Woostreet Journal

IT'S A NEW YEAR! Welcome 2012

2012-01-16T04:53:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2012 To all of our family and dear friends around the world!!!!!!!!!
OK...so it's the middle of January already, however, we've been busy not only putting this site together but writing updates, newsletters, making phone calls and sending countless pictures to our many supporters across the U.S. THANK YOU to each of you who take the time to read our updates then pass them on to so many others, sharing what the Lord is doing in a village in Siberia!

Since the 24th of December, we've been busy doing what the folks here in Russia...celebrating! Well, maybe not like all of the folks here, but we have been celebrating with wonderful friends and looking ahead to how we can better serve others in our community in 2012.

Celebrating Christmasin December???!! Obviously, to us westerners this makes perfect sense.However, for Russia and about 12 other countries in the world, they celebratethe Orthodox date on the 7^th of January. This year, we heard of manyfellowships/churches across Russia deciding to celebrate on the 25^thof Dec. one of which was a small fellowship that meets in a village about 30min. from us. Several of us joined in their celebration of the birth of ourSavior! Although it’s a very small group, we were encouraged by their faith inHim. We shared testimonies, exchanged gifts, and eventually we shared a wonderful meal. (The service was several hours long.)

Reciting a beautiful poem she wrote about the 'gift' of Christmas.

Sharing her testimony..of God's grace!

Exchanging gifts with the fellowship in the next village.

This is only half of the food that was prepared...
sorry, didn't get a picture of us eating together
we were famished after a four hour service!

News Year's Eve2012! This year we celebrated thecoming of a new year together with prayer, food, games and fireworks! We evenhad a piñata for the kids filled with candy. Not everyone in the fellowshipwanted to come out in the cold and leave their homes for a long period of time.(Someone has to keep the fires going at home!) However, we had a good turnoutand a great time of sharing and just being together; not surrounded by drunks! Many shared of looking forward to a newyear filled with opportunities to share with friends and neighbors as well asgrowth in their spiritual understanding of the Word.

Tanya getting the food out for our meal!

The kids are ready to eat!!!!

Kevin getting the pinata ready......

Round two....almost broke it open!

Finally.....candy for everyone!!!

More games.....Kevin is the biggest kid.

A family playing twister,,,,sisterly love :)

They actually fell asleep after watching fireworks!!!

A time of sharing the past and future.

The Pastor and his family.

Christmas in January….Our fellowship decided to remain with the January date of celebrating Christmassince it is recognized by everyone and wouldn’t give another reason for thecommunity to think of us as a sect. Our time was shared with folks from the cityand another village. The pastor shared the importance of remembering what the“Good News” truly is and what a precious gift we were given over 2000 years agoin a smelly stable filled with animals; a gift that changed the world forever!!

Our youngest member all dressed up for Christmas!

Laura's helper on Sundays.

Singing Christmas carols in Russian!

Guests from another village..

Guests sharing during our service.

Finally...gifts for all the kids!!

After reading this update, you may think all we did inDecember and January was to celebrate! For the majority of people in Russia,this is true! We see non-stop drinking; most government offices and manybusinesses actually close from the 31^st of Dec. until the 10^thof Jan.! The real ‘reason for the season’ is totally lost in the ‘celebrating’.As for our fellowship, this time was spent in much prayer and a renewed desireto serve the community. Please remember us in prayer as there is such a burdenof urgency to share the Good News with others. We see and feel the darkness of‘the enemy’ and know a battle rages in the heavens! We also know the victor ofthat battle and stand firm in that knowledge.

Blessings from Siberia,
Kevin & Laura

[Today was -30F....Friday is supposed to be -52F!! PLEASE send warmer weather :) ]

Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed

to sell your parrot to the town gossip....

Will Rogers

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T03:22:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Siberia!

This is the best time of year...cookies in the oven, pies going in next. You have to love this time of year! Christmas songs ALL day long streaming online (I guess you have to love Christmas songs like we do). The problem with this time of year is that we too often forget the reason for the season...we heard it said best today as we listened to a candlelight service from the states...Please listen to this message from Peanuts...

As you go about your day today remember THE REASON for the season!

In the center of town in front of the

"New Years tree"

Have a Blessed Christmas day!

Kevin and Laura

Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'."

~ Bing Crosby (1904-1977)

WOW update November 2011

2011-11-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

WOW, what a name for a project in Siberia, Windows of Warmth. This project was not your typical one, but one that was rather large for us. We partnered with the local Music/Art school to remodel the front of their school. The work consisted of replacing the old style windows, many of which were broken, with new three-pane European windows, insulating the front of the building and installing new metal siding (WOW donations were not used for the purchase of siding/insulation with this project, those funds came from another source). This particular school has over 150 students enrolled in its various programs ranging from piano, art and dance lessons to traditional classes on making Buryat clothing. This was a VERY visible project for our team in the village. The school is located in the center of town directly across from the library and next door to one of the local clinics. Please enjoy the pictures and thank you for making this project possible with the many donations that have come in for WOW.

Kevin with the load of building materials needed

A glimpse of the old windows and front of the building

The window replacement beginning, and the insulation going up.

Notice our OSHA approved ladders...

beginning the siding work...

Making precision cuts on the siding...

coming to the end of the building...

Everyone busy with the work...

The front of the building, looks modern now....

The street in front of the Music School

Library in front of the music school

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures of our latest project. Have a GREAT day and thanks for thinking of us...oh by the way it was a little cold today, it was -17 degrees this morning...what can we expect we do live in Siberia.

Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat. ~Author Unknown

Fall happenings...

2011-11-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

There's no way this is the END of October already....OK.. it is the end of the month and we have lots of pictures and some great stories to share!

