On a Lighter Note

This is Jeff's buddy, Kiwi, who has found his favorite spot to roost while Jeff is on his computer. In July some friends left on furlough and asked us to care for their bird while they were gone for 6 months. Jeff read up on how to care for a parakeet and took on the challenge. He's been a lot of fun.

The Eastern Country of Georgia, part 3

This is the view of from Jeff's room of the town where they met to have the Dynamic Church Planters training recently in the country of Georgia. It is the town of Bakuriani.
These are church members that Jeff and Vissarion went to visit.
This is the home where the church sometimes meets for services in the town of Tsinarekhi, Georgia.

Widows Camp

I had the privilege this week of leading crafts in the widows camp. I am always so blessed by doing anything like this for the joy I see it brings both kids and adults. This week the ladies got to be like kids again and have a time of creativity.
Framing the group photo I believe was their favorite project. Everyone went home also with a jar decoupaged with pretty napkins and two candles each which will come in handy when the electricity goes out in the winter, as it does often enough here.

I wanted a picture of the ladies from the kitchen, but they made me get in the photo. L-R, Olga, me, Veronica, Lilia and Vera. Vera was the leader of the camp, but as you can see wore many hats.

Shining Faces

These sweet ladies here have just finished making fans at the three-day widows camp at the Village of Hope Orphan Camp. They glued pretty pictures and bible verses onto their fans. Plus they all made door hangers with verses to give to a neighbor. It is a great privilege for me to do this work and I truly believe I am blessed far more than any of them in what we do together. Afterward we had a nice time of fellowship and refreshments. You can see more pictures at: http://vintageterrace2.blogspot.com/

Camp for Widows of the Church

This is a group of ladies from our church and a few from surrounding churches who are having a time of refreshment and fellowship at our orphan camp the Village of Hope. We did this great group shot the first evening (Monday). The young ladies on the left are the kitchen workers, also from our church. The two men in the back on the left are pastors and the one on the right is a deacon. The dark shirted one is my husband Jeff who set up the picture for us. I am front row first on the right. Jeff got the pix printed and tomorrow (Wednesday) I will do a frame craft with the ladies to preserve their picture with a verse on it and magnets on the back. A nice memory of the time. For more pictures on this event visit my crafts blog: http://vintageterrace2.blogspot.com/

The Eastern Country of Georgia, part 2

Classes are going well. Jeff and the men are excited. These pastors are seeing possibilities and getting a new sense of vision. God is at work. Below is a short note Jeff sent this evening. Please continue to pray for Jeff and the men.

On the way back from Bakuriani we stopped in the village of Kvemochala, which is a stone's throw from the S. Ossetian border. Driving in, two border guards checked our papers. We had a good service and then they fed us a big village meal. Now it is 11 pm and we went to Anatoly's sister's place for Internet. It is very hot here and I am feeling like I got some food poisoning in the village. Headache and queezy right now. I tried calling you on Skype but you were not on line. I will try one more time, but I have to quit very soon. Miss you, and maybe I can find Internet tomorrow, but don't expect that. Thanks for your prayers. Pray I will feel better soon.

The Eastern Country of Georgia

Today Jeff leaves for a week in Georgia where we will do a Dynamic Church Planters International seminar with pastors and missionaries. Please take this to your churches and ask for prayer. Pray for the safety of all involved, for the equipment to work and for the men to have "ears to hear." He will fly to Tbilisi, the capital, and drive from there to their meeting place. If you recall, Georgia was in the news for conflict between them and Russia. The Russian troops that invaded Georgia never left and thus many Georgians who were forced out of their homes in the invasion region have never been able to return. Some of these Georgian pastors are ministering to these people. Pray that the Lord will use this seminar to inspire and motivate the men to new desires in serving their people. As always, we are thankful for your loving petitions and grateful that you hold us up before the throne of grace. As Jeff sends this week, I hope to post some pictures.

Sculpture in Yerevan, Armenia

In June, Jeff and I traveled to Armenia where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. He's been traveling and working there since 1997, but it was my first trip. It has been a busy summer and thus I am behind in getting things blogged. A couple of these you may have seen from an earlier post, but I wanted to post them altogether. I was so impressed that throughout the downtown area of Yerevan, the capital, there were art sculptures displayed in courtyards and on sidewalks. This is just a random sampling. The last picture includes Jeff. I don't get many with him in it because he doesn't like to be and because he is often the one handling the camera. Notice any resemblance? I'll post more pictures of this beautiful country later too.

Camp in Ukraine

The first morning was indoors due to weather.
Those who played volleyball.
Those who watched the volleyball.

In late June we had a group of youth from Antioch Baptist Church, Conway, Arkansas who came to be a part of our first ever overnight camp. We had 40 children plus 20 workers. That was a lot of mouths to feed, but great cooks took care of everyone. For our children it was a great experience of learning about another culture as we did some of the American holidays and related their Christian theme.

Jaime Jorge Around Ukraine

This is the dear sweet Bakanov family, that took care of Jeff and Jaime when they were in Simferopol, which is the capital of the autonomous republic of Crimea. The evening in Simferopol was memorable for all, but especially for Jeff since that was our home church 13 years ago when we lived in that area. He got to see many old friends. That church is one of the biggest in the Crimea region and it was packed for Jaime's concert. Praise and glory to Him. Jeff in glasses and Jaime in hat.