Tyotya Luba

Hey, pray for me, I just had a run in with Tyotya Luba (Lika's mum). She hates me, which I knew, but it has gotten worse over the last week and today I was on the phone and she came out of their room and was making faces at me and mumbling under her breath (I couldn't tell what she was saying because I was on the phone).
Anyway, afterwards I went into the kitchen and asked what I had done to offend her and she was like, "What did I say! I didn't say anything!" all angrily. Anyway, I went away but she kept coming and checking on me, muttering all the time. I had to go back to the kitchen so I went and smiled at her and she muttered under her breath, "Pig!" and some other things which thankfully I didn't understand/hear. I tried to talk to her, I know that she is just feeling insecure because Lika talks to me and not to her about the apartment and some of her problems, but Lika is just trying to protect her.
She's a very insecure, jealous, bitter woman and I know that I haven't done anything to justify her hatred, but nevertheless hate me she does and I am going to have to live with this kind of attitude and abuse for another three weeks or a month! Pray that I'll have grace and show her Christ's love. It is particularly difficult for Carmen and Lika, she behaves better in front of them, but still is often rude or unpleasant which mortifies them. :(
Pray that somehow they would see the love of Christ through me, all three of them.

Course Work: Doctrine

We are presently working on editing the doctrine course. I value your prayers for this. Doctrine is always a tender issue and we are trying to make an unbiased presentation of some of the key schools of thought out there. I have recruited some help from some fellow missionaries here, but I am not sure how much they will be able to do, simply because of time constraints. They have their own ministry and this is basically a favor. It's something that could take weeks to work through. Please pray that they are able to make a significant contribution as it would take a lot of stress off me and enable me to focus on my other work. It would be such a blessing to have it well edited.

Mission's Fests

Over the next month there will be several Mission's Fests in Canada, in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and I believe Toronto. My dad will be leading some workshops at these as well as manning a booth. Kostia, our translator here in the office, is also going and will also be leading some workshops and helping with the booth. Please pray for them that God would use them and make this time fruitful for His Kingdom.
Kostia flies out early Monday morning, he'll have to travel from Rivne during the night to make his flight and then fly out to Calgary through Frankfurt (a nasty airport!--bad layout). He'll be spending a month in Canada traveling with Dad and sharing with people there about the ministry here as well as challenging them to live the Christian life through discipling 2-3 other people. Kostia has never been to N. America before, so please pray that all his travels go smoothly and that he has no problems with customs/immigration when he arrives in Canada. Pray also for his health as he (and I) have been struggling this week with migraines (weather changes). Pray that his health would be good and stable during his time in Canada and that he would not have nosebleeds there or on the flights (to and from Canada and he'll also be doing a fair amount of flying in Canada).

Lika's Renovations

The work on Lika's apartment continues. I naturally can not do anything to help, like paint, because of my ankle, but perhaps that is better for me in the end as I already have plenty on my plate.
Here are a few pictures of Lika's place now. You can see that they have put new plaster on the ceilings and are working on plastering the walls. A new window has also been put in. She came home yesterday feeling discouraged because she has to have her plumbing redone as well. Not, I think, because of the fire or at least not just because of the fire, but because it has the original Soviet quality pipes that were done 17 or so years ago when the building was built. But of course, there is no sense in not redoing them now when she has to put up new tiling and everything in the bathroom and toilet and kitchen. You can see that she has also put an arch in for the living room doorway. She can't afford doors so this was the cheapest easiest way to go.

There is obviously still a ton of work to be done, but you can see the vast improvements when you compare pictures.

Lika has been working extra shifts for a coworker who in turn is doing the plastering on her walls. One of the churches here also came through with a large financial donation. I had really hoped that people would get more personally involved as I think that would make a bigger impact as a witness, but God also knows what is best and Lika can be difficult to deal with and definitely has her own ideas about her apartment, so... But do, please, continue to pray for God to use this in her life to humble her and bring her a few steps closer to Him. Help her to realize His love through the efforts that His people are making on her behalf.

Fishy

I think it is so funny, I have been eating fish almost every day since Lika moved in with me. They love fish, but I have never been a big fish eater. As a matter of fact, most of my childhood I hated it and have only recently worked on acquiring a taste for it. And the fish that Lika makes is actually mostly salted fish (like pickled, but without the vinegar), particularly salted herring and some pink fish, which means that it is eaten "raw" in salad. I wish I would remember to take a picture, not that it would show much, but... Interestingly, I actually prefer the salted fish to the cooked fish. The flavor is mild, it is usually boneless, and I'm used to pickled herring from my dutch side. I just never thought I'd be eating fish every day! :D

Happy Old New Year!

