May 2008 - Posts
News on Baby Angelina: Thank you for all who are praying for 15 mo. old Angelina. God has already provided answers to prayer:
*She was moved out of intensive care today after successfully completing skin graft surgery yesterday.
*Her mommy was given a bed with her in the hospital and they can now stay in the hospital together
*She has begun to suck food from a bottle and is no longer being fed interveniously
*Tim, Pastor Volodia, and Alexei from Open Door Church went to give blood in case the baby would need a transfusion (friends and family members are routinely asked to do this) but the baby did not need one.
In Russia, the family must make food for the patient and bring it to them in the hospital. Yesterday the grandmother brought a freshly killed and plucked duck and skinned rabbit for us to cook for ourselves and the patients. They also brought fresh vegetables from their garden. We had a lovely meal and I learned what to do with a skinned rabbit: cover in garlic and sour cream and throw it in the oven! Another WorldVenture missionary friend, Carre Gardner, brought over a genuine American chicken pot pie so we had a true cross-cultural meal for everyone!
Mission Completed!
Hannah arrived home yesterday with the words: "Mission Completed!" She had been trying to communicate to another girl in her swim class that she wanted to be friends. At first the girl made fun of Hannah's accent. Then she ignored her or made fun of her swimming. This has gone on for a few months now. Then, Tuesday, Hannah said, "I want to be your friend," but she used the masculine form of the word friend instead of feminine. The girl ignored her and eventually walked away. But her mother came to talk to
Hannah and understood. It seems she explained to her daughter that Hannah was from America and that is why she speaks with an accent. Yesterday, on Thursday, Hannah said again "I want to be your friend." The girl smiled and agreed and they had a pleasant exchange of words.
I am so reminded that God offers us friendship. Yes, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, abundant life now, but also friendship, real and lasting. He craves relationship with us and has done all He could to begin that friendship with us. When we reject Him, He doesn't leave or stop, he is persistent with His love. Every day he calls us friend and longs to talk, laugh, smile, and cry with us. He says, "I want to be your friend."
Pictured above: Swimming in the Black Sea, summer 2007
Angelina has just come out of skin graft surgery. They removed skin from her thigh to cover her chest and forearms. The doctors felt the surgery went well. We know this is an answer to prayer.
In intensive care units in Russia family members are not allowed to see the patient or really ask questions of the doctor. It has been very hard for Anya, Angelina's mother not to be able to be close to her baby or touch her. We are praying and hoping that Angelina has a good night of recovery tonight so that perhaps tomorrow they may allow Anya to see her baby.
God is good all the time. He is near all the time. We have been reminded that He holds us in the palm of His hand, according to Jesus' promise, and no one and nothing can snatch us out of His hand. We are grateful that He is holding Angelina now and we appreciate your continued prayers for her.
May 14, 2008
Baby Angelina
Two days ago Angelina (15 months old) grabbed a large cup of boiling water and spilled it on her neck, face, arms, and upper torso. She is lying in critical condition in intensive care in the Krasnodar Regional Hospital. It is probable that she will need skin grafts which they are expected to do today or tomorrow. The mother’s name is Anya and the grandfather (pictured) is Alexander and the grandmother is Tanya. Alexander and Tanya are ministry partners with us and they run the Axtirka Rehabilitation Farm, a place of hope and healing for men coming out of alcoholism. Please pray for:
Healing of the skin and that there would be no infection
God’s presence with the family would be felt and His peace
That God would be glorified through this tragedy
Lily Gafurova
Lily came to Christ three years ago and has been completing a two year internship with us at the Open Door Bible Church. She and her husband Ryslan have adopted two children from an orphanage here in Russia and have been growing as new Christians and desire to work as missionaries in the person world.
Lily had an operation a year ago to remove a one pound tumor from her thyroid and throat area. The tumor had wrapped around her vocal chords and created great pressure on her heart. During the removal of the tumor her vocal chords and nerves were damaged so that it is difficult for her to breathe and speak. Another operation is required to repair the damage but doctors here can give no guarantee that she will be able to speak in the future.
Ryslan and Lily are missionaries supported through Crossroads Bible Church in Bellevue, WA. The church would like them to come to Washington for an operation and are hoping that American doctors can successfully repair the damage and preserve both her voice and improve her ability to breathe. Please pray for the successful acceptance of all the documents needed for Lily to be able to go to the U.S. for her operation.
