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| Praise the Lord we are all here!!! Please understand and be patient with us but right now we are dealing with dial-up internet connections... so we will upload pictures in a few days. Just wanted you all to know we are doing well, our camp has started and we look forward to what the Lord is going to do in and through us the next two and a half weeks. We will write when we can and throw pictures in whenever we have a good upload. Continue to pray for us. Pray for the twenty five or so children who are coming to camp and pray for each of us, we need all we can get! We love you all and look forward to sharing all our "interesting stories" with you. Megan, Brystol and Joel for the rest of Team Russia '08 | | |
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Rosie Voyer
June 13 1947-October 2 2007
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!
A good friend, supporter, encourager, prayer warrior and co-laborer with CBS went home to be with the Lord this past week. Rosie entered glory at the stroke of twelve, Tuesday afternoon. Those of you who were on the team somewhat know her story, for those who weren't I'll keep it brief.
We (my family and I) have known Rosie, and her husband Kerry for a long time. Rosie was always a blast to be around. She was the type of person you fell in love with thirty seconds after you met! Rosie had an enthusiasm and joy that was contagious, and after talking with her you couldn't help but be excited about the things she cared about. And if Rosie loved something, she was going to love it with all of her heart. She loved Jesus Christ first and foremost. There was never any doubt in my mind that every other love she had flowed from her first and true love of God. A year and a half ago while I was back in the States, Rosie became aware of the project I was working on in Moscow with the children's summer camps and immediately started throwing craft ideas at me. "Have you thought of the Wordless Book?" she wrote in one of her first e-mails. This was the beginning of a "craft" partnership that ultimately resulted in her helping to collect and send over most of the craft supplies used in our camps, plus finances she collected from the children of her church. It is humbling for me to think that the last "great" thing God had Rosie do before she died was to help our camps. It was interesting to watch this past summer, as the camps became more certain and plans and the team started to come together, Rosie was diagnosed with cancer and became more and more sick. Though as I look back I am reminded of Christ's words, "Except a corn of wheat fall unto the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12:24 I know there will be much fruit born from Rosie's life with the children here in Russia. Even though she was not here in person this past summer, each of the children who came to the camps was blessed and effected by her in some way, either by her story or by the crafts she helped put together. As for myself, Rosie was one who pushed me (though she never knew it) and encouraged me (which she did know) to complete the writing of the camp material. I knew I could never quit because "Rosie was back home praying for me," (plus she was waiting for me to finish so she could use the materials in her classroom at school). There was no way I was going to let her down! Her notes of encouragement (and her ideas) were many of the things that kept me going in the long hour spent behind a computer putting all the material together. God used Rosie in a special way in my life...and at just the right time, for this I will be forever grateful.
One little woman, given fully to God.
One great plan, known only to Him.
as little became less, great became greater.
as little became nothing, great became perfect!
One little woman now hand in hand with her God,
One perfect plan is now known to them both.
And though we below receive only but glimpses,
May we live fully giving our little for His great!
Rosie fought the good fight, she has finished her race, she has kept the faith. And she now has her crown of righteousness, which the Lord, her righteous Judge gave her on that day!
Rosie will be missed, but wherever CBS camps are held, her story will live on!
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| Then there were two.
