Down Syndrome event

We also had the chance to go to a down syndrome event organized by Debbie Hoehner, Darin's sister in law. She started this organization to help support and educate families with DS kids and to encourage parents to keep their DS kids. Traditionally in Russia DS kids are put away in orphanages or aborted if they know their situation before birth. Debbie has helped to open the hearts of many Russians and encourage them to keep their babies.

We're back! (click on the bold links below to view pics/vids)

Yes, we made it back to the USA Sunday afternoon as scheduled. What a great 2 weeks we had in Russia walking through many open doors for ministry. Ashley and I had a great class of about 35 who stuck with the class for the 2 weeks. Overall with the Northwest team we had three classes totaling about 90 students. A great turnout. The final weekend 'Forest Fun Party' was out in the Russian forest which was just the most beautiful birch tree forest you'll ever see. Saturday night they had games and skits for the kids with us Americans as the source for many of the laughs. This final weekend with the kids is a venue to share the gospel through testimonies and to try and plug them into one of three seekers Bible studies that start soon.

Our class had several very interested students. One story from Ashley was about a girl named Irina (right) who showed serious interest in hearing more about Christ and the Bible. These were things she had never heard before in her life and Ashley found out that she had never read the Bible nor had a Bible in her life. Irina's birthday was Saturday so we found a Russian Bible and Ashley gave it to her as a birthday gift. She was very grateful for the gift as her face lite up with a smile. Please pray for Irina that she would come to Christ and get plugged into the Bible studies.

My favorite student was a guy named Ura (middle). Ura was a fun guy with a fun attitude. He was always the first to answer the questions and the first to ask for some candy. He even remembered meeting Ashley a couple years ago at an Athletes in Action hockey game put on by the Campus Crusade group. He's been around the ministries for quit some time but still is reluctant to get involved. He has all the right answers but would love to see him make the big step of trusting Christ. Please pray for him if you would.

As for Ashley and I. We both loved serving together for the first time in Russia. Ashley enjoyed reconnecting with all her old friends, her old apartment, and those famous Russian smells (non-smoking sections are non-existent still). It was great for me to see the economic progress of Russia and it's oil money has improved so much of the country in such a short time. Ekat is close to opening a brand new Hyatt Regency 5 star hotel just to give you an idea of what is going on in this region. I think we both confirmed the fact that neither of us have the personalities to do college ministry full time but it did renew our interest to possibly find another niche in Russia. Please pray that we'll find where we can best minister. It is still so clear that the harvest in Russia (at least this area) is still plentiful but we're not sure how much longer that will be the case. With financial success often comes disinterested hearts. Please pray for the Lord's leading of our direction.

Special thanks to you all for your prayers, support and love. We felt your prayers were with us all the way and God will reward as he's promised to do. It's a great day when we can lay treasures up in Heaven together.

Blessings to you all,

James and Ashley

All of our pictures...

On our way home...

We will be leaving in about 12 hours from now. We did some last minute souvenir shopping and such today and we're getting ready to go out to the forest fun party with the students. We will then leave there around 11pm Ekat time and head back to the city to get ready to go to the airport. Please pray that the students have an impactful time at the retreat as they will hear the Gospel message several times in different ways. Also pray for our safe return home. We should arrive to Dallas Sunday around 2pm. Thanks again for all your love and support.

J&A

p.s. the picture below was taken near the spot where the Romanof family was buried after being shot by the communist party coming to power. They have now built a series of churches to commemorate them.

Wednesday and rollin...

Hard to believe it's Wednesday already of week 2! We were excited to see that most of our students decided to come back for the 2nd week of classes. We have a very active and vivacious group of students which helps to keep us on our toes and keeps things quite interesting. Last night our 'text' was the Prodigal Son and the students really seemed to relate to the prodigal son. We were able to have some deep discussions about how even when we stray from God, he always welcomes us back with open arms. For a lot of our students this is the first time many of them have ever heard of Jesus and about his love for them. We are hoping that many of the students will attend the Forest Fun party this Sat/Sun. It is a retreat that the local Compas Team here puts on and there will be various opportunities for them to hear more about how to have a relationship with Christ.

Other than classes, we are keeping busy touring the city, eating good Russian food, and just enjoying the culture. Jamie and I have had many opportunities to exercise our Russian speaking skills and though we are FAR from fluent-the fact that we can speak even some of the language has helped us out a lot.

Thanks for the prayers and please continue to pray for us as well as the students we are connecting with.

That's all for today...Check back again soon!

A&J

snow in october!

Snowing in Ekat!! We were privy to see our first snow this trip late yesterday afternoon and must say that October in Ekat is quite different than a typical fall day in Dallas! We have successfully finished our first week of ministry and are gearing up for week 2. We ended week 1 of the English classes with a scavenger hunt on Friday night. The students really get into this and we had 70+ students show up and participate. Jamie and I are proud to announce that though we didn't end up in first place, we did follow closely in 2nd place...This morning Jamie and the guys took an excursion to the Russian Banya which has left him tired and ready for a nap...But, instead we will venture to the ZooPark (zoo) with a few of our students...We are thinking it is too cold for the outdoors, but apparently we are the only ones with this mind-set, so off to the zoo we will go...That's all for now, stay tuned for more and enjoy the pictures!

Poka, Poka, (Goodbye)
Ashley and Jamie

First few days

We are well into our first week of classes now (Thursday evening here). We had 45 in Ashley and I's class the first night and with a few dropped out the second night we're running around 36. Overall in all three classes we have about 90 students which is great. The students are all very open and enthusiastic about our teachings especially as we get deeper into spiritual topics such as last nights, 'Jesus is the bread of life'. Thanks for all your prayers, we can already tell how the Lord is moving in the hearts of these kids.

Top 10 things I've learned while traveling to Ekat

1. Now I know what Ashley means when she says she doesn't function well without sleep.

2. Flying overseas married is much better because you can stretch out into your partners seat.

3. The aisle loses its luster when your wife has to use the facilities every 15 minutes.

4. It helps to speak German in Germany.

5. Next time someone offers you something with green sauce and eggs, just pass.

6. Little did I know until my wife told me, "frankfurters fit within the south beach diet."

7. I'm now grateful the airlines limit the amount of luggage you can check in.

8. Ashley apparently would have been a giant in 10th century Germany.

9. Swords are cool.

10. arriving at 6am after after traveling for 24 + hours without sleep and finding out they lost your reservation, priceless.

We made it!

Just a quick update that we made the long journey from Dallas to Ekat. All was fairly uneventful which is good. I will send more updates when I can but until then enjoy the pictures below from out 10 hour layover in Frankfurt.

With love,

James and Ashley