New places!
June 15, 2010
Here’s an update from Christina Melton –
Last week, Violeta and I and some friends of ours from Nikšić went up to the mountains to scope out possible hikes for teenage camp, which is approaching quickly!
We set out from Nikšić and expected a 2 hour drive; however, we came upon road construction and were forced to go backwards and take another road (typical Montenegro!), which meant lots more time on the car
I thought that I had seen all the pretty places in Montenegro, but I was completely wrong. Thanks to the road closing, we got to drive past Piva Lake, which was once a deep canyon and was then filled with water. I think I have found my new favorite lake! (I didn’t take this picture, but this is what we saw as we headed up the road away from the lake!)
We then set out for Durmitor National Park with just under a quarter tank of gas. After about 30 minutes of beautiful, hilly, sheep-filled landscape, our gas light came on. Oops.
Thankfully, we made it to a gas station by driving downhill in neutral, but we had a moment there when we though we were going to get stuck in the middle of nowhere!
Here are some pictures (again, that I did not take, but our friend from Nikšić took along the way) to give you an idea of what the middle of nowhere looks like:
The drive was much longer, but indescribably beautiful. I never expected to see snow in June, but there it is!!
Of course, this is proof that inconveniences like closed roads can actually lead to better adventures than we initially have in mind.
Vladimir Cizmanski — News from Montenegro
June 15, 2010
Here’s a recent update from Vladimir Cizmanski, pastor of the Brethren Assembly in Podgorica, Montenegro. Our own Christina Melton leads the youth ministry there and helps with the worship team.
We are grateful for all your prayers for us and the advancement of His kingdom in Montenegro.
Before us there is a lot of work and there are many needs present, but we are thankful to God that He gives us the strength to go on.
In memoriam
Some sad news which took us by complete surprise was the passing away from this world of our sister in Christ, Biserka. She had already been in hospital for a long time, but there had been no signs that she would be taken from us. She was only 56 years old and was one of the first people to give her life to the Lord at the start of our ministry.
We believe she has gone a much better place and is freed of the shackles that she wanted to be free of and now is looking at the face of her Saviour Jesus Christ.
Moving house
Some of already know that we moved into another house which is twice as large as the old one. We are very glad to have left the house where we have been for 10 years and which, especially in winter, had lots of problems with damp. This was one of the reasons for us moving, but the other reason was the need for a larger place that we could use for housing guests.
Tanja and Denis’s wedding
We are glad that Tanja and Denis from the Congo got married. It is a great challenge to find another individual knows the Lord and to sort out all the other things in married life together.
Even though we miss Tanja, because she now lives in Belgrade, we are happy that she has found her fellow-traveller through life.
Formation of a Vision and Mission Statement
In the course of the life of our small fellowship we have come to the conclusion that we should facet he challenge of asking ourselves what we are and what our desire is to become. For several weeks we have been getting together for special meetings to talk about a statement of our vision and mission. I believe that we are near the end of this process and that we will soon have a quality and an all-encompassing idea which will be an encouragement to hold fast to the goal of our existence.
We are very glad that the teenager work is continuing. A teenagers’ camp is very soon upon us, for which interest has been constantly growing. We believe that a new generation of people are coming that need even now to get to know Christ. We are praying that the camp would be a place where many will get to know the beauty and majesty of life with Him.
Picnics, 1st and 21st May
According to a well-established tradition, this year we had outings in nature where about 50 people attend each of them. Many of them were teenagers. This is a good opportunity for informal conversations, getting to know friends and for encouragement. On both outings there were people there that we had not had any contact with before. On the second picnic on the 21st May our guests were the Majerskis and David Brown from Northern Ireland. Brother David shared a message from the Bible which completed our enjoyment in natural surroundings that God created for us.
Paradox #1: Security
June 12, 2010
from On Life in St.Petersburg by Liz Hulley –
I’m starting a series on paradoxes of faith! You know, those aspects that are a little hard to express logically, yet fill us with wonder about God.
Today’s topic relates to our life on earth. What kind of life does God promise us, and what type of behavior does He expect from us? Certain factors can be confusing.
The Lord tells us not to worry about earthly comforts, yet offers consolation when we DO worry.
A Little Thing Called Housing
Raise your hand if you haven’t ever worried about where you were going to live. I will include here any traveling, and even choosing a bunk at camp-hey, that can be a long week!
The Bible says that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head (Lk. 9:58). This can be applied in different ways, and is tragic considering that He was a king. Personally, I read this as illustrating the fact that he was born in humble conditions, and that His ministry required Him to give up many comforts.
When you don’t know where you are going to sleep one night or sometime in the future, I don’t think it is the time to point out that children in some remote country sleep outside, although thankfulness is a good character trait…and actually, thinking of Haiti does make me count my blessings.