After waiving goodbye to Joanna (who was the last to fly out) Friday night, Nathan and I kind of looked at each other and said "well, what do we do now!?" What do you do after all those who you've worked closely with have left and the time of intense ministry is over? I'm not trying to compare myself with parents but I think I may have gotten a small taste of what parents go through when their children leave home and they're left with an empty nest. I found myself wondering around here late one night thinking "And now...?" Have you been there? Experienced it? You've been involved in intense ministry, you've given your all and now it's all over and done with and you're back home with a big question mark and in a daze. If you've been on ministry trips and have not experienced this then A) you are a super Christian and I'd like to know your secret, or B) you went on the trip with wrong attitudes and a wrong goal and thus did not allow the Lord to work on you while you were "ministering!" As much as we feel the blues and maybe even a little depressed, the "And now...?" feeling is totally natural. Look at Scripture, Noah spent over 100 years working for God, yet after the ark was built, the flood was over and his family was safe we see him having an "And now...?" moment. Samson was not exactly the picture perfect model we all want to emulate. Yet after 20 years of judging Israel, 20 years of getting into trouble and seeing the Lord deliver him out of it, we see him sitting there in prison in a classic "And now...?" moment. David saw the power of the Lord on his behalf far more then most, yet I believe he had many "And now...?" thoughts. Just read the Psalms. Time after time he writes things like "God, why have you forsaken me!? Lord, why do you stand so far away!? (Ok, so he was a little more theatrical then most but I think the "And now...?" question is the same.) Elijah has just fought for the Lord and seen Him work on Mount Carmel, he has just witnessed rain after three and a half years of drought and yet not long after that (three verses later to be exact) we see Elijah having an "And now...?' moment. Hey, I could go on and on. Many of the kings of Judea had "And now...?" moments. Times, when after being zealous for the Lord and seeing the Lord do great things in their lives and in their nation, they sat back and thought "And now...?" We also see this happening in the New Testament. If we skip forward a couple of thousand years to the time of Christ. He has just come from being baptized by John, He has just heard His Father say "This is my Beloved Son, I take delight in Him!" Yet now He is in the desert, having fasted for 40 days, being tempted by Satan. If you're ever looking for an "And now...?" moment look no further. Without wanting to sound sacrilegious I truly believe Jesus was in the desert having an "And now...? experience. You see, the "And now...? question is not a bad question (even though Satan would like it to be). God not only allows us to come to these "And now...?" times, but he even takes us to them! Though unlike Satan who, when we come to these moments, wants us to leave the question open and then seek to answer it with trivial pleasures of the world. (Such as what Noah did in getting drunk) God allows us to be in these times so that we will come to the place where we ask Him "And now...what do I do?" "And now...where do I go?" "And now...who do I minister to?" "And now...what do you have for me?" Scripture gives us both good and bad examples, praise the Lord He allows us to see both sides. Noah, different kings of Judea and others had many problems because they thought the "And now...?" question was the end of God's working in their lives. Samson, David, Elijah and Jesus were each able to see far greater works of God, both in their lives and in the lives around them, because they recognized that all that proceeded the "And now...?" time was only the tip of God's iceberg! Don't be afraid of the "And now...?" question, God has something far greater if we but ask Him "And now...what do you have for me next?!"
As we look to the Lord and what He has for us next, let's not forget to be like David and "Remember the Lord's works...and reflect on all You have done and meditate on Your actions." Ps. 77:11-12 Below is a hodgepodge of pictures illustrating God's wonders and goodness to the 2007 CBS Russia Team.
~After arriving without any luggage, and then living (up to five days for some) off of barrowed clothes from others, there was great rejoicing when all the luggage finally arrived! One day I think Loriann had five or six different peoples clothes on...at the same time! God was good to have others on the team who where the same size...or else you just rolled it up and cinched it tighter!~
~In three plus weeks we had a total of over 350 individual bus rides, and no one got lost or left behind! Praise the Lord for His hand of protection.~
~Josiah's little babushka he met on the bus. After talking to her (in English of course) and having her talk right back (in Russian) Joey helped her off the bus and sent her on her way. Who knows what they said to each other but I know she saw Christ in that funny, friendly American boy she met on the bus that Sunday afternoon.
~We praise the Lord for Arseni, one of our excellent interpreters!~
~Tiffany, Olga (another outstanding Russian addition to our team) and Katie. Tiff and Katie live less then an hour away in Michigan yet had never met...until they came here.~
~Kerry our camp cook. Not sure what we would have done without her! I'd be a lot thinner, and we might not have survived the week in Vostrikova. You all that were there know what I mean! God knew we would need a cook and He brought just the right one.~
~Tiffany and Venny. We had a number of songs that were unique to our camps. Without Tiffany and her piano playing they would still be untried and the camps would have been a whole lot duller.
~Allison and Vanya. Allison and her chalk drawings really helped bring home the principles of Authority and Suffering. Both kids and parents loved her pictures.~
~Sofie and Katie. Sofie has some physical disabilities but she thoroughly enjoyed spending a day riding Katie's shoulders and sucking her hair~
Loriann and Sasha having fun together.
More Matchaks on the far side of the world at any other time in recent history! God was soo good to allow 6 of my sister and brothers to come over for the camps. If I can't be at home then second best is having them over here! (The guy in the far back is not quite a brother, but Seth B. fit in pretty nicely.)
Seth and Arseni sharing a cheesy moment.
