Meet Tanya
February 25, 2010
MIR recently added a new staff member. Here’s a post from MIR Executive Director Masha Oshkina:
Please meet Tanya Zaikina, the NEW coordinator for the MIR hosting program. Here are a few words she wanted to share with you:
Hello, my name is Tanya. I’m really exited to be on staff with MIR and be involved with hosting orphans from Russia.
I like drawing and traveling. I like animals, especially dogs, cats and horses. Also I like to walk and listening to good music.
One of my desires is to know English like I know Russian.
Another kind of anniversary
February 4, 2010
Another note from our own Liz Hulley –
This week, Russia celebrates 20 years of….McDonald’s!
I would like to leave the fast-food (health) debate for the moment and comment on the culture implications. This kind of anniversary is interesting when looked at in the light of what was going on the world at the time.
1990: I was almost 8 years old and probably didn’t know that the USSR existed. And I barely knew what McDonald’s was, as I wasn’t raised on fast-food.
Meanwhile, in Russia, an interesting “cultural” exchange was taking place. I enjoyed reading the accounts in Monday’s local paper (Metro) about people’s memories of the first McDonald’s opening in Moscow.
They speak of the lines, the intrigue, the scent of a new kind of food. People who had worked as servers describe the pressure they felt, then the relief as the idea took on.
I don’t know exactly which characteristics of American culture are represented by McDonald’s cuisine: Convenience? Mass-marketing? Consumerism? At any rate, in some ways this was a little crack in the cultural barrier. Something that could be “shared”?
An interesting excerpt from Metro (Feb.1, 2010).
How many hours do you have to work, to buy a Big Mac?
-in 1990: 2 hours, 10 minutes
-in 2010: 30 minutes
-in 1990: average salary was 297 rubles a month, a Big Mac cost 3 rubles, 75 kopecks
I asked a friend recently what her favorite restaurant was, and she said “McDonald’s.”
I suppose it is cheaper than other establishments in St. Petersburg, but it is still considered “eating out,” not something most people can afford to do regularly.
Making an Effort
January 29, 2010
from On Life in St.Petersburg by Liz Hulley, missionary in Russia –
A couple of kids whom I know in one of the orphanages are both expecting to be adopted soon, after having spent some time with American families.There is a light in their eyes now, or maybe a sense of confidence, that they will soon belong to someone.
It’s bittersweet, because as teenagers, they are making a huge life decision, and they will be missed here.
They come up to me now chattering in English, eager to hone communication skills.
The other day, I was helping Lena write a letter to her potential family. She wanted to write about the rough plane ride home.
I was dictating the words. “Difficult. D-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t.”
I didn’t look at her paper until she was done.
She had written, “Diff I see you lt.” 
I Knew I was Russian . . .
January 26, 2010
From John Bull –
When I was in the 6th grade I received 8 spankings (maximum allowed by the state of Arkansas) at school for selling fireworks at school.
This year, Melissa’s second grade teacher gave the kids a gift for the Christmas holidays.
It was . . . FIREWORKS!
You can buy them and shoot them virtually anywhere in the city.
I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. No spankings here.
Click here to read more.
Stretching the academic muscles
January 21, 2010
from On Life in St.Petersburg by Liz Hulley:
I started my classes again this week. It’s sort of an inter-term because the new semester doesn’t really start until February. Since I paid for classes in January, I figured I’d better go.
Can you tell I was reluctant? I dragged my feet so much on the first day, but I actually had an enjoyable time.
I arrived at 9:30 and found out that I didn’t actually have class for nearly two hours. I hadn’t been able to find out the schedule ahead of time. However, I had known this was a possibility. I headed to a café next door to have a second breakfast and finalize my question list for the FMS.
When I entered the classroom, there was a stack of books on the table, but no sign of anyone. Finally an elderly woman poked her head in. I recognized her from the back of one of my textbooks. She said hello and then disappeared for a few more minutes. Eventually she returned, bringing with her a priest from Argentina who has been in a few of my classes. He was supposed to have an individual class, but everything was moved around.
There we sat-a Catholic, a Protestant, and a Russian, presumably Orthodox. Read more
Challenge
November 2, 2009
Here is a recent post from Liz Hulley –
Looking back at previous blog posts, I noticed that I often post something from Oswald Chambers in October. I wonder why that is. Perhaps the autumn brings about a kind of desperation that makes me reach for something uplifting.
“The challenge to the missionary does not come on the line that people are difficult to get saved, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, that there is a wedge of callous indifference; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ.
‘Believe ye that I am able to do this?’ Our Lord puts that question steadily, it faces us in every individual case we meet.
The one great challenge is – Do I know my Risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit?”*
I don’t have a problem asking myself “What would Jesus do?” I think it is a good idea to follow Christ’s example.
However, we can get into a pattern of striving to make ourselves like Christ, by our own means.
Maybe it’s better to ask ourselves, “Do I trust God in this situation? Have I surrendered this to Him, or am I still trying to do it all myself?”
*Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest -reading for Oct. 27th
A word from Megan Berger
September 2, 2009
Megan will arrive in Russia soon to begin her service in a transitional home for orphans. She recently sent this –
I have been praying for some scripture that would be especially helpful for my time in St. Petersburg.
I was going through a workbook on short-term missions we used as a team on one of my previous trips. I stumbled upon the scripture 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I was resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasicve words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your fauith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s poower.
When I was reading through this passage, I could definitely see how this could be applied to my experience in Russia. It talks in this scripture about fear and though I am not exactly fearful of this trip, I am a little nervous. Nervous about doing things I have never done before such as ride a plane alone or live with a family I do not know.
But I found comfort in this verse because it showed me that its not really about me, its about Him and the work He is going to do through me.
It showed me that by living a God honoring life, that alone can show His love even though there is a language barrier. One thing I have been praying about is the language barrier, I really felt at peace in that area when I read this verse.
The part where it talks about coming with persuasive and wise words (though this was not what Paul probably was talking about) showed me that in some cases actions speak louder than words.
I just wanted to share a little of the insights the Lord gave me when reading this verse.
Welcome to the Bull Family — long-term missionaries
July 29, 2009
We welcome John and Karen Bull to our ‘family’. The Lord is bringing growth through the relationships He is establishing.
John and Karen have become good friends of Stoneworks Executive Director Mike Cantrell, and through that relationship we sense the Lord calling us to work together. John and Karen are based in St. Petersburg, Russia.
They and their four kids (Katie, Melissa, Mark and Matthew) felt the Lord speak to them about moving to Russia in 2006. After much prayer and seeking His ways, they were directed to St. Petersburg for a short term mission trip to work with a family home for graduated orphans.
As the Lord continued to work in their hearts, they started making strides in moving over to officially work with the family home. They arrived in September of 2008 and have been involved with MIR, Road of Life, orphan dormitory work, Child in Danger Shelter and several orphanages. Read more
Our New Administrator
October 14, 2008
Mary Jean Preece has been appointed as our new Administrator. Mary Jean is capable and experienced, but most importantly, she feels a calling to serve the Lord by serving orphans and children in Russia and elsewhere.
The Stoneworks office will move from its current location in Massachusetts to the Atlanta area where Mike and Mary Jean are based.
New Executive Director of Stoneworks
October 14, 2008
Michael Cantrell has been appointed as the new Executive Director of Stoneworks. Mike has been the Director of MIR in Russia and is quite experienced and needs almost no new training to move effectively into his new role.
Dave Hulley, previous Executive Director, plans to remain very involved in the work of Stoneworks as Chairman of the Board of Directors. For the near future he will also remain as special liaison to the work in Belarus.