Well, today is the last day of the Christmas celebrations here in Ukraine. Well, okay, they aren't really Christmas celebrations, they are New Year's celebrations, but to my mind...
I was woefully unprepared for the carolers last night, you are supposed to give them money or candy, I forgot about it seing as I wasn't around for Christmas here and I actually thought yesterday was the 12th, not the 13th because of getting a late start to my work week.

Despite the fact that the New Year's/Christmas celebrations end today there is no need to despair, the 19th is Water Baptism day, which I think is supposed to be when Jesus was baptized by John, but I can never quite remember. (You can see it is a holiday that I hold sacred!)

Sprained Ankles and Heating Problems

Well, I am officialy back from my holidays at my sister's. It was a great time, very relaxing. It was great to be with family and friends in Rzhishiv. Every day was busy with baby sitting for someone, having a church activity, visitors or family celebrations. But it was easy because everyone came to us, so I didn't have to traipse around outside very much, which was a blessing since I sprained my ankle quite badly just before New Year's. I was so thankful I was at my sister's where I was able to put my foot up and send one of the four children to fetch and carry for me whenever I needed something. The full blessing of that is hitting me now that I am back at home where I don't have anyone to fetch and carry for me! I'm stuck taking taxi's to and from work and depending on friends to get groceries and other necessities for me. Thankfully, Lika is still living with me, and I know that I can depend on her to feed me most days, although I feel bad for having to rely on my guests for help. Humbling. :)
Lika's apartment is coming along nicely from the sounds of things. I, of course, can not go to see it right now, but it sounds like one of the rooms is fairly far along and the hallway and one of the other rooms are well in progress.

As you may have heard in the news, there is a big gas problem in Ukraine. Due to delinquency in paying their bill to Russia, Ukraine's gas has been cut off. While Ukraine does have some reserves, no one seems to know exactly how long those will last (at least, if they do, they aren't telling!). Here in Rivne it does not seem to have made too much of an impact: heating and stoves work as normal, but in Kyiv the heat in the apartments has been turned down so that the pipes are just warm so that they won't freeze. In Rzhishiv they switched to a reserve of gas already and it is apparently poor quality or old or something because it is not nearly as effective as the other gas. Pris and Dan's house and those of their friends and neighbors, as well, is much colder despite the furnace being kept at a normal level. Apparently, there is also a bad smell from this gas.
Please do pray for that situation.
Additionally, pray for me and Priscilla as we both came down with earaches this weekend. Her's is much worse and is actually an infection, whereas mine (thankfully) is just a nasty earache. I guess we partied too much together!
Pray for me as I get the office going this week as well. We have a new translator that I need to get started and Kostia, my right hand, has received a visa to go to Canada to speak at several large mission's events so he will be gone for a month or so with that and there is preparation for him to do for that as well. I am at a loss to know how to keep my office in work as the English work keeps getting delayed. At this rate it will be months before I have any really solid work prepared for the office. I have a few small projects that I can keep them on in the mean time, but not sure if I have enough to keep everyone going. Please pray for that, that God will just work in His perfect way and that I won't "worry about tomorrow", but rather plan wisely and leave the rest up to God.

Family Needs

Please pray for my mum as her computer and internet are giving her headaches. Pray that they will both be fixed over the weekend. Please also pray for my Grandfather as he needs a heart procedure but he is feeling nervous about it (understandably), my mum is there right now but she will only be there for a couple more months. Pray that he makes the right decision.

Happy Christmas!

Tomorrow is Ukrainian Christmas. Today we are having a big supper for the church in Rzhishiv (where my sister and brother-in-law live) and a little Christmas program. It is also one of the coldest days of the year so we are working to keep the house warm (the church meets on the third floor in the ministry center).
Unfortunately I am not able to help so much with these preparations. Before I came here I was a little concerned that I would wear myself out being busy with the kids and trying to fit as much into every day as I could. God, in His great irony, took care of that. Shortly after I arrived I started a cold and the next day we went out sledding down this beautiful hill--and on my first run I sprained my ankle badly so I have been spending a lot of time on the couch with my feet up! Despite that it was still a great day and I had a ton of fun sledding with the family.
We also celebrated Ellie's birthday on Monday. Poor little girl had an abcessed tooth so she celebrated with a visit to the dentist, but we did manage to have a little party for her in the morning as well.