~Our Van. What Satan meant for evil God meant for good. The tractor that turned into us was found to be at total fault and his insurance is covering our repairs completely! (something that doesn't happen to often here in Russia) God gave us this story as a first hand, recent illustration for us to use in teaching suffering. Sometimes we can only see the mess, yet God wants us to see the beautiful picture behind the mess.~
~Vostrikova's small beginnings. If you look closely the ratio between Americans and children is about five to one! Oh, but that was only the beginning.~
~Rema is 14 and from an Armenian family. She and her brother both came all week even though neither of them spoke nor understood much Russia. This is her at the beginning of the week; very quite and shy, not really involved yet for some reason she kept coming.
~Playing Russian games late at night to let off a little steam.~
~Is it Orange juice or tea? Egor, helping interpret a little game one morning. Egor won the interpreter endurance prize. He was with us the whole time and never once was his tongue in a knot! God has truly blessed him with a gift that I have seen bless so many others.~
~Tiffany and Loriann with a couple of neighborhood girls.
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| Lesson learned: God does not put Himself in a box.
Well, we are back from a week of camp at Vostrikova. It is hard to tell about all that happened there- 6 days worth- in just one small post. But we will do our best to give you a glimpse of our past week.
It started out in one of the worse possible ways: getting in a small scrape with a tractor (yes, we were on the road) before we were even 5 minutes away from the training center last Sunday morning. This meant a delay in our starting out, as well as the fact that Joel would have to return to Moscow twice during the upcoming week to appear in court. As it turns out, Joel only needed 3 minutes with the judge the second time, just long enough for her to tell him that he was not at fault and had broken no laws. God is good.
 
~Seth helping Sasha find the perfect color~ ~Joey and Kolia showing off their clay creations~
The first night we were at the camp (Sunday), pretty much the whole team was wiped out by food poisoning. Needless to say, we were not comfortable campers and charcoal pills took the place of breakfast food for many. The result was total dependence on God to simply get us through that first day. We also discovered, upon our arrival, that there would be no one to cook for us throughout the week as had been expected, and that responsibility was now up to us. And yet God knew that in advance too and gave creativity in creating menus on the spot, a reasonable grocery store within driving distance, a fantastic cook in Kerry, and enough team members to assist her in creating our meals. God is good.
 
~Joanna and Olga showing off the products ~Lunch is served~
from the kitchen~
We also soon found out that this would be quite the different camp because of age ranges (2-16 years old), gaps in the ages, and also because the kids would simply wander off to ride bikes, pick apples from the trees, or talk to parents or members of the church. We had some kids who spoke English fluently and some who hardly understood a bit of Russian, let along English. Some kids were outlandishly wild while others were so reserved you think they'd cry when you spoke to them. One day we ended up with 4 kids. That's almost a 4-1 ratio of Americans to Russian kids. How were we going to convey anything about the Lord with such a wide spread variety for kids? But you know what? The Lord wasn't the least bit worried. It was His plan for each child to be there on each specific day. By the end of the week the Lord blessed us with 22 children, and it was so cool to see them helping each other and the team out in little areas. Clearing the dishes off the table. Helping a younger child with the craft. Distributing water glasses before lunch. Comforting the little one who was crying. We didn't need to "pull them together"- that was the Lord's work. His is good.
~Little Anya (4 years old) taking her turn at a game which helps us
appreciate what God has given us (the use of hands in this instance)~
~The last two days of camp we had 22 kids in attendance! Unbelievable! ~
 
~Our erupting volcano, symbolizing what ~Sasha, Seth, and Sasha~
happens when we hold on to anger~
~Large group assembly in the sanctuary of the church~
One other major area where we saw the Lord's hand (and His only) was with our interpreters. Egor come along with us for the whole week, and Olga was with us through Tuesday, until she left on holiday. That would leave 4 days with only 1 interpreter. It was not our goal to completely blitz Egor's brain, but we pretty much had no other choice. Haha. Until the Lord showed us His plan. A friend of Olga's from school came down on Monday to visit her before she left on vacation. When she arrived at the camp, Nadia had no plan to stay with us, only to say goodbye to Olga. That changed, however, and Nadia was able to stay the whole week! She filled in a huge gap during large group time, leading the songs and Bible verses, and also shared interpreting responsibilities with Egor throughout the week. God is good!
~Free time and airplane rides~
~Nastya and Benny~
~Little Anya with Joel~
~Vostrikova Team 2007~
~Final day- Saturday. The Lord mightily increased our numbers
as well as our love for one another~
~C Бoгоm (Go with God)~
We might see a certain
situation as difficult or impossible, but could it be that those times
were sent from God so that He could prove Himself strong, without
strings and with no restrictions? Truly our God is good!
Katie, Joel, and Loriann
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