at God’s prompting before Abe even suggested it. When the one older couple came the wife was frustrated for various reasons and said she would have left her husband if she had had a place to go. It quickly became obvious that she was going through a spiritual struggle, and within a week’s time they were already reconciled and moving ahead again. Lots of stories could be shared.

"This week is only men (not wives), ones who’ve been here at least 2 years or 3 for training so it is strictly accountability—reporting, etc. One man has not arrived yet for some unknown delay and another cannot come because of health. One of the reasons for bringing them together is to learn from each other and to develop bonds within a shared ministry. The first report has already given and Abe was totally blown away to see what is happening in the lives of people. These men will be here till Saturday evening. As well, the appointed ‘denominational’ leader will be coming for Wed—Fri to see some of what is happening, learn more, develop relationships, etc.

Ø Pray that these men will learn from each other and grow personally and in ministry.

Ø Pray for health and safety for all of us, as well as strength and focus.

Ø Pray for Abe to give the right spiritual focus and messages.

"We need to go to Ireland before this session is quite finished, and as I mentioned, will be crossing the border on Saturday. Please pray that all will go smoothly there. We will be in Ireland from Sun to Wed at the BEE World conference, and leave that conference to return here to the 3^rd session which will have already been running for 3 days. (We arrive early July 4.) No pressure! J So if I don’t manage to write again before, hang onto this for prayer for that time, as well as the 3^rd group who will be arriving late June 30. Will be 7 couples Lord willing as well as two single men, plus a couple leaders who are learning some of the responsibilities for leading these sessions."

A Personal Update

I just read a friend's post on her blog the title of which was "Does every post have to have a title?" I soooo totally agree! I get sick of coming up with something to call my posts.
I keep meaning to post about my quilt. And put up some pictures of it, but haven't gotten to that yet. However, I just discovered that I had gotten far enough to send pictures of my quilt to myself (this is what happens when I have an office and a home computer, I get a lot of emails from myself! :P ).
But before I get to the quilt. I got my braces off on Monday! Yipeeeeeeeee. Now the real work begins and I have to use a special retainer for a year or so to realign my jaw. But hopefully this whole process will be worth it and in the end I'll have even less migraines. Yes, for those of you who were wondering, the purpose of the braces was for the migraines, not for straightening my teeth--that's just a side benefit.
I'm also excited because I'm feeling so much better. I've picked up a couple of nutritional supplements and those seem to be really making a difference. I'll probably try to get my iron checked again in the fall some time just to see if I need to keep taking iron occasionally or not (I finished what the doctor had prescribed).
It is sooo wonderful to have energy again. I don't exactly spring out of bed, but I no longer drag out either! And in general I am spending a lot less time on the couch and a lot more time at the office and doing other things. This weekend I even went ice skating with a friend!
After being without energy for so long, I realize every day what a blessing it is. I just feel like it is a precious gift from God. I don't know if it will last for a long time or a short time, but I want to make the most of it while I have it!

Journeys in Frustration

So, my landlord came to collect the rent yesterday morning. I pay two months at a time, so this was my last time before the contract ends in August. With all the inflation I expected a 50% increase in rent when this contract is up. Boy, was I wrong! They want to raise it 85%. :-O
I about passed out. I countered with a 50% raise, so we'll see where it goes next month, but I could be moving out. :( This is very sad because I LOVE my apartment and the area that I am in.
My parents have offered to let me live with them, since they'll be traveling a lot next year. So I have options, but right now I still feel like I am in shock. I've been praying that God would show me what is right to do, that I wouldn't cling unnecessarily to my apartment, it has been a dream to have, but I knew that all good things must come to an end. I am also doing some research to see if that is completely as outrageous as it feels or not.

Please pray for peace for me and that God will bring good out of this situation. I'll find out next month if I am going to move or not. In addition to this stress, one of my braces came off last night, so I have to go to Kyiv on Monday--a week earlier than I had planned, which will throw next week off. I'm just feeling a little discombobulated the last few days, and of course that messes my work up so I am getting behind which adds stress. I need to leave all these things in God's hands trusting that He can work them out for His glory.

