Christmas in February?

Well, in a way that is true for us. You have likely heard someone say, "That will be like Christmas in July," when they wish to express something that is unlikely, or even impossible. However, for us the expression, "Christmas in February" is somewhat true because our mail has just now caught up with us and we have received many Christmas greetings from friends, churches, and family members. So, if you sent us a Christmas card, we are just now receiving them and we wish to thank you. A few folk did send some directly and we received them around Christmas, but our mail packet contained additional cards that we are just seeing at February 3rd. We will place them on a special shelf with a few others for awhile just to give us that special realization of your care and love.

Crossing the Border--Completing our Registration Requirment

On a very foggy, frosty day we left Uzhgorod and drove to Chop on the Ukraine-Hungary border to fulfill our bi-monthly requirement to re-register. It's just one of those necessary evils which seems to come too often. For us, there is the requirement to cross every other month because our vehicle's registration must be renewed by the police. Ordinarily foreign citizens must cross every third month whether you hold a visa or not. Fortunately, in Ukraine we can cross the border and return the same day, but some of our colleagues in Russia must leave for extended periods of time.
Crossing the border is a drudgery with little to anticipate; but we try to make the most of it by visiting some Hungarian stores where we can find some products we like that are not to be found in Uzhgorod. And, we always look forward to visiting McDonalds to get a real hamburger! The McDonalds at Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, at 65 miles (104 km), is the nearest western, fastfood restaurant to us. In Ukraine there are many in Kiev, and one or two in Lvov (about 100 miles; 160km), but none in our area. So, it is nice to go there and enjoy something familiar, even though most Americans would find the menu changed quite a bit.
Our crossing from Ukraine took about 30 minutes, and our return crossing was less than that. This was truly incredible considering that in December we waited for over three hours one way. Thank the Lord all went smoothly today and we will be good to go until April.

Cheryl & Leah--One treat for crossing the border is lunch at McDs!

The Stephen & Vita Kohutka Family

Here is a photo we promised of Stephen and Vita with their precious little one. They wanted to wait a few weeks when they would be ready and recuperated a little bit. We trust you pray for them and thank God for the blessing they are and have received in little Timothy.

Vita, Timothy, and Stephen Kohutka--January 30, 2011

Kinda One of Those Chore Days

We have experienced quite a prolonged cold spell here in Ukraine. The snow which fell weeks ago has not disappeared at all, and a fresh whitening is blanketed over the existing snow each night. But it is not fresh snow which causes this, but extremely thick and heavy fog eases in upon the land each night and sticks to everything resulting in a beautifully white display of nature's art. Perhaps tomorrow we will add a photo of this beauty.
We had routine things to catch up on after the weekend of ministry. Saturday we were at Perechin with the youth and children, and then Sunday afternoon we were preaching in Kamyantiza. But today we had to take care of some business and preparations for important events to come. One of those chores was to change the oil in our truck. Well, ordinarily that is not too much of a chore. Drain the old oil out, change the filter, and put the new oil in. The whole job takes twenty to thirty minutes, that is when it is "ordinary." But yesterday was not an ordinary day, at least not in the sense of weather. So, while it was a nice frosty 12 degrees, Tim changed the oil. He complained only about the experience that his fingers got a little stiff. Ordinarily he responds to people who ask whether he likes cold weather by saying that he enjoys cold weather except for one experience, and that is to have to lay on the cold, frozen ground and work on a car. But he thought it was far better to lay on the frozen ground at 12 degrees than lay on the cold, muddy ground at 35-40 degrees. Ice and snow will brush off, but the wet and mud soaks to the skin.

Changing oil--better ice and snow than wet and mud!

Saturday Ministry in Perechin with the Youth & Children

We were so encouraged during our regular, Saturday ministry yesterday at Perechin. Though it is still very cold, the children braved the cold and came anyway. We were delighted to have 12 altogether. We still missed 4-6 of our children that we would consider those who attend regularly.
Cheryl planned to do a cooking lesson with the girls, but at this time it is somewhat awkward. Vita, who we miss very much during our services, is still very necessarily attending the baby and recovering from the delivery. Though we realize her time away is so important at this wonderful time, we sure do miss her being there and helping--especially when Cheryl is trying to instruct the girls about cooking and translation is almost absent. But she had a good time with the girls (and some boys as you can see in the photos) and it was an exciting and profitable time. The entire service in addition to the cooking was a joy. Stephen had presented his continuing Bible story, singing, game, and lesson. We were very encouraged with the Saturday ministry.

Cheryl demonstrating a decorating technique to youth

Ira helps Zhana as David and Cheryl look on

The entire group with their baked and decorated treats

A combined service for the youth and children

Perechin Ground Level-January 29, 2011

This photo shows the railroad in Perechin leading to the northwest away from Perechin and toward the mountains. The way will eventually lead to Lvov (Lviv in Ukrainian), one of the beautiful, historic cities in Ukraine. The railroad is used by trains both to transport freight and passengers. This picture was taken directly across the main highway from where we meet with  the youth and children each Saturday for ministry. Some of the whitened mountains can be seen in the distance in the picture.

First Class in Practical Christianity at Kamyanitza

In the evening Tim traveled to the village of Kamyanitza about 11 miles northeast of Uzhgorod . He picked up Stephen on the way and arrived to begin the Practical Christianity class by 7:00. We were delighted to have 12 students arrive to begin studying. We are offering this class on a similar level that we would in a college setting as most of the students are 18-20. We do have one older brother--about seventy, and another middle-aged fellow. We were excited to begin this class, which will be an fundamental exploration of basic Christian living. It will explore the nature of spirituality, prayer, devotional experiences, Bible study, doctrinal features of Christianity, and some practical issues in the Christian's life. By necessity this class is a survey. This is purposeful as we wish to determine the level of the students' experience. They had desired that we offer some class in theology or world religions, but we decided to go with this fundamental class first.
We were busy in the session last evening and neglected to get a picture that we could post. So next time, Lord willing, we will make a picture of the class and you may see the students.