Nine years ago on August 28 I proposed to Olga. We were at dacha (a Russian country house) celebrating her grandmother’s birthday. A couple of days ago, we had another birthday lunch under the apple trees at dacha. Russians love to give toasts at special occasions. Orest Grooten, Olga’s grandfather, gives a toast to his [...]
As a service to ministries and folks in St. Petersburg, here is a map of flea markets in Finland. I will constantly update the map as we find more kirppisi (actually, kirppikset), so check back as often as you will. And let me know if I need to correct or remove any listings. (Accuracy isn’t [...]
Back in 1959 a showcase of American life was presented in Moscow, something unseen by Russians; during the Stalin years they couldn’t even dream of such a thing. The Americans brought everything imaginable – cars, food, Coca-Cola and jeans; and they also brought some really large objects like an American shopping mall and a typical [...]
Continue reading about Moscow 1959: The American National Exhibition
A few uses of trademarks in Russia –
The Great Tree at Elama met its demise –
Here are recent pictures of our camp. We have about 30 children from the far north, from a town named Novodvinsk. As you can see, they are making use of the new buildings, and we continue to add more facilities. Now we need a good well, since the water supply is not reliable. I leave [...]
Here are some pictures from the last few days at Elama. The kids arrived for camp yesterday, so we should have pictures of camp soon. I enjoyed building some tables and benches, and Sergei finished up the cook stove in the summer kitchen. We also had quite a few people from Christ for the World, [...]
I recently received this from MIR board member Marina Topoltsyeva. Marina is also the director of Road of Life, a transitional home for graduate orphans in St. Petersburg. Marina visited a shelter in the countryside – Dear Friends, Here are pictures I took at the shelter my friends from the church started in the village [...]
We returned on Sunday to a beautiful St. Petersburg, Russia. The weather has been perfect, and it has been great to start reconnecting with family and friends after such a long stay in the US. Olga took the picture above, in the park across the street from our flat. We are thankful for the many [...]
