Novosibirsk Part 11: The End!

In the summer of 2005 we returned to California because our 1 year visas had to be renewed.  What I didn't write in my previous posts was how our first years was quite a difficult one.  We expected that a new culture and new language would be the hardest trials to endure but instead enduring the trials that came from our sending church proved to be the toughest.  I do have to clarify that SGA was an amazing organization and we did not experience any difficulties with SGA. 

I have been pondering what to write for this final post and have come to the conclusion that all I will say is the pastor of our sending church was a man with no integrity.  A few weeks before we were set to return to Novosibirsk we were told that we were not being sent back by the church.  I was absolutely heartbroken and cried for days.  Even though we endured some awful experiences with our home church, I still loved the ministry there!  Thanks in large part to one of our biggest supporters, we were given the advice to leave the church.  Without telling anyone, with the support of some of our closest friends and family, and with the financial help of our supporter we sent a letter of resignation.  We returned to Grace Community Church after a 5 year leave and were welcomed with open arms. 

We learned a lot from this trial.  I am happy to say that our relationship with this church and it's leaders was reconciled a couple years later but unfortunately the pastor to this day refuses to seek our forgiveness.  Looking back now I praise God for all that we went through, after all had we not gone through that trial we would not be where we are now!

 

Novosibirsk Part 10 : Our Church

Thankfully the church we attended was only a few minutes walk....actually the church was located in the same building as the training center that Jon taught at so it was very convenient.

  

We took this picture right before leaving for our first Sunday

at our church.

A typical Sunday morning in most churches of Russia.  

Babushkas make up for most of the congregation. 

Our church choir.

Our pastor making announcements at the closing of the 

church service with Jojo in his arms.   Jojo kept smiling 

at him, so our pastor just grabbed him and took him up

front with him!

Jojo and I with Frank and Carol Pass celebrating

something after church.  We are so thankful for their

friendship during the time we lived in Novosibirsk.

Novosibirsk Part 9: Our Neighborhood

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We lived on the outskirts of Akadem Gorodok and outside the city 

center in what was called the "Micro Region "Shaw" ".  It was a 

pretty decent neighborhood with a lot of convenient spots.  This

is the grocery store that was located across the street from us.  This is 

also where I learned the art of "when in Rome do as the Romans

do"........one day I was doing my grocery shopping and I noticed that

people were lining up at the bread counter so I joined in and dis-

covered that around 1:00 every day they brought out fresh, piping hot 

bread!  It was absolutely delicious.  

 

This is one of the strollers we had for Jojo.  It was a stand up stroller

which also converted to a carrier.  We would get so many stares.

People would literally point at us whenever we'd go out on a walk. 

It was also a great conversation starter because every once in a

while people would stop us and ask us how the stroller worked!

 

We also lived right on the edge of a forest.  This is a Russian Orthodox

church that was located right on the very edge.  

 

We lived on Demakova Street and this is a statue

of Mr. Demakova!  No one could really tell us who

he was but I think he was some sort of political 

figure or war hero!!!

  

The local outdoor market was located within a 5 minute walk.  This

was our "cookie" lady.  She had the best chocolate covered

macaroons! We've never been able to find them in Samara.

 

This was our produce lady.  She was super sweet!

 

And this is the bus that we took to get to New York Pizza.  One of

the main transport stops was right across the street from our building!

Novosibirsk Part 8 : Montessori

Shortly after I met Natasha she told me that she took her son Vanya to a Montessori mommy and me class and asked if I wanted to go.  The best part about it was that it was located at the entrance right next door to ours.  Once a week, Jojo and I went to this Montessori class.  He absolutely loved it and it was great for me to meet other moms and spend more time with Natasha.

 

 

Jojo loved getting a hold of his teacher's pens and writing all over her 

papers and she didn't mind one bit.

 

It was always so funny trying to get the little ones to crawl through

this "tunnel".  They always stopped midway and didn't want to get out.