The beginning of the month took us to the city with our youth group for some rock climbing and time with other youth groups! We left the village early to a beautiful sunny morning and arrived in the city to a cold and rainy day! That didn't stop the trek to the rocks where we met up with another youth group and some students that belong to the local 'extreme club.' Eventually the weather cleared up enough for some of us to climb while the rest of us played games or prepared lunch! In the end, we all agreed it was a great day and we're eager to give it another try...when the weather is warmer and there's no rain! The following day we went to church then it was off to the local mall to 'hang out'. (A brief pause here, we didn't realize that some of our gals had never seen an escalator...we didn't want to embarrass them so there aren't any pictures. Let's just say we spent a lot of time riding the escalators and the elevator!!Inexpensive fun is easy if you look for it! ) Next stop was a park that still had the rides going..the weather has been awesome! Then it was time to head back home and rest.. :) All in all, it was a great weekend and the girls are looking forward to our next trip to the city!

Some of our girls "helping" with lunch.

Kevin helping with the salad!

Throwing the ropes for our climbers.

The only girl from our group to climb...this time that is!

September and October are also the last months to bring in hay for the winter. Cow, pigs, chicken, geese, and horses are kept in small barns or areas closer to home. The hay helps feed these animals during those very cold winter months! We thought you'd enjoy a picture of folks 'bringing in the hay'. (By the way, there are many folks who still do all of this by hand - a sickle and wooden rakes...amazing to watch!)

Hay being trucked in from the fields...

Each year seems to bring us 'city folks' a new challenge to living in a village. This year was no exception! We had built the 'barn' for our cows last year.....this year we added a chicken coop to the barn and made room for pigs. (Since the cows were lost last fall and we haven't replaced them yet.) Instead of milk, we'll now have eggs and some nice sides of pork for the winter!!

Our chickens in their new 'home'.

Getting ready for the pig and her piglets.

October also brings for us a time of thanksgiving for ALL we've harvested from our gardens. Early on in this work, it was decided not to be 'westernized' if at all possible. That means not celebrating holidays that aren't familiar to the folks here as well as 'our' ideas as to how to celebrate when there are similar holidays. Hence, we have our 'Harvest Sunday' each year to celebrate and give thanks for our gardens and the food that will keep many families from starving throughout the coming winter. As you can, there was 'much' to be thankful for this year. (Some of you may remember our enormous cabbages...this was not a good year for us and many others.) We even had a contest for the biggest of every vegetable brought in....our pumpkin was a winner, weighing in at 22 pounds! Now that will make a fair amount of pies and cookies!!
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Mat 9:38 итак молите Господина жатвы, чтобы выслал делателей на жатву Свою.

First snow!! Hahahaha ...why are we laughing??? Just spoke with my folks and our youngest son...they both have snow and we didn't get any until three days later.....YA Siberia!!! OK, so it's the small things that make us smile :) This could mean only five months of winter instead of the six or seven we usually get!!

Kevin and some friends are finishing up on a community project. They were able to have windows installed and put up siding on the front of our local music/art school. Completion is expected this week so some great pictures will follow.

Blessings to ALL

Kevin & Laura

"If you want a thing done, go-if not, send"...Benjamin Franklin

4000 miles...nine days...Trains, buses and automobiles

2011-09-05T02:10:00.000-07:00

There was no way we could have ever guessed it would take this amount of time; believe it or not, this was our adventure for the summer AND how we traveled to get our new mini-van! Why so far away, you may ask? We searched the internet and newspapers in this area for months!! The prices were just way out of our range. We have a friend/fellow worker that lived in a region west of here who was selling her van...hence the title to our 'road trip'.

It began with a two hour drive to the city then a 40 hour train ride. After spending a night at the train station in the city of Novosibirsk, (They have great hotels there with hot showers and comfortable beds!) we embarked on an eight hour bus trip to the city of Gorno-Altaisk. This region is incredibly beautiful, surrounded by mountains with great rivers in it's valleys! (Some of the best white-water rafting/kayaking in the world.) The roads are good in this area so this part of the trip was smooth and restful. (You'll understand later why this comment is important!) Days one and two of our trip....

Train station in Ulan Ude (40 hrs. our next stop)

Train station in Novosibirsk (has a great hotel)

Bus to Gorno-Altaisk... eight hours to go,
almost where the van is located.

I (Laura) am not sure how long it takes in the US to transfer a title, get temp. tags and get car insurance. It took an entire day...9am to 5pm of waiting in lines, running to other offices, coming back to the original line, and being told around 4pm that you would have to return the next day! This is where a huge answer to many prayers took place...Kevin was standing in the hallway talking with others who were 'waiting' when the Asst. Director of the department walked by and heard his comment about the amount of time it was taking. (There was one person doing all the work and at least 50 people waiting) The next thing we knew the A.D. took our paper work and handed it to another women...told us to standby and everything would be ready by 5pm that day! (not the next) We were amazed and very grateful...this was just day one in our journey back home. End of day three....