May 8th and 9th
On May 8th, Dimitry Medvedev was inaugurated as the second elected President for Russia.
Our local school celebrated by organizing parades and speeches. Children adorned nostalgic Red ribbons and sang patriotic songs.
On May 9th Russia celebrated their victory in the Great War of the Fatherland (World War II.) Victory Day is the greatest secular holiday in Russia and always brings strong emotions to the surface as almost every family lost someone during the war. How can the loss of 6 million Russians during the war be processed in the collective consciousness of the Russian people? More than ever, on this day, I am proud of the stamina of the Russian people and reminded that in the face of so much loss and death only Jesus offers true life now and eternally which transcends war, trauma, and radical political change.
Our family celebrated by watching military parades and by strolling downtown with others in the city. Veterans proudly walk displaying all their medals on their jackets and are given Victory Day Ribbons and flowers by local children.
May 5-8
The women's ministry team of the Biblical Leadership Training Center finished teaching the course "Women Mentoring Women" this week. We had participants from five local churches and women received practical
training and experience on how and why to begin women's ministries in their churches.
We had approximately 20 participants, 5 of which completed all the required reading and homework assignments and received certificates.
The first half of the course was taught in the fall and led to the offering of an evangelistic Bible study just for women at the Open Door Bible Church. A leadership team of women co-hosted and taught the study "Jesus Cares for Women" for seven weeks. New women came who are not yet believers and lay women in the church gained more experience in teaching and leading small group discussions. So many were encouraged as they reflected on the radical acceptance and love Jesus offered to widows, prostitutes, the sick, and the outcast women around him.
As we concluded teaching the second half of the "Women Mentoring Women" course we offered a special focus seminar led by the Russian director of
Mothers of Preschoolers, Leah Alieva. 19 women from four Krasnodar churches participated. MOPS international has been in Russia since 2000. Today there are
49 MOPS groups representing
200 women and
300 children in the entire country of Russia. How does that statistic compare with numbers for MOPS groups in your church/city/state/country? I was astounded by the potential opportunities and great need to minister to women through MOPS in Russia.
We received practical advice on how to begin a MOPS program in our local churches and had four Master Classes on how to host various kinds of events and we learned how to make a beaded flower with seed beeds and wire. Since MOPS is such a new concept in Russia, it was really great to have the modeling and experience that the Master Class provided. My prayer is that we can see many more women reached with the love and acceptance of Christ through MOPS here in
Russia.
For the women of Open Door Bible Church a new vision was born, to begin a MOPS group in our church that would meet twice a month. We had several moms of preschoolers in attendance plus those who are willing to work as helpers for the program. We have a team of women who want to work together to organize the group and have already begun working on the plans and advertisements.
27 April, 2008
Russian Orthodox Easter Sunday
These are the words which ring forth along with every Orthodox church bell and everyone you meet on the street on Easter morning. “Christos Voskres! Voistiny voskres!” Easter
for the Russians is like our Christmas, by far the most popular and celebrated traditional Christian holiday. Evangelical christians, like orthodox christians, observe Easter according to the Eastern church calender, this year, a full month after Easter in the West.
Egg decals are sold with the initials “XB” which stand for “Christos Voskres: Jesus Risen!.” Pictures of Jesus, churches, and icons are sold on plastic wrappers which are wrapped around eggs and proudly displayed. Traditional Easter breads with citrus and raisins are baked in old coffee cans and topped with icing and sprinkles. Traditionally Easter cakes and eggs are taken to the orthodox church to be blessed by the priest and for holy water to be sprinkled on them. The hope is that this will bring blessing and good fortune from God in the coming year. Evangelical believers call out the words to each other all day, back and forth, “Christ is Risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
Our church’s celebration of Easter began with a huge (about 3 feet in circumference) “kazan.” A kazan is a large wrought iron pot shaped similarly to a Chinese wok which also has a lid. It is used in traditional cooking of the Caucuses. It is necessary for making “Pilaf of Uzbekistan,” a dish made of mutton, rice, garlic, carrots and chick peas. Ryslan and Lily Gafurov, a couple from Uzbekistan, offered to make the pilaf for the entire church and all the invited guests on Easter Sunday to celebrate. On Thursday, Pastor Volodia Radjabov of “Open Door” church went out to the Axtirka Rehab Farm and bought and slaughtered a sheep. Saturday night church members gathered to chop 20 POUNDS of carrots at the church.