Travelling

So, I was back in Kyiv/Rizhishiv this weekend. It seems like I am there every other week right now. Sometimes because of holidays or the dentist or work related stuff. The marshrutka (van/mini bus) ride is becoming quite familiar.
Over these trips I've noticed a lot of wreaths like the one in this picture. Sometimes there are boquets or small headstones instead, but each of these represents a car accident in which someone died. I am guessing that most of them are from the last few years.
I did several experiments because I was curious. For ten minutes I would count how many of these I saw along the road side or on the median, then average that out by the speed we had been traveling to determine how frequently we passed these symbols of tragedy. In one area the average was one per mile! Thankfully, the overall average is about one every three or four miles, but still that seems incredibly high. :(
The reason this is so on my mind, other than the fact that we pass so many of these reminders, is that three weeks ago a marshrutka with 10 passengers was hit head on by a semi and all of the passengers and the driver died. The truck driver lived; it's believed he was drunk. That accident happened in the one small area where the road is not a four lane, divided highway.
There were several similar accidents last year, but thankfully not with so many fatalities. So we really do appreciate and need your prayers while we are on the road here.

This is the half-way stop on the run to Kyiv. Many of the marshrutkas and buses stop here. It's a nice little place, particularly the clean bathrooms! I don't even mind that I have to pay to use them, I'm just happy they are clean! :D But they also have a little cafe and some picnic tables.

Opportunities for Faith

This week we are certainly having some opportunities for developing faith!
First, there is mum and dad's registration issue, which I think has been resolved, but we won't really know until they try to leave Russia.

Then this morning I found out that we were not able to withdraw sufficient to cover our office expenses for the rest of the month. I was at peace about the situation, trusting that it is in God's hands and I used it to challenge our office to step out in faith and believe that He would provide for them. I also challeged them that while this is the first time this has happened for our office, it is the third time soemthing like this has happened for our missionaries and most recently a number of them hadn't been able to withdraw (do to the bank's problems, not theirs) for two months! I think this is a great opportunity to learn what it is like to be a missionary and to step out and trust God. Even though for us it is really only for a couple of weeks till my mum gets back and is able to sort the situation out.

But, all that said, I then called my sister for a little encouragement and emotional support (it's pretty stressful to have to tell 13 or 14 people that you don't have the money to pay them). She and her husband "just happened" to have some extra on hand (this is very unusual) and they very graciously offered to loan us as much as we need. I had challenged the office that God can provide "manna from heaven" and indeed He can!

I just want to affirm that we continually need your prayers and that your prayers do make a difference! Here is a link that another missionary posted with some info on how to help your kids get interested in missions: www.jonomiller.com/node/1581 My parents did a lot of this stuff with us, even though we were missionaries ourselves. And it made a difference for me, it got me personally interested in missions.

A few other prayer answers recently include my continually improving health, absence of migraines and my work progressing smoothly. Over the last few months my health has been slowly improving, with occasional set backs, but in the last month it has taken a couple of leaps forward. I began taking some supplements that I had stopped sometime last year. They are very expensive and I didn't feel that the benefit euqalled the cost, but I obviously did not realize the full benefit until after I stopped taking them! Then my sister-in-law also suggested that I take a ProBiotic and shipped one over to me (it replenishes the good bacteria that antibiotics kill off) and that has also really helped. I have had a definite sure of energy since starting those. So praise the Lord! He has been answering your prayers through these things.
Plus since I cut back on my caffeine intake a few months ago the migraines that I have been struggling against for a year have all but disappeared! Instead of having a migraine two or three times a week I've only had a few in the last few months and none of them severe.
With my energy levels increasing and my migraines decreasing I am more productive at work and am better able to focus and concentrate. I still have low days occasionally and I am not quite back in full force, but very close. It's great to be able to make progress on my work again.

This just in!

Mum just sent me a text message (phoning is too expensive cause she is in Russia) and they need urgent prayer for their registration there.
If you have a prayer chain or prayer group, please get them praying for this!
My parents went to Russia late last week. Apparently if you are going to be there more than a few days you have to register. Well, for some reason they are having trouble registering (probably someone is hassling them). If you don't register in time you can be fined, usually per day that you were in country. This could easily add up to several thousand dollars for my parents.
They are in Russia to lead a training session for church leaders. They need to stay there for six weeks with a short break in the middle. Please pray that they will be registered quickly and not have to pay the fines and that they won't have to register a second time (they have to go out of Russia in the middle of the six weeks for another conference).
Thanks!