Our new van!! 2000 Honda Odyssey 4WD

We were told by our friend who sold us the van that we would need to replace the springs and tires on the van before heading out on our return trip. (These parts are quite often in need of replacing because the roads are so bad here.) Thus, we began the 'hunt' for Honda parts in a not so large city. After hours of searching, another friend of ours suggested the next city over.....it was larger and would most likely have what we needed. We drove an hour + to the next city, found the parts, found a place to do the repairs....wrong parts! After hours of running and waiting, we returned to our friend's home and decided to try again the following day...this is now day four.
Day five....returned to the garage with another set of parts...they couldn't begin work until after lunch, so we drove around a little and found a great coffee shop with free WiFi so we checked our emails and let our families know we were OK and alive. Returned to the garage and they began working on the van around 1pm...finishing around 8pm! (They did a great job, just had slow workers with lots of breaks.) We found a hotel down the street, spent the night and started out the next morning for home - finally!!
Day six....we were finally on the road...the van is amazing and it was awesome to be heading home. The day started out sunny and warm, great for driving...our first stop would be back to Novosibirsk where they have an Ikea store. The prices and choices are great so we 'had' to stop and find a few things for us and others as well. Although is was now raining and we weren't exactly sure where we were going, we found the store....shopped, had lunch, shopped, had coffee and headed out for what we thought would be a few more hours on the road. We quickly realized there weren't a lot of roadside motels and drove until almost 11pm in the rain..on two lane highways. Kevin decided it was time to stop when he saw four lanes of traffic on a two-lane road and cars passing each other when there was no sane reason to do so! We found a great place to sleep for the night and began the long drive early the next morning.
Days seven, eight, and nine are all the same....the roads we thought would be some of the best were some of the worst we had ever seen! We would come upon a section of new highway that was awesome, four lanes with lines ...no potholes where you could lose your car...we felt like we were driving in the US...then just as quickly as they began...it would end. Back to two lanes and often they were too bad to drive any faster than 40mph! There was even a stretch of road where we traveled an amazing 12 miles and it took us 2 hours, we are just glad it was not all that bad. We had been told that we should expect trouble with the police and maybe even bandits on this trip. Our Father is soooooo wonderful...we were only stopped once (it was 1am and they were checking everyone's documents) and NEVER had a problem with folks along the way. In fact, we met great people and were helped whenever we thought we were lost or looking for something specific. It's definitely a trip we'll long remember and one we're not likely to take again.

Road side stop...food and clean toilets..Yay!

Wheat fields for miles.........

Some of the better paved highways!

This became a familiar sign for us to see, it means bumpy road ahead.

The 'not -so-great' part of the roads we traveled.
This was the second worst section, we couldn't take
pictures while driving on the worst road!

This ran through a small town and turned out to be the
main federal highway ...we had thought we were lost!

Typical gas station.

Getting close to home...first site of Lake Baikal,
only 6 hours to go!

Kevin eating shisk-kebob or shashlik (as it's called
in Russian) no matter the language...it's DELICIOUS!

We're back home and busy with getting study groups started and finishing projects before the real cold weather sets in. Kevin celebrated his 49th on August 26th so we decided to take the day, head to the river and eat his favorite food. (Well, almost everything is his favorite, but this is fun to do as well.) We have many more stories to share and will be updating the blog again in a week or so. I must get back to preparing lessons and canning the vegies from the garden!
Joyfully Serving in Siberia,
Kevin & Laura

Party for the dead....

2011-07-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

A dear friend and young widow came over for tea. She had also come to cut hair but Laura could tell she had something on her mind...."Friends and family are asking me why I'm not have a 'memorial party' for my husband's birthday!" (Four years ago, this girl's husband and brother had gotten into a fight while drinking and the brother stabbed her husband to death!) The culture here expects several 'memorials' actually; the first on the day of the funeral, then at 40 days after the person's death, then again a year later. These 'parties' are for a time of remembrance and most importantly...drinking. We had never heard of remembering someone on their birthdays, but apparently it's also a practice in the area and another opportunity to gather, remember, and drink. Wait...this isn't all depressing....our friend asked the question because she wanted to know what we should do as Christians. In all the years we've lived here, we don't think we've had this question before. However, it was a chance to talk about death and what we know to be true as Christians.
Julie lives in the same building as our friend we mentioned above. We've shared a little about her in the past...her husband had been responsible for the death of their five year old son. It's been difficult at best for Julie, but she has grown so much in her understanding of the Bible and her faith is amazing. At a recent visit, she was sharing how something so horrible - losing her son - could be taken and used for something good! What is so good you ask???? Through this experience, she as well as her daughter, and mother have made decisions to follow the Lord and her younger sister is very close!! This was a family where drinking was a huge part of their lives. How amazing to see lives transformed so drastically.

Julie and friend....

So far, this summer has been filled more with great opportunities for conversation and not so much with projects. We are truly enjoying the time of fellowship and having opportunities to sit and talk with folks who have been quite interested in who we are and why we're here. We were able to complete two small projects for the fellowship's building were a new window and a small drain field for the kitchen. (We're hoping for running water this year!) The window will allow light and fresh air in for our children's room. We have 15 or more kids attend services each week to sing songs, play games, hear stories and learn verses! This room will be a huge asset to the fellowship's meeting place.

Digging the drain field...

Our little helper Luke...he fit in the hole better than the big guys!

Preparing to cut through logs for a new window...

Next step...getting the window to fit properly.

For some reason, the camera didn't work when the window was finished...you'll just have to check in next time for the finished product!

Going though our pictures I found the following and just had to add them to the update....Most items needed can be bought here in the village, however, the price is 20% higher. When there's an opportunity to go the city, we all pile in a truck, buy the bigger items and load the truck as much as possible. You never know what you'll be bringing back to the village.....

Feed for the animals, cement, and bikes.....still some room left!

The fellowship has lunch together once a month after Sunday services...there's always plenty of food and fellowship and the property has lots of running space for the kids......

Not close to a lake or ocean??? Make a raft anyway!!!

There's more to share....but we'll save that for next time. With humble hearts we say, "Thanks", to all who take the time to read our blog and for the faithful support and prayers. We pray you are blessed and encouraged through these pictures and updates.
Kevin & Laura

Talent is God-given; be thankful.
Praise is man-given; be humble.
Conceit is self-given; be careful.
Dave Driscoll

Back in Russia.... JULY 2011

2011-07-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

We're finally in Russia!
(I, Laura, must confess that I wanted to use an old Beatles' song here...but decided to let it go :0 )
We really can not believe this is July already!!! The month of June came and went before we could catch our breath! As you can see, we arrived into Russia on the 2nd of June. (We had an extended stay in Mongolia because we couldn't get tickets for the train back into Russia.) After a few days of waiting, we took the train into Ulan Ude. We were greeted by our fellow worker and good friend Doug around 9am....made a lot of stops in the city, (we buy our groceries and bigger items there because the prices are better)....then off to the village we drove....arriving home around 11pm!
We share a garden with the family that watches our fellowship building and were pleased to see that much of the garden had been planted. (It's usually done by the first week of June.) However, Kevin had wanted to plant more vegetables than potatoes this year so we set out for the garden and filled in all available space possible to plant corn, peas, three kinds of squash, green beans, carrots, tomato plants and sunflowers for the seeds. Hopefully we'll have good weather this year with some rain.
Not to get too comfortable with summer life; we quickly realized we had less than one week to get ready for guests arriving from the States. They would be in Siberia on the 10th! (Remember, we've been back in Russia only a few days now...it's now around the 5th of June.) Our pastor from Sarasota and a dear friend of ours were coming to encourage and meet with leaders of the fellowships in the city and encourage the folks here in the village. After delays and a missed flight in Moscow, our guests arrived safely on the 11th....they were quickly fed and showered, then were off to speak at not one, but two different meetings and met with leaders afterwards! (All this after being up for about 48 hours!)

