Heading Home

We flew back to Moscow on Friday morning to spend a day there as tourists. Here we are standing in front of the GUM mall in Red Square Moscow.

This mall was stunningly beautiful inside and out. Ok, can you tell which ones are the dummies?

Standing in front of the Russian National museum on Red Square. Ask Matthew and Josh about their "souvenier".

For a little historical perspective, here is a picture of Vladimir Lenin (bad Vlad) walking in almost exactly the same spot in Red Square circa 1920. Notice the building in the background.

Watching the changing of the guards at the WWII unknown soldier memorial.

Yes, we had lunch at McDonalds.

Russian mouse art.

My big girls and I.

Taking a wild Metro ride.

On the way home.

Our Last Day

On this day, our team split in two parts. Nate, Josh, Matthew, and I went to the Teen Challenge center in Kultan to speak about the having strong families through following the biblical plan for family life. The message was presented to about 150 men and 30 women present at the auditorium. The message seemed to be well received although it is sometimes hard to tell when speaking through an interpreter.


We were given a tour of the campus which has meeting buildings and residential buildings set in a beautiful rural forested location.

Another wonderful meal was served up at Kultan kitchen. The homemade pelmeni was unbelieveable. For those of you who have not had the blessing of spending time at a Siberian table, pelmeni is a little like ravioli with a meaty filling. It is a Russian speacialty and we really enjoyed it.

Veggie art.

Now that's some snow!

Wednesday's Work

Jessica playing for the kids while we sing.



Colleen leading a game of "Simon Says".

Matthew playing catch with dolls.

Another great Russian tea party. We really love these.

Posing with the best cook in Russia after our last meal at the church.

Driving a bus on these streets requires a good driver.

Let me introduce you to Sergei, the best bus driver in Russia.

More music and singing.

Buddies.

More buddies.

Sisterly love is the same in any language.

Here we are visit the "Source of Life" orphanage project in Taijina. The fund raising letter that I sent to some of you was for this building. The vision for this building is to build four apartments within it for four couples to live in with up to ten orphans each. This will work as a type of Christian foster care. The first apartemnt is expected to be done in April.

Our tour guide and head of this project is Pasha. Pasha was the first man to complete the Teen Challenge program in Siberia. He had a vision for using this building for this purpose and now he oversees the work being done by current Teen Challenge students. Here we see a room being plastered.

Admiring the completed girls' bedroom.

Glow in the dark wallpaper art.

Emily is standing in the very spot where three years earlier I had installed a door. Hey, where's my door? I guess this one looks better.

Pasha showing us the furnace.

Gym art.

Olympic training.

Siberian snowball fight.

A Busy Tuesday

Josh's puppet was lots of fun.



Simple play.



Dolls for all.

What could be better.

Walking the streets of Novokuznetsk

Nate filming the church's building.

More visiting.

Colleen telling a story.

Dolls being studied.

Visiting with Alexander's family. They were such a great family. We felt that we had known them forever. Here, his oldest daughter is giving each of us a little gift that she had made. They were so cute.

Mine was a little green turtle. Alexander suggested that I could use it as a hat.

Hand games.

"Mattu" trying out a Russian kettle bell.

"Ok Mattu, let me show you how it's done."

Girls' games work in any language.

All of us together.