Friday, August 31, 2007

Summer letter

"He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm. . . . Then are they glad because they are quiet. . . . Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107:28-31



Dear friends,
I just realized that summer is drawing to a close.  It's hard to believe, but the heat is finally breaking, and we have had a wonderful, happy three months since I last wrote.

As I sat down to write last time, I felt like there were heavy clouds hanging over us in several different areas.  Some of them are still hanging there, but the verse I quoted above really expresses where we are now: God has calmed the storms, or He has calmed us, and we can trust Him to continue working in the ones that are still unresolved.

Soon after I last wrote, we moved down from the fifth floor, to the first floor apartment that we're enjoying now.  It's so nice to be away from the heat, leaky roof, and five flights of stairs that we had before!  I still don't feel like we've really unpacked and settled in here, but that will come eventually.  I am often reminded of how glad I am that we were able to stay right here in this same building.  Not too long ago we spent a week at the apartment, instead of at our dacha.  I was amazed by how many people had noticed our absence and missed us!  One woman I had never met came up to me, introduced herself, and said that she was glad to see us. (I didn't know her because she lives in another building altogether.) Her mother had been so worried about us that it was affecting her blood pressure!  Then she went on to say that they had heard so much about how wonderful Will is from other people that they felt like they knew us.

We haven't unpacked in our apartment, mainly because--as I mentioned above--we've been spending so much time at our dacha.  For most of this summer we've spent the weekdays at a small garden house that we bought, just outside the city limits.  Gardening is a huge part of Russian life, out of necessity and preference, and we've enjoyed being able to join in on that.  Our garden is one of 500 plots (or more?) in a big garden area, and we've really enjoyed getting to know our neighbors.  I've often felt like we live in a separate little village there.  The time outside, together as a family, and being in a new situation has been wonderful.

Our family is doing well.  Jaan and Raia continue to amaze us and make us laugh every day.  Jaan will talk the ears off of anyone who will listen, and we love to see him naturally bringing God and truth up in his conversations with all our neighbors.  Maybe he will be the one to plant some real seeds, spiritual seeds, that will grow like the rest of our garden has this summer.  Raia is my little helper in everything.  She loves to get filthy and spend long days outside.  She also loves taking care of her dolls, and can't wait until her younger sibling comes. The younger sibling has been giving me some trouble lately, but in general all is going well with the pregnancy.  I have been very weak and tired and struggling with diet, but God has been good to keep me going and encouraged.  While I've been down with these health struggles, Will has had to take over more with home and child care.  He does a great job with that, of course, and somehow manages to keep up with everything else, too.

There has been a lot of that "everything else," too, this summer.  While our friends Pavel and Tanya were away for a month, Will had a heavier preaching schedule, and did a lot more of the music for church.  He also started taking part in weekly nursing home visits. (A nursing home/halfway house for invalids, many of whom have come straight there after being released from jail.)  We haven't been directly involved in the summer camp ministry this year, but we've been able to watch and help a little from the sidelines.  Gospelink continues to grow slowly in Russia, and Will spends time calling, emailing, traveling and doing paperwork for that.  The youth and young family fellowship times have not been as regular as we would like, but they have kept up somewhat through the summer, which is encouraging.  Will leads those.

And on top of those ministry opportunities, our visa problems have taken up quite a bit of time and energy.  As you know, we are trying to get new visas, to change the type of visa that we have. It has been suggested by the local Migration Control  officials that we do so, or move back to Moscow, and we're doing everything we can to comply to their demands. My invitation, which would be the first step of that process, was denied.  Just recently we have finally been able to reapply.  Please pray that everything would go quickly and smoothly now, and that I would be given a visa invitation.  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Prayer requests:
1.  VISAS: Yes, this is a big one.  Please pray that my invitation would be granted (quickly!), and then that we would be able to get new visas as soon as possible.  Pray that all of this will work out well with the timing of our baby's birth.
2.  Pregnancy: Please be praying for me to hold up well under day to day discomfort and health struggles.  Pray for sleep at nights.  Pray for a healthy baby and good birth.  Baby is due at the beginning of October!
3.  Housing praise: Last time I asked for prayer about housing.  Now you can praise the Lord with us for our first-floor apartment and dacha.
4.  Neighbors: Please be praying for our witness in front of our neighbors, both in the city and at the dacha.  I would love to have more opportunities to talk to them about more serious issues!