They were able to spend some quality time with many of the fellowship leaders in the city and the fellowship in our village. It was an awesome time for ALL the folks here as well as a huge encouragement for our pastor and friend!

First stop in Ulan Ude......

Second stop in Ulan Ude....

Leader's meeting......end of day one!

Seminar held in Ulan Ude with many fellowships.

Seminar held in village

Day trip to Baikal to see the camp

Building a new 'mess hall' for the camps!

A new port being built on Baikal...if you look closely,
you'll see a great symbol on the fence........

Our guests left on the 21st of June and we began to settle back into life in the village. What does that look like? Meeting with folks to help settle differences correctly, discuss summer plans and projects, catching up on things that have happened the last six months, (drinking a lot of tea) helping a single mom with her two yr. old son....a drunk had grabbed him by the arms and shook him so hard it broke one arm....and so on. Our life here is never boring and through it all, we also learn so much from the Father and those around us!

On the 29th, we celebrated our 26th anniversary at home. We had hoped to have a vehicle by now, but that has become yet another story. Soooo...we bought the next best thing, especially for out here in the village...

Our transportation for now.....no gas required :)

We are thankful for:

safe travel on the return to Russia
a great time of encouragement through the seminars and meetings with our friends from the U.S.
our home, neighbors and friends in the village
ALL who so faithfully stand with us in the work here in Siberia

We ask that you remember these needs:

a vehicle ( we came with what we felt was enough cash and find prices have risen!)
wisdom as we make plans with the fellowship for growth
to love those around us (even the drunks)

We are getting the food ready for our 4th of July party....we pray you all enjoy your holiday as well and please remember those who give so much so that we in America can remain so free!

Kevin wanted to add this quote......Be Blessed,

Kevin & Laura

A quote we heard not long ago...wish we knew who said it...but it is worth thinking about...

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

Almost there!!!!

2011-06-01T04:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Mongolia,
home to Genghis Khan and lots of wind, sand and a very dry climate! This trip has been adventurous to say the least. It began with our flight from Tampa, FL to California....sounds easy, however, there were hailstorms in TX which damaged several planes, one of them was ours. Thus began the adventure....with much prayer and almost begging the person at the ticket counter; we were finally put on a flight through Cleveland to L.A. That wasn't so bad in the end as we were only two hours later than originally planned. (They had wanted to put us on a flight the following day.)
We enjoyed our short time with Joshua and sadly said our goodbyes then set off for Beijing, China at 2AM. This part of the trip was uneventful and we both actually were able to sleep on the flight. This is where the real fun began :) Our layover in China was to be two or so hours then onto Mongolia. As we were making our way to the boarding area, we realized that our flight had been postponed....until 8pm that evening. The Beijing airport is enormous and beautiful, but 12 hours more didn't sound too thrilling to us! The reason for the delay was high winds in Mongolia...not unusual, so we were grateful for the delay. We'd like to give credit to Air China for then taking the folks from our flight over to a hotel for the day and feeding us lunch! (Not so sure that would happen in the US these days.) We were taken back to the airport that afternoon and loaded onto the plane on time...however, several passengers had some sort of visa and/or ticket problems so we sat on the tarmac for an hour while everything was sorted out. We did eventually arrive in Mongolia...only 15 hours later then planned :) WHEW....

We have train tickets for Russia and will travel on Thursday arriving in Russia Friday morning! After which we have a two hour car ride to our home in the village!!! It's never boring when travelling half way around the world.

We can never say THANK YOU enough to ALL who made our time in the U.S. so amazing! To our family...WE LOVE YOU and miss you already....you are all so amazing also, sacrificing the most as we live and work so far away; THANK YOU!! We are humbled and honored to know that so many of you pray often for us and the folks we work with. We are truly blessed!!

An update on our sons: Joshua has found work and so will be staying in California - his new home. He's obviously excited to have found work and excited with another new stage in life. Corey is not deploying...medical reasons kept him in the States for now so he'll remain at Ft. Carson. It's nothing serious so we're not certain if he'll deploy at a later date or not.

Saying goodbye to Corey as he heads back to Colorado.

Burgers on the grill in California with Joshua and family!

On the plane to Beijing!!!

Breakfast in the Beijing airport....

Kevin in Mongolia...finally! Gotta love the traffic here

Next update will be from Russia...Wanted to leave you all with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson....

"The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God before you"

May 2011

2011-05-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll (That is southern for Hi)

Wow it has been a while since our last posting...sorry for that but we know we have visited many of you. Laura (our communication's director) decided to take her summer break early :)
We looked at the last months and figured we've driven 13,000+ miles since Jan. 8th and driven to or through 16 or more states! WHEW.... We've spoken at so many fellowships, home groups and youth groups, we've lost count...we were in a different place every weekend from the middle of March to the first weekend in May!! HOWEVER, we have been soooo blessed! Visiting with old friends and meeting many new folks; hearing incredible stories of His grace, mercy and of healing. THANK YOU to all who shared their time and homes as we made our way across the country!
We were able to get out of the snow in MO back in February...then it was off to FL for two weeks... then back on the road again for PA,MA, NC then back to FL. Here are just a few pics along the way..........