 

This was his teacher Neela.  She really enjoyed

her job and was great with all the little kids.

Novosibirsk Part 7: My Friend Natasha

Natasha was our neighbor Nadia's daughter.  When we invited Nadia to our Christmas party we also asked her to bring along her daughter and her family.  Natasha was also a life saver, I really don't know what I would have done without her.

Here's Natasha, her husband Igor and their little guy Vanya!

I didn't think they would come to our party but I am so thankful

that they did.  After this night Natasha and I were inseparable.

Here we are in Natasha's kitchen.  This was a celebration

for Vanya's birthday.......the naked one in the background!

Natasha and I went on walks almost every single day.  It

was great because otherwise I think I would have stayed

inside our apartment all winter.  

Jojo and Vanya were great buds.  They loved hanging out

together.  I'd love to see them together now!

I wonder how many miles we walked that year!  We were 

always out exploring.

On Easter we went to Natasha's place and hand made

polmenis (Russian dumplings).  They were absolutely

delicious!  

Novosibirsk Part 6 : Our Neighbor Nadia

A couple of weeks after we arrived I was locked out of our apartment.  We had a lock that was a bit tricky to get opened.  Jon had just dropped me off with Jojo and I was so frustrated because I needed to get inside to give Jojo a nap so, I did what any grown woman would do...........I kicked the metal door really hard out of frustration and out came one of our neighbors to make sure all was o.k.  Nadia actually spoke some English and tried to help me out.  I was a little embarrassed of course but it was great meeting a neighbor.  We spoke to Nadia every once in a while and asked her for help in certain situations but it really wasn't until Christmas time that we got to know her better.  One day I baked banana bread and went over to her place to invite her to a Christmas Eve party that we were going to have and that really was the beginning of a great friendship.

We also learned about Russian hospitality from Nadia from

the several times she had us over.  She really went all out

every time.  The first time we went over there we didn't quite

know what to expect.  We had no idea that Russian cuisine

was eaten in courses.  On the table were a variety of salads,

pickled vegetables, breads, and cold cuts.  We ate quite a 

bit of it all but then Nadia brought out the next course.......meat

and potatoes!  We couldn't believe it because we were so

full already.  Then of course was the tea, and desserts.  

Nadia absolutely loved Jojo and he loved her in return.  She

let him do whatever he wanted to do.  He had free reign of

her one room apartment.

We also got to go to Nadia's dacha in the Spring.  That

was a real fun experience.  

Nadia was a real blessing in our lives.  I am so thankful

for her.  She treated us so well and in reality was more 

hospitable than anyone else.  She came to hear Jon

preach one time at our church.  I still pray that she will

come to the Lord, that perhaps a seed was planted in 

her heart.  We tried our best to witness to her between 

our broken Russian and her broken English.  I really

don't think I would have gotten through our first year 

of ministry without Nadia!

Novosibirsk Part 5: Learning A New Language

One of the hardest things about living in Russia is the language barrier.  When we arrived we really couldn't get by at all.  Jon lived in Moscow for a summer as a college student but he only knew "touristy" Russian......that  barely got us by.  We took language lessons together twice a week for a total of 4 hours a week and that was it plus the fact that our teacher went away with her mathematician husband to a speaking engagement in Scotland in the month of November, only two months after our arrival.  But we did our best to learn as much as possible.  Svetlana, our language teacher, was a feisty older woman who came to our home which was extremely convenient.  She also spoke perfect English and we learned a lot about the Russian culture from her.

Here we are in our home with her.  She had us over for tea

one day.

Here's Jon, Jojo, and Judy (Jon's mom) in 

front of Svetlana's house in the forest.