But, getting back to the point…studying the life of Christ serves a few different purposes, among them: 1) To learn to follow His example, and 2) To be assured that He UNDERSTANDS.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, which was modeled by Jesus, we ask about our daily bread-very much an earthly, practical need, but one that He himself deemed worthy to bring before God.
When we try to live as though we don’t care about our living conditions, we are really just burying anxiety. We are either at peace about it or we aren’t. There is no indifferent middle ground. And if anxiety is there, we must deliver it to the Lord. Though He tells us not to worry, He means that we ought to deliver our worry up to Him.
Meet the Knobels
June 12, 2010
We’d like to introduce the Knobel Family. Jay and Joanna are volunteers working with our newsletters and website. We are very happy to have them join us.
Jay and Joanna Knobel live in Southern California with their two children, Jadyn and Dasha. Joanna is a 2nd grade teacher and has a great love for children. Jay has worked in the field of technology services for the last 13 years.
They met in 1993 at Vanguard University where they both earned their undergraduate degrees. In the years since, they have been youth pastors, associate pastors, and have led two teams to Russia as part of our summer camp ministry.
On paper, both have Master’s degrees and Jay is an ordained minister. Much more important to them, on their hearts is the incredible story of God’s redemptive power. Having struggled through some very difficult times, with thankful hearts they gladly tell that it was the Lord’s own hand that led them through it all.
Jadyn, their oldest daughter was adopted from St. Petersburg, Russia in 2004. Dasha, their youngest daughter, was adopted from Sosnova (St. Petersburg Region), Russia in 2007. Jadyn is now 7 and thoroughly enjoys art and anything creative; Dasha is now 5 and lives for gymnastics.
Jay and Joanna are now Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children in the system in Orange County, CA. In April 2010, they decided the Lord was leading them to adopt again, this time from the United States. They are a regular part of both a traditional church and a home church, considering both to be a terrific source of community for their family.
The Knobels continue to have a special spot in their hearts for orphans and neglected children, and have desired to be supportive of Stoneworks in whatever way possible. Living in Southern California with 2 young children, the opportunities seemed limited. Then in January, 2010, an opportunity opened up for them to begin helping with our email newsletters . Having worked on those for several months, they look forward to and count it a joy to continue.
Here’s a word from them: ‘The Lord has been so graceful to us in recent years, we are very excited to rekindle our relationship with Stoneworks and count ourselves blessed to be among friends. Our strong desire is to remain open to the Lord’s voice as he directs us in support of His Kingdom.’
The End of the Beginning
June 9, 2010
This building project has ended, just in time for the beginning of the summer.
A team from Athens, GA returned yesterday from building two pavilions at Camp Elama, in Russia. Click here to see a slide show of their first few days. Pictured above is the large pavilion which will be used for gatherings and meals. A smaller pavilion will be used as a summer kitchen.
We are so very thankful for all the hard work of so many people. One of the team members said he was very impressed by the quality of the people working on the project. So, now is a good time to mention a few of those people:
Allen Amason was the US team leader and made this all possible by his tireless work and enthusiasm. Sergei Tovstapyat is the camp administrator and was the project manager for this work. John and Karen Bull helped in innumerable ways. Masha Oshkina is the Executive Director of MIR and helped with team coordination and was with the team for a few days. Olga Cantrell handled food planning and team administration. Mia Häyrinen came over from Finland to work with the team.
We are very thankful for the relationships that God has given us. Our love for God and for one another is more important that the tasks we do. God does indeed set us together as living stones. And times like this show how true that is.
Expressing Intentions
June 3, 2010
Here’s another post from Liz Hulley –
When you are “planning” to do something, what is your degree of intent? I’m just curious because apparently in the Russian language, “planning” is tentative. That is, “planning” to do something means that you still aren’t sure. I don’t know if this is a linguistic distinction, or cultural, or both.
In class today we asked the teacher what the difference was between “thinking” about doing something and “planning” to do something. She said they were synonyms. We asked how you could express “planning” to do something, but when you are sure. She said that didn’t happen. Hmm, okay…
Here’s how I picture the English verbs working:
1) I’m thinking about going/I might go to the beach tomorrow (tentative).
2) I’m planning to go to the beach tomorrow if the weather’s nice (conditional: I’ll go IF x happens).
3) I’m planning to go to the beach unless it rains (conditional: I’ll go UNLESS x happens).
4) I’m going to the beach tomorrow (no question).
I would definitely view option 3 as closer to yes than no. But these are all assumptions from my own head. Maybe I’m wrong?
Construction Team at Elama
June 1, 2010
We have a team in Russia now, building two pavilions at Camp Elama. The team is from St. James United Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia. They are doing a great job. Here’s a slide show of their first few days there –
Special thanks to Masha Oshkina, MIR Executive Director, for sending these photos –