Ahhhhh...Florida sunshine and beaches!

Kevin swimming in February...brrrrrrr

As you can see....my crazy husband wanted to be the first in the neighborhood to say he could get into the pool in February! He did remind me that is was still much warmer than when he swims in Lake Baikal. (The lake gets a warm :) 56 in summer)
We wrote back in February about our time of training in MO...we drove back to FL for a speaking engagement/conference...then it was on the road again with Mass. as our destination. (Thankfully with time in PA to spend with Laura's family!)

Weekend conference in Florida.

On the road...rest stop in NC

Beautiful trees....signs of Spring!!! At least we thought it was Spring, until we reached PA and MA and saw, you guessed it...more snow and cold weather! Guess folks didn't want us to miss out on that Siberian winter :) !! We loved it!
The temperatures never dropped below 0 degrees!

Finally in Mass.

Fellowship in Mass.
We were so blessed and encouraged as we were able to visit with friends and family and meet many new people. Love you guys!!!

Kevin and our nephew on the battlefield in Gettysburg.

Visit with Laura's folks in PA.....Yeah!!!
There is so much to share; this update could go on for days :) Just know that it was extremely busy but very fruitful. We were blessed beyond measure and hope that others received as much from us. We'll finish the journey next week....so please come back for a visit!
We are in the packing process and Laura is trying to stay out of "panic mode." Thanks to all who have been so generous with their time, finances, places to rest our weary bones, great food, and wonderful fellowship!
We love you all and are honored to have been given this time in the U.S. We're here another week, so call or write....we may have a few minutes to see you!
Love In Him,
Kevin & Laura

Clear skies...for now

2011-02-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

We promised more pictures .....hope you enjoy them! Today is the first day we've had sunshine since Tues. morning. Which means warmer temperatures...also means when the sun goes down, we'll have ice..yikes! Thankfully, we were able to get out of the area yesterday and take a two hour drive to find the FEDEX office that had a package we've been waiting for. Seems they didn't want to risk trying to get into where we're staying. [Quite hilly and the roads hadn't been cleared very well yet. Did we say we were in the middle of nowhere and took a right? :) ] In any case, we know many of you also experienced the megastorm and we pray all are safe and warm!

Monday's snow storm...

Tuesday's cleanup...

Not our car....we hope :)

Our humble abode...cute little one bedroom apartment with a toilet, however, the shower is down the street a few hundred feet. It's kind of like camping...

Lake view ....at least there was a lake on Mon.

Training center facility...chapel and classes are held here.

My handsome hubby.

   As you can see, we're surrounded by hills and trees....truly a beautiful place, even in two feet of snow. We will be leaving this coming week and heading back to Florida. Please keep us in your prayers and we travel and for the little time we have here. It has been a huge blessing, not only for us but for the work. We look forward to seeing more family soon and many friends in the coming months.
   Until They Know
   Kevin & Laura

Finally an update...

2011-02-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the snow of the Midwest. At this moment the weather is calling for 12-15 inches today, sooooo we thought we would update the blog just in case we lose power today.

WOW what can we say we have had a busy month and a half since our arrival back in the states. Starting with Joshua's graduation from BIOLA to where we are now getting further education before heading back overseas the end of May.

We had a great Christmas Holiday time with family in Florida, in fact Kevin's cousin and his family from California surprised us for the Holiday season....

Lots of family what a nice surprise

Then we had a blast traveling around and seeing the Christmas lights, of course we traveled in STYLE.....

Our sister-in-law drives for a trolley company and treated the family to a cool ride around town!
Kevin's sister and her son were the next Christmas surprise...they were able to spend a few days with family in Florida and enjoying the sunshine!

Whew....THEN...we packed up the car to head out for some continuing education and training AND we thought...hey, we're only 12hrs from where Corey is stationed...let's drive to Colorado for a few days :)
We totally fell in love with CO and had a great visit with our son and some friends we hadn't seen in ages!

We traveled just ahead of the first bad snow in January and of course had to stop in Kevin's favorite place in Atlanta "THE VARSITY" to grab a chili dog and the best onion rings on the planet....(you can tell Kevin typed this)

Then it was on to Nashville, we thought we were ahead of the storm......NOT!

This is Nashville...not normal weather

From there we traveled on to Colorado...a 3 day drive from Florida when you are fighting wintry weather.

We got to visit with Corey at Fort Carson and traveled up to Estes Park to see some Elk...what a nice state...

Yes this is a live Elk....we got close!

Corey and Mom...having a GREAT day!

Thank you all for your prayers for us; we have traveled many miles please continue to lift us up! We are heading out now and will take some pics of the snow storm that hit this morning...if the electricity does not go out we will post more pictures today or tomorrow.

This last picture is what we looked out and saw this morning.....gotta love winter.....

Have a great day and check back a bit later for more pics......Kevin and Laura

Joshua's Graduation from Biola University

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Congratulations Joshua!!!!!

Proud Parents

Family and Friends to share the moment!!

What a blessing to be able to share the evening with Joshua. We'll be heading to Florida on Tues. the 21st; Joshua and Corey will be with us over the holidays until the 3rd of Jan. Anyone that wishes to write Joshua a note of encouragement his address is 15270 Riviera Lane, La Mirada, CA 90638. We will post more when we're together. Thank you to all for your continued prayers as we travel this week.

Merry Christmas
Kevin, Laura, Joshua and Corey

Late post on Thanksgiving

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Holiday Greetings!
We realized this year as we sat down to eat our thanksgiving dinner, this was the first year it has just been us (Kevin and Laura). We discussed buying a locally raised turkey but decided against that for a couple of reasons: the first is that a locally raised turkey costs about $40.00 for a 8-10 LB bird...OUCH the second we would be in the states soon and could get a HUGE bird for about $10.00. So we went out and got a "small" chicken at the store...(see pic)

Hey, I told you we bought a "small" bird...so my hand is bigger but it was so tasty!! Laura made some great cookies. All in all we had a quite day.