Resourcefulness

I just read on the news that gas in America has hit a national average of $4 per gallon. Ouch. At least until I realized that here gas is over $5.50 a gallon. Gas here has always been more expensive than in the States. Same with India. Yet salaries here are so much lower! I don't know how people do it. A good salary here is around $400-500. That is not the highest salary, but it is a lot higher than the minimum wage of about $150. That's per month. Not week. Of course in the capital things are much different, but I'm talking about the real world of Ukraine.
Yet, in my experience Ukrainians are much more resourceful than many of us westerners. People here can fix things that in America we throw away. I had a computer that they told me would cost a minimum of $500 to fix in the States. I brought it here and it was fixed without buying additional parts or paying exorbitant labor. People here keep cars running, fix stoves, pipes, bikes, furniture and a ton of other things with only minimal resources. And yes, they don't always use the exactly right part, and it doesn't last forever, but it works and they don't have to throw it out either!
I feel like I am not a very resourceful person. Certainly, I have my areas, but not really across the board. But I want to be. I feel like it is part of being a good steward of this earth, which is what God has given us to do ("...fill the earth, and subdue it..." Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 2:15 "Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."). Other places in the Bible talk about the earth being the Lord's.
In addition to being resourceful about what I have I try not to waste other resources, like water and gas. I often don't succeed. Sometimes, often, I would rather be comfortable. But I'm working on it. And each step forward counts.

An Attitude of Gratitude

I've been thinking a lot about gratitude again lately and how much I have to be thankful for. I realized recently that sometimes when I share my gratitude to God in public it sounds kind of lame and I wish I had better words to express the thoughts and feelings within me.
Today I sat down with my devotional journal and listed a few of the things that I am grateful to God for. It pretty much covers my life.
There are the basics, salvation and all of the work that God did in my life to that point and from that point. Of course, since I "got saved" at an early age, you could say that a lot of that was just maturing, but I see it much more as God's work in my life. I have such a strong will (the bane of my mother when I was a child :D ) and God has used that for much good and He has also mellowed it in many areas so that I don't (always) override people in pursuit of my goals.
But beyond that sphere of things which could probably go on for pages, I am also grateful to be in the family that I am in. I love all of my family, from the ones who were born in, married into, or "adopted". I feel blessed that we are all of us following Jesus. Not only that but as a part of a missionary family I have had unusual opportunities to travel and had seen so many places while I was still a child. My parents are still traveling, they are in Russia right now, America earlier this year, and I've heard rumors of Canada later this year. It exhausts me just to think about it, yet I am grateful that they have the health and strength and calling to do that.
And of course, there are my friends. I live by myself and as I read recently, when you live by yourself you expect to be lonely sometimes, and it is perfectly true! Those feelings of loneliness make me value my times with friends and family even more. But even here, where I don't have a lot of close friends, I still have access through the internet and phone to my friends in other places in the world (mostly internet).
Another area that I have a lot to be grateful for is my health. I am sick a lot. And it is discouraging. At the same time, I can see how God has used that to work in me and to help me learn to depend on Him so much more and recognize His greatness in my life. And the bad days make me cherish the good and value them and use my time more wisely. It also makes me appreciate the suffering of others and have more compassion for them and patience with them. And it strengthens me spiritually as I learn to fend of the enemies attacks on my spirit.
Finances and general provision are another area. God has been so gracious! I have a beautiful apartment, nice furniture and in general live in comfort. But even when I didn't live in this kind of luxury God was always providing for me. He has always provided for my food and my bills and my general needs. Right now I am just basking in the abundance of His provision. And yes, I am aware that it will not last forever and for that I am grateful too because it helps me to value it more now and not take it for granted.

I feel like I have meandered through a general expression of a very few of the things that I am grateful for. And this one little post does not do justice to the feelings in my heart. Gratitude is something you practice, not something you have. I hope and pray that I will practice it through eternity (to infinity and beyond! :) ).

Prayer Requests for the Office

My key editor and team leader, Lilia, has begun to have migraines. She's only had a couple so far, but they are really brutal. They last for days and basically she is too sick to even get out of bed. Her teeth even hurt from them. Please pray for her and for the rest of the staff as well.
Many Ukrainians are not keen on taking medicine because so many medicines have so many harmful properties.
Kostya, our translator, also frequently has migraines, although his seem to be related in some degree tot he weather.

As some of you know, my parents left for Russia last night. They will be there for six weeks leading accountability and training sessions for local leaders. During that time they stay in one city and the people come to them, but it is still a very draining time.
I, on the other hand, am left here in charge of the office again. Our Canadian mission director and his wife came last week, which was a wonderful visit, but brought a lot of work into my lap. I really need to finish up the last half of the Experiencing God course guide asap, so please pray that I am able to focus on that for the time being and don't get distracted with my other work.

A prayer answer, is that the money for printing books in Russia has been released finally, and hopefully we will be able to get the next lot of books printed soon.
Another praise, is that I am continually feeling better. I still struggle with a lot of fatigue, but I've begun taking some supplements that I had dropped and some of my allergies have calmed down again and I'm also making other little adjustments which seem to be helping. In the fall I will probably move into my own office and we will put a couch in there so that I can lay down here at the office as needed.