February began with the most snowfall we’ve seen so far, but has thankfully ended with sunny days and warmer weather. I think we’ve seen the last of the snow for now, but you never know. The result of having snow and cold weather is that most people stay indoors. This means that normally you don’t see as much of your neighbors as you do during warm weather when everyone is outside, but we were blessed with just the opposite. We spent most of the month visiting our close neighbors either at our place or theirs. Our neighbor Olya invited us over several times for a “light snack” which meant she would stuff us full of food until it hurt. Olya’s two granddaughters also spent a considerable amount of time over at our place doing their best to torment Dominic and Joshua the way little girls do.
Oksana from downstairs spent a lot of time at our place too. We helped her out with her English homework and showed her how to bake Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. We like having Oksana come up because she enjoys doing housework with Edna. She helps with folding clothes and even doing some cooking for us. She made млинці (mlytsi), which is like crepes, and filled them with strawberry jam. She ended up bringing her mother, Svitlana, and little sister, Natasha, up to help finish. Mom always makes the best млинці. Edna has discovered that Oksana sells Oriflame cosmetics (like Avon), so it seems Oksana is quite the saleswoman as well.
Oksana mixing while Joshua plays in the flour
Natasha came up for a visit while her mom helped out in the kitchen
Oksana has also been attending our English Club at the Rosava which we started this month. The best part of all this is that Oksana now wants to go to church with us. She usually goes to her grandmother’s on Sundays so she has to work around that, but her parents said it was OK and she is eager to go with us one Sunday. She said that she is looking forward to singing some of the songs that we let her listen to. Please keep her in your prayers.
English Club at the Rosava: Oksana, Kristina, Edna, Nastia, Olya, and Anya
On February 3rd, our church held a ceremony to confirm Fedir as a deacon and me as a pastor in the church. It was an honor to have the pastors and elders come down from our sister church in Kyiv and pray over us and give their blessing to continue in the ministry we are involved in here.
Ordination
The next day I was asked to deliver a message at the funeral of our friend Maria’s great aunt, Baba Hanya. You can read more about that day by clicking HERE.
Message at Baba Hanya's Funeral
The Children’s Ministry on Sundays continues to be exciting for us and the children as we are currently learning about the life of Joseph from the book of Genesis. It’s been fun for me and Edna to come up with crafts that correspond to the story. The kids really like how the story continues each week.
Learning about Joseph
Edna, Dominic, and Maxime: Busy Bees
At home, Edna is still teaching English to Oleh and Kristina every Friday. Oleh’s parents, our landlords, often invite Joshua to spend the night with them, so Joshua always looks forward to Fridays. The time Joshua spends with them really helps both boys’ language skills. Oleh learns more English and Joshua picks up more Ukrainian/Russian. Kristina is doing very well as Edna and I both teach her to not just speak English, but to translate it. Edna is currently working with Kristina on learning English Biblical terms.
Oleh and Edna
Maxime of course, continues to be a regular in our household and is always eager to go to church with us. The more we learn about his home life the more we understand why he wants to spend so much time with us. We were finally able to buy Maxime a Ukrainian Bible so that he has one of his own. He told us that he reads it every night and is very proud of his little blue Bible. We feel blessed to have him in our lives.
Maxime sleeping in a Tanker helmet
Dominic and Joshua are both doing well in school as they plug along learning the language and culture. Joshua seems to really enjoy his art classes and does surprisingly well considering the importance that Ukrainians place on art and music. Dominic is still learning to be patient with his English teacher who seems to be in denial about her lack of understanding when it comes to English grammar and speech, but is otherwise happy. We are surprised at how being here has taught both of them to be more independent. Joshua often goes with us on Wednesdays to English Club at the invalid center, where he then takes the bus by himself across town to go to school. Both boys have no problem running to the store for us and completing their transactions in Ukrainian. Being here has been a wonderful blessing for all of us.
This month Edna wanted to share her Borshch recipe that our neighbor Olya has put her stamp of approval on as authentic Ukrainian Borshch. Enjoy!
Ednochka’s Ukrainian Chicken Borshch
5 pieces of chicken on the bone
1 chicken flavored bouillon cube
4 bay leaves
4 - 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cabbage sliced or shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium or large beet, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Fresh dill and parsley (2 pinches each)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
1 tablespoon oil
Sour cream (garnish)
1 liter water (more if you like it soupy)
Boil chicken in large pot with water, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and oil. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. While chicken is cooking prepare the remaining ingredients. Then, in a separate pan, combine butter, tomato paste, onion, beet, and carrot. Let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Remove chicken and pick off the meat. Discard fat, skin, and bones. Return chicken to pot. Add bouillon cube, potatoes, cabbage, garlic, dill, parsley, salt, and pepper. Once it boils, add beet mixture from separate pan. Let simmer for 1 hour. Serve hot with plenty of sour cream to taste!
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. – Isaiah 55:1-2
"The sovereign God wants to be loved for Himself and honored for Himself, but that is only part of what He wants. The other part is that He wants us to know that when we have Him we have everything -- we have all the rest." - A. W. Tozer
Prayer Requests
• That God would continue to lead us according to His plan
• That God would raise up others to come here to serve
• Finding a good teacher for Ukrainian lessons through the language school
• For the continued growth of the Children's Ministry on Sundays
• Financial provisions for our trip to America this year
• God's leading in continuing the English Club at the Rosava
• Opportunities for sharing the Gospel with our neighbors
• That other church members will volunteer to help with the children's ministry
• Health and safety
• God's leading in how to best reach the unsaved at the Invalid Center
• Spiritual growth and discernment
• Pray that Edna would have the opportunity to share the saving message of Christ with Maxime’s mother, Vera
• That God would use us in the lives of Oleh and his parents.
• That Oksana would be able to go to church with us.
Support can be sent to:
Calvary SLO
P.O. Box 1463
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
With an attached note: "For Greg and Edna Silva"
In Christ,
Greg, Edna, Dominic, and Joshua
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