Update on the barn
The barn has been completed and the cow and her calf will be brought in to the property in the next week or so. There is room enough in the attic space to store hay out of the elements.

This should serve the needs of the fellowship for many years.

Wood Shed

We live in an area that has snow for 6+ months of the year, so this year we also added a woodshed to the property so we do not have to dig through the snow to get the firewood to heat the building.

The woodshed is to the right of Laura. It is really nice to have the wood stored out of the snow. Hey it is not really that cold yet, we have only gotten down to -25 degrees. The cold weather is coming.

Keep coming back for regular updates!

Next update... project with School number 1 coming next week.....

Kevin and Laura

November 2010

2010-11-11T01:41:00.000-08:00

Greetings Dear Friends from Siberia!

Weare so thankful for each and every one of you…..we are blessed to have suchwonderful family and friends! We realized however, that you had not heard fromus over the last month and wanted to get an update out before the holidays takeover everything in our already busy lives! J The leaves have changed and fallen from the trees. Thetemperatures have begun their descent for the winter months ahead and everyoneis building up the woodpiles and finishing up outdoor projects. We have beentruly blessed with warm weather so far but know it can change in an hour’s time!

Wewill be heading back to the States in December for a six month ‘homeassignment.’ We will be flying from the East this time and will have a shortstop in CA before landing in FL on the 21^st of Dec. WhyCalifornia??? Joshua will be graduatingfrom Biola and we were able to work out the timing so we could join in thecelebration! At this time, we have a fewcommitments already scheduled but we will personally be getting touch with manyof you to set up times as we come to your ‘neck of the woods!’ PLEASE don’t forget the folks and the workhere though! Plans are in full swing to have a wonderful celebration in thefellowship. Historically, New Years has been the BIGGEST holiday of all. Thisyear the group has decided to have a larger celebration for Christmas than thatof New Years. What an amazing step toshow their friends and family the importance of this Holiday of Holidays…thebirth of the Messiah. We see more of an emphasis on the ‘reason for the season’this year than in the past…remember them as they will use this opportunity toshare with family and friends the true importance of Christmas. They will also have a feast together and eachfamily will prepare something like skits, songs, verses they’ve memorized,etc… We’re blessed to have a great groupof ladies who will make new banners to help decorate the hall and fill it withother decorations and of course pine branches for that wonderful aroma of theholiday.

Something for us that has been awesome to see is that when people really become committed to the localfellowship, they want to start giving tithes and offerings. Of course thatisn’t always financial giving but here’s a perfect example of giving…. A few years back a local family donated aHeifer, and… well as things go… the cow gave birth every year. This month we will be bringing the heifer andher calf to their new barn on the property. The cow will be supplying the local fellowship with milk for ourmeetings…people love milk in tea here, as well as giving us the opportunity tosell the calf in the future. By selling the meat, we can help with the costs ofall the different ‘works’ and running of the building for the fellowship. The fellowship also has a pig and should havea litter of piglets in the spring. (Yes we are in a rural setting here as youcan tell.) All will be used to furtherthe work we are involved in!

(Completed pictures of the 'barn' will be posted very soon!)

With victories,come defeats…we fight against an enemy that knows our weaknesses. He wants usto be defeated and live a hopeless life. We have written in the past of a youngman that made a decision and has grown spiritually over the past months. “Sam”struggled with alcohol before and had been sober for a year. He recentlycelebrated his birthday and was swept up into drinking again for several days.We have begun counseling him and his wife and continue to ask for wisdom inspeaking truth and love into their lives. We know the father’s will is for somuch more! Jeremiah 29:11 says; for I know the plans I have for you, declares the lord, plans forwelfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Remember thisfamily often as they work to regain that hope.

The visa saga continues…for those of you who have followed us and our writings for any lengthof time; you are very aware of the amount of time, energy, and money it takesto continually have a current visa. This allows us to live and work in Russia.We’d like to go back and give a bit of our visa history…over the years we havehad several types of visa’s to stay and work here; from worker for hire visas,guest visas, cultural exchange and some others in between. In 2008 we had to travel out of country 3 timesin order to obtain new visas. On one ofour trips back, we applied for what is called a temporary residencepermit. The process for granting such apermit normally takes about 6 months (180 days). The process for applicationsto get a permit takes a full week of running from one government office toanother…and running from one blood test to another. (You’d be surprised at whatthey check for) In August of 2008 wewere granted a 3 year temporary residency permit…PTL. We saw that as a direct answer to the manytimes this need was lifted up on our behalf. Let’s jump ahead to 2010…The next step after the 3 year temporary permitis what is similar to a “Green Card”. InJune of this year we applied for the new status. Again we had to go through ALLthe blood tests and such. After finallycompleting the process, we turned in our papers and again the officials have 6months (180 days) to review the entire application and give the applicant a yesor no. The first week of November wewent into the office to check on the status of our application. It was amazingthey not only remembered us they also knew where we lived. They were veryfriendly and assured us that we they would complete our paperwork and issue usthe permit the first part of December. If we are issued this type of permission to live here, we no longer needvisas to travel in and out of country and the length of the permission will be5 years…continue to lift up this need for us!

Several months ago,we wrote you on our own financial crisis. Again we see this as a distraction tothe work here. We continue to run in thenegative with our organization and as we stated earlier, we’ll be heading backto the states for several months beginning in December. One of our tasks will be to try and raise oursupport level. We again have had to cutour monthly income to not fall further behind with our organization. This is of concern to us because the amountof funds we have to put into the work is also affected. We are asking forcontinued prayer and wisdom as we totally trust the one who led us here and hassustained us over the past 14+ years!

Joshua…… is nowgraduating from BIOLA University in Los Angeles. Hard to believe so much time has passed andthat you all have been a part of our family for so long. His graduation is set for December 17,2010. Biola is an awesome school and hisexperience there has been incredible. Anyone that wishes to write him a note of encouragement his address is15270 Riviera Lane, La Mirada, CA 90638.