We had to rely a lot on the help of other Russians who spoke English to get by the first few weeks in order to buy all the stuff for our home.  One time I got really sick with a high fever and severe pain on my side.  I actually ended up being hospitalized and this was only  weeks after our arrival.  All I could really say in Russian was "My name is Natalia" and "I don't understand Russian."  Boris, Jon's translator had to accompany me in the ambulance to the hospital and translate for me with all the doctors.  They thought I had appendicitis and were going to operate on me but thankfully all my blood counts were normal and other tests didn't show any signs of an appendicitis.  Boris couldn't stay with me the whole time so I ended up in a room with 6 other women not being able to communicate anything.  I was terrified of course but in all honesty those women were so nice and caring for me.  They nurtured me and treated me like their daughter.  After 24 hours I was feeling much better but the doctors wanted to keep me in the hospital for several days to "observe", thankfully our language teacher showed up and demanded that I be released.  I wish I understood everything she said to the doctors but she was really letting them have it and was able to get me set free after I signed a letter.

I also remember every time that I had to go to the grocery store I would get so sick to my stomach. It was awful, I had to really psych myself up just to get out the door.  There are so many other "funny" situations with the language barrier that first year.  I don't know how we did it but we did.  I suppose I used a lot of sign language and our trusty little translation book.  I really learned to depend on the Lord and trust Him in all things.  

  

Novosibirsk Part 4: Ministry

Jon had the opportunity to teach Theology to men at the training center in Novosibirsk.  There were 2 families serving and we replaced another family who had to leave because of health reasons.  The training center was located a few minutes walk from our apartment which was very convenient.

Novosibirsk Biblical Theological Seminary

The church we went to was also located in the training center.

Some of the students.  The student in the front row and in 

the middle is Hector and he is actually from Argentina!  It

was great fun to actually be able to communicate with him

in Spanish!  

This was a special lunch for one of the staff's birthday.

Some of the students came over for lunch one day. 

This man is Boris and he was Jon's translator and a huge

help to us.  He claims that he learned to speak English by

watching cartoons in English.  He said a lot of funny things

that Jon and I didn't believe!!!

 

And there's Jon at his desk!

Novosibirsk Part 3 : Akadem Gorodok......

or Academic City in English is the region that we lived in.  In the late 50's, Stalin established Akadem Gorodok as the scientific hub of Russia.  About 65,000 scientists were sent there and established 35 scientific institutes.  Several of our neighbors were scientists who worked at the various institutes.  Our language teacher's husband was actually a brilliant mathematician who authored a ton of math textbooks.  They both lived in a beautiful and huge home in the forest near the institutes that was owned by the government.  She told us that the elite scientists lived in these homes "free of charge".

One of the institutes but I can't make out the name.  Most 

of them were on the main street and since we only took

public transport we never stopped to take pictures of all

the various institutes, now I wish we had!

This is an awful picture but our neighbor Nadia would bring

one of us along to concerts at the Hall of Culture.  This time

Jon went to see a quartet, I got to see my first ballet there.  

Russians love their art and they are extremely talented.

This was our favorite place to eat at.  We would try to go 

at least once a week if we could.  The center of Akadem

Gorodok was not too far but having to take transport and

a baby was never very easy!

This was during the holidays and the main shopping center

was decked out with ice sculptures.  You can only see

Jojo's eyes.  It must have been pretty cold that day.

I just had to put this in there.  This was a woman's clothing

store in the main shopping center!  What were they thinking?

Novosibirsk Part 2: Our New Home

I don't even remember what the first few days were like.  Actually, we stayed with our fellow teammates for a couple of days so that we could buy furniture for our apartment and make our transition easier.   Our new home was located on Ulitsa Demakova on the outskirts of the city center in an area called Akadem Gorodok.  When I first saw our apartment building I was actually pleased.  Jon had long been preparing me for what I should expect and not expect.  Considering that I'm a pessimist I expected the absolute worst.  Now that I live in Samara, I actually miss our building and our apartment but that's another story.

 

This is a view of our building......one of many concrete 

buildings that were built in the Soviet times.  During Soviet

times, the government gave each family their own apartment.