We try to keep current prayer requests and praises at

Please write to us and let us know how we can pray for you, too.  We miss all of our family and friends, and would love to know you're doing.
Because of Christ,
Phyllis Hunsucker (and Will, Jaan, Raia, ?)

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Miss Garlic Picker 2007


Miss Garlic Picker 2007
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Raia won the Bucket Brigade Beauty Contest, hands down.

The Bucket Brigade


The Bucket Brigade
Originally uploaded by fylliska.


Jaan pulls, and Raia carries. Fair and equal division of labor and
all that.

Helping Mama gather garlic


Helping Mama gather garlic
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Mama digs out the tough ones...

JUMP!!!


JUMP!!!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Ready, Set, aaaaand...


Ready, Set, aaaaand...
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Jaan decided that their 'swimming pool' just wasn't exciting enough.
Therefore the diving bench was carefully placed, and the fun began!

First Tomato, and it's GOOD!!


First Tomato, and it's GOOD!!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.


The next morning, we found that a certain BOY had been at the tomato already. We were forced to eat it, and it was gooood.

THIS is our first Ripe Tomato!!


THIS is our first Ripe Tomato!!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



The tomato was ripening a bit more in the windowsill. Note Jaan's
expression. The tomato was not left long to ripen in peace...

Cooooo!


Cooooo!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



One of Raia's favorite greetings, a word of many meanings she learned from a classic Soviet Sci-Fi movie, 'Kin Dza-Dza'. Raia and Jaan generally use it to mean HELLO!

Where the Wild Things Are...


Where the Wild Things Are...
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Bedtime


Bedtime
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Putting the babies to bed.

I caught a BIG one, dad!


I caught a BIG one, dad!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Rodent boy and the giant squash.

Take Two


Take Two
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

What IS it about the squash that does that to their faces?

Now what?


Now what?
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Chased them down, caught them, washed them by force... now what?

Vultures!


Vultures!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

The vultures doing their thing (...vulching?) as Mama prepares a
treat for herself.

Just HOW hot is it again...??

Greetings once again from Hot, Sunny... Central Russia!! We must be adapting rather well, surely we wouldn't be this wimpy about the heat in NC or Fla! We've been having temperatures consistently in the lower 90's, and we're having a hard time with it. It's especially hard on Phyllis, but praise God for a little house that cools down quickly and lets in the cool garden air! (A taxi driver recently mentioned as we drove up that the temperature had dropped 5 degrees since pulling onto the gardens!)

We've had a good week, over all, and despite the heat, Phyllis has felt better more consistently during the days. She also got several nights of better sleep, but the nights have been more of a challenge for us. Please keep praying for good sleep for her.

Early in the week, Pavel and I with a few women from church helping, did a bit of cosmetic repairs in the apt. building where we meet for church. The entryway to our staircase has been crying out for attention for a long time now, and we finally got around to doing something about it. Pavel and I have been wanting to do this for at least several months now. The mortar had crumbled off the brick walls in several places, and nothing had been painted in probably 20 years. (And that's a conservative estimate!)
We spent 3 days or so fixing up only from the entryway door to the 2nd story landing. There were a lot of comments from the neighbors, almost all of them positive. Praise God that we were able to do even a little bit more to be a true testimony of God's love to people around us.

A special even this week for Phyllis and I was going out to eat for Phyllis' birthday. (Three cheers, Jules, hip hooray, da da?!)I had wanted to do so last week, since we hadn't really done anything special on her birthday, and I was actually gone most of that evening.
Our friend Ira from church came out to the dacha and stayed with the children while Phyllis and I had some of our first time completely alone since... I don't know when! (We think this is the first time we've left Raia with a sitter.) Many blessings upon our dearest Irena.
Phyllis and I took a leisurely walk through the woods, and trolleybus to the apt, where we reveled in hot showers. Then we hopped in a cab, and were off to 'Retro', which Ira says is 'the most expensive restaurant in town.' The fact is there just aren't many real restaurants at all in Kovrov! There are a few fancy nightclubs, and even more cafes where you can get something edible, and find a huge assortment of inebriating potables, but that's not quite what I was looking for.
We had a nice quiet supper together, and Phyllis even had a bit of ice cream for dessert. She's been avoiding sweets in general, but since this followed up steak and mushrooms, we figured it'd be all right. It was a nice evening, but even nicer than the restaurant was the time together with no rush and nothing more important to do than just enjoy each others company. Happy Birthday again, Phyllis!