Corey…is currentlyserving his country in the US Army and he’s stationed in Ft. Carson, CO. I know he wouldappreciate your prayers and word of encouragement. Unfortunately, as of thiswriting, we don’t have his mailing address. He has been moved twice already andwill move one more time before getting settled on base. We will be certain to get hisaddress out as soon as we have one!

Giving Thanks in ALL things!

Kevin& Laura

Oct/Nov 2010...

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View of our village from a nearby mountain.

Outside our bedroom window.

Winter is here, not that we have a lot of snow...actually,we don't any right now... but we knowit is coming. We have been extremely blessed this year with a very warm October! A couple of snow flurries here and there and some very windy and cold nights. For the most part...the nights are just below freezing and the days in the 30's and 40's! This month has flown by and we can't believe that November is only a few days away!

Flying in country can at times be...exciting at best....this last trip was one of those. ( We want to add here that not ALL in-country airlines are old, outdated, or poorly run. There are many that are up-to-date and quite nice.)
Earlier this month, we were able to fly over a 1000 miles north of here to the city of Yakutsk. The above picture isn't the plane we flew but the same type and the weather was like this when we landed in Yakutsk. We were supposed to fly in a jet, however, they only sold 20 tickets so the smaller (and much older) plane was the solution.
The reason for the flight was to take a trip to visit a wonderful family that has labored in this vast country for the better part of 2 decades. It was a good time of fellowship and encouragement for us and hopefully the family we visited.

September 2010

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Fall has officially arrived...the leaves are changing so winter is just around the corner! We have been blessed with beautiful,warm weather and today a little rain :) Since it's raining, we thought we'd take advantage of some 'down time' to add some pictures and let you know what's happening with the Wooster's!

First the home front.....new windows are in YEA! The workers are actually finishing up (we hope) installing our new windows! No more frozen windows and having to tape up, fill in cracks, and still watch a breeze get through at -40. We can now finish the rest of our remodeling (painting and papering) and relax when we get home. THANK YOU to those who sent extra support to help us out!! We are so humbled and grateful for your love and the funds when things are so financially difficult these days....thank you!

Taking out the old....


New windows and balcony door....

We were finally able to find a saw mill that would sell 'us' wood....usually they send it to China....so we can finish the porch and some other smaller projects at the fellowship property. The guys have been busy buying cow hides to clean and dry for the making of saddles. For the moment, this process is done outside ( the smell is a bit strong) and the skins need to soak in water for several days. Of course this will be a bit difficult at below zero temperatures...so we're racing to get as many hides ready as possible before the freeze. Please continue to remember this work...there is a lot of interest from the community and the goal is to begin teaching this craft very soon to some new people. We'd love to give the ability to start a business in saddle making to some folks in this region since unemployment is around the 60% rate. We will also use our saddle shop/wood shop to teach young men/boys to make furniture. We have a man that teaches shop skills at the local school and the hope is that this year he can bring some of his students to our shop and begin working them more closely. Another chance to teach not only work skills but life skills as well.

Another window was put in this past week for a local woman...we'll let the pictures tell the story....

August Update

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Our class

Block of wood we start with

after many lines and lots of cuts we end up with this

a saddle tree all made from pine

Our saddle tree after we coated it with rawhide...

The saddle seat started...come back to see the final next blog

Giddy-up there cowboys!! There’s a saddle shop in the making in ….Siberia?!?? It’s true, the project to make saddles has begun and the learning process is going very well. We have two local men along with Kevin and our fellow worker Doug learning everything from making the ‘tree’, the wooden portion under the leather, cleaning and drying the cowhide needed, to cutting, fitting, and sewing the leather onto the tree. There is much more to this process and in the future I (Laura) will let Kevin get into the details…for now, check out the pictures……

Even more exciting than saddles …five new family members were added this month! It was a wonderful celebration with many friends and family members attending, over 50 people in all were there. There was one young man who made this decision and asks for prayer as he strives to be the leader of his home and the husband and father that our father would desire of him. Please keep these folks in your thoughts and prayers and they grow in their understanding and love for their Father!

Great day for the event

We’ve been able to get the steps and porch almost completed on the main building where the fellowship meets. We need to place the hand railings on the steps and some benches on the porch…we still have plenty of time before winterJ.

The garden is just fantastic this year! We have been so blessed with rainy days followed by lots of sunny, warm days! Anyone want some zucchini???? How about green beans???? We can’t give them away fast enough….good problem to have though….the potatoes are delicious, but we haven’t dug them all up just yet. We will most definitely have a wonderful harvest this year, food that will get many through those long winter months!

With September just around the corner, our home groups, men and women’s study groups, and our youth will begin meeting again. Remember us as we seek wisdom in what to share and that most of all, it would be understandable in their language! Please keep the fellowship in your thoughts and prayers as well as the projects.

Joyfully Blessed,

Kevin & Laura

Prayer and Praise

Pray for the boys as they are both very busy….Joshua is in his final semester at Biola University in CA and Corey is in training at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri, he finished Army basic training on the 26^th of August. If you would like to write either of them, drop us a note and we will send you their addresses.

Praise him for his continued provision for the work here.

July 2010

2010-07-22T18:57:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Kevin and Laura...

It has been a busy month...we have done some remodeling, been to a wedding in the city, worked in the garden, helped get the workshop up and running among other things.

Remodeling, what can be said; we have found out that NONE of our walls are straight. This makes it fun to hang a new door, lay linoleum, plaster...well pretty much anything you want to do. Never the less, we have been able to accomplish a few projects. We have installed a new floor in our kitchen and put up our new kitchen cabinets. In our bedroom we have been able to get the door replaced and curtain rods and curtains hung. We are hoping next week to tackle the bathroom, it would be nice to finally have hot water :).