Early Easter Sunday morning Ryslan and other men of the church made a large outdoor fire over which they put the kazan. Uzbekistan Pilaf is traditionally cooked by the MEN (I’m really liking this part of Uzbek culture!) and so Ryslan tended the fire and kazan with care. When church finished we had a huge banquet together and each child received bubbles and a chocolate egg. Many new people were there and wanted to come again.
The women of the church were so happy to have a day off that with sheep fat and garlic dripping off our lips, we went to a local café and had dessert and coffee together and continued the laughter and celebration. Then men took children for a stroll in the local Botanical Garden or went home and rested.
The only “shadow” to our glorious Easter celebration was an article printed in a local orthodox journal. It warned people to beware of cults and sects in the city who may be inviting you to Easter services and celebrations. It named almost all the evangelical churches and pastors in the city of Krasnodar, including our church, as “cults” and the author encouraged stronger legislation against foreign cults and sects in Russia. Anything that is not Russian orthodox is considered a sect, so we are thrown in the same category as Mormoms, Jehovah's Witnesses, and more dangerous cults. As one believer noted, this puts us continually on the defensive, "to prove we are not a camel," as one Russian saying goes.
Don Fairbairn is a friend with whom we worked in Ukraine. He is the author of:
Grace and Christology in the Early Church. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford: University Press, 2003. (This book has also been published in Russian.)
Eastern Orthodoxy through Western Eyes. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. (This book has also been published in Russian and Romanian.)
You may enjoy his description of Russian Easter below. Used with author's permission.
Easter in Russia
by Don Fairbairn
Of course, Christians all over the globe join together on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and one could probably go to an Easter service anywhere and recognize (to some degree) what was taking place. But there are also many differences in the way Easter is celebrated in different parts of the world. In particular, there are differences in the way Western Christians (Protestants and Roman Catholics) celebrate Easter and the way Eastern Orthodox Christians (members of the churches which descended from the Greek-speaking wing of the early Church) celebrate it. Perhaps it will be interesting to us in the West to learn about some of the customs related to the celebration of Easter in the East (and especially in Russia).
The most obvious difference is that Easter is normally celebrated on a different Sunday in the East and the West. Ever since the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), Christians have celebrated the resurrection of Christ on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (March 21). For most of Christian history, the church used the old Julian calendar (invented in the time of Julius Caesar in the first century B.C.) to determine when the vernal equinox would be. But in the sixteenth century it became clear that the Julian calendar was lagging behind astronomical time, and a new calendar (the Gregorian) was proposed. The Western Church accepted this new calendar, but the Eastern Church rejected it. At present, the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, and is gradually losing more and more time. That means that whereas we calculate the date of Easter from March 21 by our Gregorian calendar, the Eastern Church calculates it from March 21 by their older calendar, which equals April 3 by our calendar.
The Eastern Church also insists that Easter must follow the Jewish celebration of Passover in any given year, and that celebration is based on yet a third calendar. Depending on when the full moon occurs and when Passover takes place, Eastern Easter can fall on the same Sunday as Western Easter, or it can follow it by one week, four weeks, or five weeks. Normally Eastern Easter is one week later, but ironically, this year is one of the rare times when they fall on the same Sunday. The last time that happened was in 1990, when Easter fell on April 15 as it does this year.
A second big difference has to do with the hour of the day when Easter is celebrated. Of course, we are familiar with Easter sunrise services. But in the East (especially in Russia), Easter services last all through Saturday night. The congregation gathers in the church or cathedral on Saturday evening and takes part in an Easter vigil commemorating the buried Christ. Orthodox church buildings have an inner sanctuary blocked off from the sight of the worshipers, and at this point the door to that sanctuary is closed, signifying that the way to God is closed. But at the stroke of midnight, the priest throws the doors open and emerges, shouting, "Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Christ is risen!" After hours of silent anticipation, the congregation comes to life and shouts back, "He is risen indeed!" This custom powerfully demonstrates the way Christ’s resurrection has opened up for us the way to God.