We spent a good bit of our time at the dacha this week just avoiding the sun. Phyllis went down to the pond frequently for icy cold dips, and our big fan worked round the clock. We did get some weeding done, here and there. Also gathered string beans and squash, and ate them, regularly. =) We brought home a bucket full of beans today, and there will be many, many more! At first we thought we were just going to have decorative bean plants, but they just needed some time to get going.
I did spend one day in the sun, building a raised bed for strawberries, need to get those thinned out and re-planted soon. Looks something like a sand box build for giant dachshunds. That is, it's a box about a foot high, 4 feet wide, and 15 long!
We also went out to the river again yesterday. Very, very nice. The water was cold, and the sun was not as intense as it had been earlier in the week. Raia was almost purple, teeth chattering, and still wanting to swim more. (Phyllis has very similar memories of Leetra!)
The children are getting braver and braver in the water. It's even getting a bit scary. Raia wants to 'swim by herself', and even though she can reach the bottom, there is a current, and she doesn't do well staying on her feet. Jaan also 'swam like Papa', underwater, that is! He couldn't seem to get the coming up for air part figured out, though. Like I said, kind of scary for us, but we're very glad that THEY aren't afraid!

Trying to take care of GospeLink work on the weekends, as well as making phone calls during the week. Pray that I can get in touch with everybody, and that all the missionary pastors will get their letters to me asap.

Thanks for checking in again, we appreciate everyone's patience this summer. We would like to be in closer touch with everyone, but we also have seen a lot of good come from having so much time with one another as a family. With no internet, and limited computer time to distract us from the children, we've really been enjoying watching them learn about nature more and helping them appreciate all the beauty and wonder still to be found in the world around us.

Quick note from Phyllis

I'm retiring from blogging for a little while. It's just gotten to
be too much for me to drag the computer around in this heat. Will
can take over for a little while. In fact, even though my name is on
all the photos posted today, he is actually the one you can thank for
them. He chose then, captioned them and sent them.

I'll still answer emails (and be very happy to receive them!). I'll
miss my weekly time online, but I'm sure I'll be back soon enough.
If any of you out there decide to add FeedBurner to your blog, please
let me know, because I love to get blog posts by email.

Bye for now!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Rain, photos, questions, etc

I'm afraid that if I had written earlier, you would have heard complaints about the heat. But yesterday morning we finally had rain! Up until then, I wasn't the only one wilting; even the weeds looked a little sad. Do keep praying. Apparently the heat is coming back and staying all the way until the end of September. I'm praising God for the break, though! Oh, and it wasn't just rain. It was RAIN with thunder and lightning, and it went on and on and on. I wish I could tell you how much rain fell in that one morning, but I don't know exactly. . . a lot! And because this came on a Sunday, I was able to go to church for the first time in quite a while. I've been staying away, because it's just been too hot. (We meet in a one-room apartment, and when 20-30 people are crammed in there, it gets stifling.)


Lightning! and thunder!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

They inherited my love of thunder storms.



Will keeps telling me to post lots of photos, so here goes. . . .


Jaan shows off some of the week's harvest
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



My helpers
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Collecting seeds



Bringing water
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

This time with Raia, too.



Watermelon
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Who knows?
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Maybe her bottom was hot? Toddlers do the strangest things!



Jaan napping
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

They seem to sleep better at nap time when it's this hot out.



Raia napping
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



With Nastya
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Nastya (Ilyusha's Mom) came to visit. Jaan loved her bike seat! She took him on rides all around our area. Now that she knows how close we are to their apartment, I'll think we'll be seeing more of her.


We spent a lot of time in the pond this week. It has turned very green, but at least every other day they pump in spring water, so the water underneath the gook stays nice and clear and icy cold.


Cold water!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Bathing beauty
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

. . . or bathed beauty drying off?


We also made a trek to the nearby river. Someone said it was only ten minutes away. It took us an hour or so to get there, but it was so worth it! We had a wonderful time swimming. I wish I could have gotten some photos of all of us in the water, but the splashing would have been a bit much for the camera, and I was having too much fun myself.