Nowadays if you want to own an apartment you must buy 

one or inherit your grandparent's or parent's place.  When 

we first e-mailed pictures back to our families, my nephew

remarked that it looked like a jail facility.  Others said it 

looked like the projects, but to us this was our home!

 

The entrance to our apartment building!

 

We lived on the 9th floor which really had an amazing

view!  This was our courtyard which was one of the nicest

ones in the neighborhood.  All the little ones and their

mommies always came and played here.  I think the 

courtyard was ideal because it was huge and surrounded

by the buildings which blocked the wind.

This is the "before" picture of our kitchen.  Our kitchen 

was extremely spacious which I miss like crazy but 

there were only two little cabinets which you can see

by the stove and then above.  You can also see that our 

washing machine was in the kitchen because there was 

no room in the bathroom.  The kitchen table was 

borrowed and we had 2 little chairs that came with

the apartment.  It makes me smile to think how little

we had and yet I was so happy with my kitchen.

Yay.....new cabinets!  What a blessing!  It also looks like

I am a lot happier.

Novosibirsk Part 1 : Getting There

Since Jon was away in Omsk at the end of February, I thought I'd hijack his Mac which contains all our digital pictures from a few years ago and post some pictures and thoughts from our first year in ministry in Novosibirsk.

We were sent out to Novosibirsk by Slavic Gospel Association and by a smaller church that we were attending at that time.  Initially our plans were to go soon after Jojo was born in the fall of 2003 but he was born with some health issues and we were advised that it would be best to wait until he was older.  We made the decision to wait it out a bit and try again in the fall of 2004.  Little did we know that a few months after Jojo's birth we would lose Jon's dad to cancer.  We saw Jojo's health issues as God's sovereign plan to keep us Stateside so that we could be by my father-in-laws side when he went on to glory.

In the spring of 2004 we all traveled to Novosibirsk so that I could see what it was like and give my approval.

 

Even though I have to confess I wasn't crazy

about wearing a head covering, I did enjoy

Novosibirsk in the Spring.  We also had an

opportunity to see our apartment, and were

able to hire someone to paint the living room 

and kitchen in the summer so that when we

returned it would be all ready for us.

We returned to the States and began preparing for our big move.  We moved out of our apartment in Montrose and moved in with my mom, sold a lot of furniture, put up a shed in my mom's backyard to store the things we wanted to keep, said a lot of good-byes, visited with a lot of friends, and tried to get a decent picture for our prayer card.

 

Too much sun in our face plus someone is not looking at the camera.

 

The lighting is off on this one plus someone is not looking at the camera.

 

Another bad one plus two of us weren't looking at the camera.  

We did eventually get a good shot that made the prayer card.

At the end of August we flew off to Novosibirsk.  I think that was

one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I lived at home until

I got married at the age of 26 and I had never been away from 

home so it was extremely hard for me.  I dreaded that day for 

a long time but it came and went and the Lord's grace was

definitely abundant.  Our flight leaving LAX was very late

and we just knew we wouldn't make our connecting flight in 

Moscow, we tried so hard to get the flight agent to book us a 

hotel room in Moscow because we didn't want to deal with

that issue in Moscow but we knew it wouldn't happen.  

Of course we got stuck in Moscow and couldn't make the 

connecting flight!!!!  Aeroflot did put us up at the Novotel, 

which is a beautiful hotel plus the hotel offered a shuttle into

 Red Square and since we had time to kill, we went 

for it.  Jojo actually turned the big 1 in Moscow!  I don't

think he really cared though but this momma, child of

the 80's, couldn't believe we were standing in Red 

Square.  Growing up Russia was our enemy and I

never imagined I would have been allowed into the 

former Soviet Union.......I remember getting a bit 

choked up.  Red Square is absolutely beautiful and

it sort of took my breath away, but the next day it

was onto Novosibirsk.