One of my favorite Russian Easter customs has to do with dyeing Easter eggs. In Russia, children always dye the eggs red, never using other colors. The red dye, of course, symbolizes the blood of Christ. Furthermore, people crack the eggs open using nails, in order to remind themselves again of the death of Christ. As the eggs are cracked and the whites are exposed, people remember that the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin. Although our sins were as scarlet, we have been made as white as snow.
A mainstay of our Easter celebrations is the family Easter dinner following our worship services. In Russia, the corresponding dinner is actually a picnic, in which the entire congregation celebrates together. People bring food to the church on Saturday evening and ask the priests to bless it. Then after the long Easter vigil through the night and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper on Easter morning, people eat together on the lawn outside the church building. They believe that such an important celebration cannot be merely a private or family affair, and the worshipers are reminded by this communal picnic that all members of the body of Christ belong to one another.
Perhaps these tidbits about the celebration of Easter in Russia will not simply be interesting to us in America. Instead, they may also give us some ideas which we can incorporate into our own Easter celebrations, ideas which may help to re-focus our attention on the great truth which we all celebrate this Sunday: Christ is risen!
April 2, 2008
During spring break at the end of March Hannah and I spent some time getting caught up on her English homeschooling. She goes to Russian school and so in some ways it is easier for her to read and write in Russian than in English even though English is her first spoken language. So on weekends, in the early mornings before school, and on school breaks we homeschool in English to practice reading and writing. She has begun reading through the Bible using a little Kenneth Taylor Bible called “My First Bible in Pictures.” Each page has a story in English and Russian and she enjoys reading both.
When Hannah returned to school after break, unknown to me, she tucked her little Bible in her bookbag. During break time, between classes, she decided to read her Bible at her desk. Her teacher came by and asked what she was doing. “I am practicing reading my Bible,” Hannah replied. The teacher praised her and told her she could read to the children during break time if she liked. Hannah went to the front of the class and read the Bible stories in Russian to anyone who wanted to listen during break time.
I don’t know that every school would allow a child to read the Bible out loud to other children. I am thankful for Hannah’s boldness and her desire to read more of God’s Word. I am grateful (and intrigued) by the openness of her teacher who is also the Vice-Principle of her school. I am wondering: is your child allowed to read her Bible to herself or others in your school?
March 1-8
Where in Russia can you ride an Asian elephant?
Actually, nowhere. March was a month of learning and adventure for the Watson family. This year marks 20 years of ministry, 15 years of marriage, and 10 years with WorldVenture in Russia for the Watsons. We celebrated by joining 150 WorldVenture missionaries and staff for the WorldVenture Leadership Development conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
We heard deeply encouraging devotionals and teachings from Hans Finzel on the life of Joseph. We were reminded that Joseph suffered and he knew how to “get over it – and get on with it.” We looked at some of his battles that have been so similar to some of ours: discouragement, failure, temptation, and bitterness. We were encouraged to continue the race, fight the good fight, and win, as Joseph won. We also spent time in workshops to help us sharpen our ministry skills and spiritual development.
T.J. and Hannah were involved in a special mission kids camp and short-term ministry. They memorized Scripture together (in English) with other WorldVenture MK’s and learned about Thailand, Buddhism, and God’s plan for them. They visited a Buddhist temple, a Thai orphanage where they passed out candy and toys, and spent time learning from God’s Word. They made some new friends and enjoyed fellowship with other MK’s. A huge thanks to the team from Bethany Church in Illinois for their ministry to our kids!
One full day we spent at an elephant camp. We rode elephants, took a bamboo ride up the river, rode in an ox cart, and visited an orchid and butterfly farm. Sadly, the darker side of Thai cuisine had already taken its toll on Tim and he spent the day in the hotel room with a bottle of Gatorade. Otherwise, it was a perfect day….
Kids learned about the challenges of reaching the Buddhist world with the good news of Jesus and went to a temple to observe Buddhist worship. They also learned about the challenges of reaching the Islamic world. They came back grateful that they know the "one true God."
Kids enjoyed cone hats and practicing rafting up the river with a bamboo pole and raft. T.J. and Hannah enjoyed making friends with other WorldVenture MK's from Venezuela and Taiwan. Great fun and fellowship.
Biologists estimate that the elephant has approximately 40,000 different muscles in this trunk alone. We rode on elephant trunks and watched them use their trunks to paint pictures, play soccer, play the harmonica, and yes, eat bananas and sugar cane we threw to them.
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