Found a Flat

I am going to try to keep up our blog on a more regular basis. I got some technical advice on how to edit different things on the blog so it will be a work in progress for a bit. Please bear with us. I'm learning little by little to handle all of our editing and posting. I'm coming to realize I'm not very techically saavy.

We have been looking for a flat for some time now. We are wanting to move out of St. Petersburg to save some money. We felt like the Lord released us to do so and we've been looking in a suburb called Lomonosov. We found one last week and it looks like we'll be moving at the end of March. It's a nice little 2 bedroom. It needs a bit of TLC but the owner has agreed to pay for the supplies to refresh the apartment. It needs it.

This is a huge blessing though because the rent is half of what we pay here in the city. Our prayer is to be a blessing to others here financially with any opportunity that God gives us. It has been really hard to do that when survival is the number one thing. We felt like we were just surviving there for a bit. It got rough but God never let us go hungry and we always had enough.

We are looking forward to the opporrtunity to make a connection at one of the orphanages there. We are still going to visit the one we have a connection with here close to the city. We feel like we are supposed to stay at this one. God knows where we will be the most effective.

Singing With the Kids

I sang a song with the little kids at camp. It was fun. We did half of it in Russian and half in English. The kids helped out with the instruments. They did a good job, don't you think?

Praise and Worship

This is the praise and worship team from the church in Lomonosov. I remember seeing these guys on my first trip to Russia. Back then all they had was a snare drum, an acoustic guitar, and a bass guitar. They sure have come a long way.

Eve Singing With Her Team

Eve sang a song with her team at the winter camp we helped with. This is the first time she has connected with a group of Russian girls since we've got here. We were so proud of her. I think she is starting to settle in a bit.

Another Christmas Party We Helped With

One of the Christmas Parties We Helped With.

Trying to keep updating!!

So I've been trying to keep the updates coming. It appears that I let them build up from time to time. Combined with the fact that our internet seems to go out on a regular basis...ugghh!! So I have some videos that I put together from some things we've done here recently. I hope you like them.

This is the holiday season here in Russia. It's a bit different from America. The New Year is the largest holiday here. They put up a tree but it's a New Year's tree, not a Christmas tree. Christmas is like an after thought. Everything revolves around New Year's. It is celebrated with tradional foods and fireworks...it's kind of like the 4th of July, New Years Eve, and Mardi Gras all wrapped up into one...and it goes on for a few days. It's interesting to see how the Russians celebrate.

We celebrated at a winter camp for kids. It was a blast! We didn't sleep much...we're used to that being in youth ministry for 10 years. We helped with the teams. It was so cool. The kids put on little plays and they sang songs, and did activities...and we had some great services. The praise and worship was so refreshing.

As far as Christmas goes, we helped with two Christmas parties at orphanages that Big Family works with. Those were so much fun. I loved seeing the reactions from some of the kids when they received their Christmas gift. It was priceless!! I can put one picture that sums up what makes it worth it to be here. You can see some of that in the videos.

All in all it has been a fun holiday season here. We have been blessed by our friends and family back home that helped with our Christmas season. Thank you for the words of encouragement and the help with finances. We thought we might have to come home but it has all worked out. Praise God!!