To the river!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Scenic shot
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

River Nerekhta



Cheesy grin
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

We were laughing because after swimming and missing her nap, she was wobbling down the road like a drunk, with her eyes half closed. However, when Will turned around to get a picture, she perked up and gave him this grin.



Worn out
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

She fell asleep on the way home.



Health food question: Several people have mentioned rye flour and black bread to me. Is plain rye flour any better than white flour? It seems like the rye they use here is every bit as refined as white flour, just maybe not bleached. Is that right? The ingredients in the usual loaf of Russian black bread start with "enriched rye flour, 1st class wheat flour. . . ." (1st class flour is the finest ground, most refined, most useless health-wise. ) So is there anything good left in that rye flour? Sometimes we buy Finnish healthy crackers, and they specify that they're made with a certain percentage of whole rye flour and a certain percentage of refined rye flour. I don't think there's anything like that whole rye flour here. Or am I wrong? Is it good, just because it's rye, even if it's refined?

Related cultural notes: As famous as Russia is for rye bread, it's hard to find rye flour here. The black bread is delicious, but it all comes from factories. Most Russian women are excellent cooks, and many bake incredible desserts. But no one makes bread at home. Also, it's interesting to note that most Russians believe that no one in America cooks at all. They're usually amazed to find out that I can do anything at all in the kitchen. Sure, America may have more of a frozen food and restaurant culture, but most Americans that I know actually can cook.

Also, I was trying to get a video clip for Julie and Candie. Jaan and Raia stopped cooperating as soon as they saw the camera, but if you want to see them being completely silly, take a look. (Julie and Candie, are you reading this? There are a few times where you can still hear what they were saying, if you listen carefully.)

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Forgot the camera

We left the camera at home this week, but Will got it when he ran into town on Thursday, so there are a few photos from the past week.

Raia finds a cucumber
Originally uploaded by fylliska.




Her first two cucumbers!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

I say they're hers, because she helped plant the seeds and she's been watering and watching them all along.




Painting
Originally uploaded by fylliska.




Raia snapping beans
Originally uploaded by fylliska.




With Pavlik
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

. . . dividing the loot after raiding the pea patch.

I quote my own children's funny sayings, so I'll quote Pavlik, too:
he and Jaan were racing around the outside of the house. Pavlik won, but he was kind enough to say, "I'm the very firstest! And you're the very secondest!" (It doesn't translate all that well. Sorry.) Jaan was thrilled to be "very second."



Yesterday I announced that the vegetable soup we were eating came from our garden. Jaan looked up, puzzled, and asked, "Where did we plant soup?" (When we discussed more, it turned out that he did understand that I meant the vegetables were from our garden. He wanted to know where the broth came from and how it grew.)

Monday, August 06, 2007

Dog days of summer

We've had some really hot days (and nights) lately! The garden is growing like a jungle, but sometimes I feel like I'm wilting. I've been jumping into the pond a few times a day. (Before you laugh at a Florida girl wilting from the heat, remember that in the Florida of my childhood, there was air conditioning. That means there were some breaks from the heat. I've always loved summer--and being outdoors during the summer--but I also liked to come inside and cool off. Here it's just hotter inside. Also, I was never pregnant in Florida. And, yes, I do know that people lived in Florida before air conditioning. . . but I didn't. )

Anyway, we had another wonderful week at our dacha. Will's biggest project this week was replacing the ladder to the upstairs. I've been up there most nights, so that I don't disturb the rest of the family when I can't sleep, and so that they don't disturb me when I can. Will didn't like me going up and down the ladder that was there. (Although I was doing fine with it.) Here he was cutting the bottom step:

Jaan helps Papa
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

. . . while. . .



Raia watches
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

And then Raia shows off the. . .



New stairs
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



The highlight of the week was that we had almost all of the young people from church out for dinner and fellowship. It's been hard getting everyone together all summer, and we've missed those times.

With friends
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



And then just some random photos:

Bubble Man
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

(The results of a bubble fight with me, when I was washing dishes.)




Squash!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.




Size comparison
Originally uploaded by fylliska.




Morning sleepyheads
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



(I answered questions in the comments sections where they were asked.)