Weddings... They are always nice to go to but his one was really special. Our friend Peter, age 38, got married for the first time! Peter was the second guy to shake our hands when we got off the train in 1997! He's been a language helper, painter, but most of all a great friend for these past 13 yrs. It was a great time to see two lives come together to form one, with Jesus as the center of their marriage they are starting off for sure on the right foot.

Garden...Yes we have a WONDERFUL garden this year thanks to Laura's parents for sending us lots of seeds from PA. It is amazing to us how fast the weeds can take over...kinda like life. If we do not weed out and hoe around and fertilize (get rid of sin in our life, stay in the word and grow in his knowledge) we too will not "grow" as He intends.

Workshop...We have written much on this topic in the past and we have made real progress this past month in getting the shop up and running. We have tables for all our machinery and workbenches set up. The entire place was rewired and we have hung light bulbs (not enough $ for light fixtures). We have a month long class starting the 2nd of August on how to build saddles. There is an expert saddle maker coming from Oregon to lead this program for us. Should be a GREAT month!

The fellowship is growing in His knowledge and it is great to see the interest in Him increase.

An AWESOME verse and also our verse for the year...Philippians 3:13-14.

Keep looking up!
Blessings
Kevin and Laura

June 22 update

2010-06-21T19:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Faithful Family and Friends;
Just a quick update on what’s happening with the Wooster’s this month…..last Wed. we were finally able to acquire our registration to live in the village. (Let me explain a little farther.)

Everyone has to be registered somewhere…even the nationals. So when you move to another city or area you have to move your registration. Normally this isn’t too difficult, but always time consuming! We began our ‘transfer’ on June 10th and we were finally finished on June 16th in the morning. It’s seems we’re the first Americans in the village and the head guy wasn’t sure what to do with us…so he made a few calls with the office here in the city, there was a federal holiday on Mon, and by Wed morning after 5 trips to the local office in the village all was AOK…. we received our stamp in our passports to live in the village.

Upon our return to the city, we then continued packing our apartment. We were also able to start the process to get long term permission to live in the region, similar to a “Green Card” in the States. After several trips (7 or 8) to the head office for immigration control, our papers were accepted yesterday, June.21st. The officials have 6 months to review our request and grant us permission or deny our request.
So as NOT to be a boring week, our car needed some major repairs again. It seems these weekly trips to the village and back are starting to show. This kept us in the city a few days longer than we wanted but also allowed us to get more things done here before the big move.

Please continue to remember us as we transition to “village life”. Thank you for the continued prayers and support…we are so very blessed!

2009-12-08T03:05:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Dear Family and Friends!

We LOVE this time of year…for us, we have snow already which is even more special. It just seems to make the season complete somehow. Then there’s the baking of pies and cookies, the preparations for a huge meal with friends and family…turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, various vegetables, and in our house…countless ‘snack’ items to get us ready for the meal! It’s just a great time of fellowship and giving thanks for our many blessings over the past year.

And what does God’s Word say about ‘thanksgiving’? There aren’t enough pages or hours to share in depth; however, we’d like to share just a few things we found to remind us of how to give thanks! In Leviticus, we see ‘physical’ offerings given in thanks to God for His countless blessings. The Psalms are filled with numerous exaltations to give thanks with joy, shouts of joy, in song, with all our heart, with praise and glory for Him only….you can picture an endless parade of worshipers giving thanks in ‘all’ things to Him who is so worthy.

What are ‘we’ thankful for? YOU! Each one of you; who so faithfully lifts us in prayer, sends us emails with words of encouragement and love, and financial support for the work we have been given. We are so blessed! THANK YOU

Giving Thanks with Joy,

Kevin & Laura

Hebrews 12:28

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November 2009

2009-11-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Update

Men Coming Together:

Exciting news….Kevin and a fellow co-worker began a men’s ‘work’ this past month. The first meeting was held in the city in conjunction with an existing fellowship. Kevin and the leaders felt this would be a great introduction to the themes they intend to work through with the men. To say it was a success does not come close to the response from the men who attended! They are working through issues that are incredibly difficult…forgiveness, how to be leaders in their homes, how to be Godly men. Kevin has come back from each meeting so encouraged because of the participation and the openness to begin working through the issues. PLEASE keep these men in your prayers…these steps are HUGE and will take a LOT of time.

WOW (Windows of Warmth)

This project has definitely not been forgotten…the other projects had to been done in the warmer weather; windows can be out in, in a day... even in our ‘cooler’ fall temperatures. We’ve been able to put in one new window and will put in another set by the reading of this newsletter.( There are other potential recipients; we pray time and weather will remain on our side.) One of the recipients is a woman from the fellowship. This woman’s kitchen windows were taped together in pieces and only one layer instead of the needed two. (Can you imagine one pane of glass between you and -40 degree temperatures?) She’s in her 60’s and works at least two jobs to support her family. (Her husband is an invalid- from drinking, her oldest son recently died from drinking, and she always has grandchildren who need some type of care!) No matter how little she may have, if she hears of a need…she’ll find a way to fill it! She’s a wonderful example of His love and caring for others. It’s wonderful to see her on the receiving end of such a gift that will last a long time.

What Happens When People Pray:

“The Prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 Over the last several weeks, there have been incredible examples of giving to others among those attending in the village. So often it has been ALL about THEIR needs first and about how poor they are. We see them giving out of what very little they have and doing it JOYFULLY!! This of course is a result of your faithful prayers!!! Thank you….it’s these little victories that keep us going when: the weather turns cold again, the two hour drive (90 mi) is long and bumpy, and things that should take a few hours take a day or more!! We’re so grateful to be a part of this for this ‘season.’

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” Luke 2:10

Praise:

Growth in the fellowship
Seeing JOY in action (Jesus,Others,You)
Men’s group
His provisions for our needs

Requests:

Keeping our focus on Him first!
Wisdom
That more would ‘hear’ and ‘come’

sitting and listening

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today I am listening and was wanting to post....so here goes

Kevin and Laura with Nika

2008-03-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Laura and I with our dog Nika...she is smiling also