Mstislavl, Belarus

Right now, my sister and the ABRO missions team are in Mstislavl staying with her host, Valentina. Curious about this town and region, I did some digging and found some pictures. I was only able to find one or two pictures of its orphanages, but cannot confirm which of those are the deaf orphanage my sister visited today.

Here are a few pictures from its website (http://mstislavl.mogilev-region.by/en/photos/):

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You can view this region’s official website here: http://mstislavl.mogilev-region.by/en/

New Year Eve and A Day with Orphans!

I have received no updates yet from my sister to share with all of you, but I thought I would share with you what the ABRO missions team are planning to do today.

According to the brief trip itinerary, the ABRO team are planning to go to the Mstislavl orphanage where Valentina, Elaine’s host, works to deliver Christmas cards and candy boxes. The children of the orphanage supposedly has great plans for them, including visiting the orphanage and doing some activities with the kids who won’t go anywhere for their vacation, a cookout (with barbecue), “banya” (if they wish), and visiting deaf families or families having deaf kids (again, if they wish).

I believe that at this time I write this, the team is at a New Year’s Eve party right now…

I did some looking online for pictures of Mogilev on the New Year Eve so all of you can get an idea of what it is like to celebrate it in Belarus. I found all of those pictures online, and I have no idea of what those places are because they are identified using Russian language! They do look pretty important to me… maybe something related to the regional government?

Enjoy the pictures, and Happy New Year!

First Morning in Belarus – Update #2

Here’s the e-mail I got this morning at 4:46 am from my sister to all of you. Enjoy!

Hello from Belarus!

Rich, Joe and I had a wonderful night's rest.  Comfy beds, warm  blankets.  I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!  :)  This morning we were all able to get showers and there was plenty of hot water.  The small things do make us feel at home here. 

The breakfast was 'interesting' this morning.  We're not exactly sure what we ate - it seemed like one thing was cabbage leaves wrapped around a meat mixture (sausage?).  That tasted ok - it was hot.  (Yes, Leslie - Rich ate it!!)  They also served a big roll which had some kind of fish (?)/vegetable mixture inside - Joe ate a little, Rich and I tried it, but he and I couldn't quite "stomach" the smell of it...probably some kind of fish.  We had leftover mashed potatoes too (yummy!) and some of the sweet bread from last night (thank goodness!).  Hot tea, coffee and water to drink.  The women who cook for us are so generous and want us to try everything - they put mustard, horseradish, ketchup, sweets, cookies - everything it seems - out on the table for us. 

After breakfast Rich went outside to help Yura move the Ford F250 which has a broken starter and was stopped in the middle of the driveway.  This was the truck Yura tried to move himself but tore his Achilles tendon on the day before we got here.  (For those of you who do not know, Yura is the director of ABRO - Belarus).  Anyway, I videotaped Rich and Yura as they worked to move the truck.  They hooked it up to a Nissan with tow cables, first pulling it forward, then pulling it back under a covered area (what we would call a car port).  Oh - it's still snowing.  :)

Some children arrived here at the ARK house today to pick up their Christmas cards and gifts from their American host families.  Seem like very nice kids too.

We'll be sorting toys this morning and then Rich, Joe and I will leave to pickup Rich's Krystina before heading to the deaf orphanage in Mstislavl.  Valentina (the chaperone for the deaf children) will pick us up and take us there.  There are 12 children left at the deaf orphanage for the holidays - all orphans.  Nine boys, three girls.  Ages range from 7 to 18 years old.  We will stay at Valentina's home while there - Rich and Krystina will sleep with Valentina's neighbor and Joe and I will sleep in Valentina's apartment.  I don't believe I will have any internet access there, so this may be the last update for a few days.

We are all very appreciative of your prayers.  Thank you so much for them - they truly carry us along in this mission we are on! 

Take care & God bless,

Elaine

Lost Baggage and Safe Arrival – Update #1

From my sister’s e-mail message received at 2:45 pm (sent at 9:45 pm in Belarus) with slight revisions:

Hello from Belarus!

Rich, Joe & I arrived safely in Belarus around 6 pm Belarusian time (7 hours ahead of EST).  It was a long trip-much longer it seemed than I anticipated, but we made it through safely.  All our luggage also got here except for my one suitcase which is mostly full of toys for the orphans.  They say it will be sent by tomorrow sometime from Frankfurt - we'll see.  Several other people on the trip also lost their luggage with the toys, etc. in it so we all need prayers that these bags appear soon.

The countryside here is covered in snow.  We landed in Minsk in snow - lots of it!  Then as we rode in a bus from Minsk to Mogilev (where I stay tonight), we saw snow covering fields, lakes and literally every branch and pine needle of every tree I saw.  They seem to have mainly skinny pine trees (think like the ones you see in North Carolina with just branches at the tip top), some regular pine trees, and lots of birch trees.  The forests are pretty with all the snow.  Snow doesn't stop people in Belarus - there were lots of cars and people walking on foot in the snow and the roads aren't really cleared at all in Mogilev.

Dinner tonight consisted of ethnic Belarusian dishes.  We had a chicken recipe - looked fried, but they said it wasn't, a carrot & cabbage salad, bread and bottled water.  For dessert there were all kinds of sweets, but the one I absolutely loved was a sweet bread.  It looked like sticky buns except with powdered sugar on top, and it was such a wonderful bread!!

Everyone I meet starts speaking to me in Russian and then finds out I can't understand.  Hopefully they catch on, or I do!!  :)

It's been a long trip, and I desperately need some sleep since I barely slept at all on the planes & bus.

A couple prayer requests:

1.  That the luggage would arrive safely with all the toys.

2.  For Yura - the leader of the mission here in Belarus.  He tore his Achilles tendon yesterday and need surgery.  Will be difficult for him since he's responsible for the 23 people here on the trip.

3.  For me - for sleep, strength and a renewed since of purpose here.

Take care & thank you for all of your prayers.

Elaine

Some interesting information on Belarus

This evening, I was paging through information on Belarus from CIA – The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bo.html), and I find this country really interesting. Here are some tidbits for your information:

Belarus Flag

From the Factbook: “A white vertical stripe on the hoist side bears Belarusian national ornamentation in red; the red band color recalls past struggles from oppression, the green band represents hope and the many forests of the country”

Belarus Map

The capital of Belarus is Minsk (identified by the star). The highest peak just west of Minsk is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (how about that for a name!) topping off at 346 meters (1,130 feet).

 

 

 

 

Belarus Background

“After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.” ~CIA – The World Factbook, 12/29/09

To read more about this country, go to https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bo.html and browse at your own leisure!

Bon Voyage to my sister!

For the first time, my sister will be almost halfway around the world on a mission trip! And I think it is my fault... (the reason why I said this will come later).

My sister is en route to Frankfurt, Germany abroad Lufthansa Flight #419. She left Dulles International Airport this afternoon at 6:14 pm and is scheduled to arrive by 8:04 am (around 2:00 am our time). She will connect with a 10:50 am flight scheduled to arrive at 2:10 pm in Minsk, Belarus. She will remain in this country until January 9th, and come back home on January 10th.

Why, out of all places, is she going to Belarus? After joining the America-Belarusian Relief Organization (if you are interested in learning more about this organization, please visit http://www.abro.org/) at Frederick Church of the Brethren (http://www.fcob.net/) this past year as a co-coordinator, she was able to bring two hearing and four deaf children from orphanages in Belarus to America this past summer for six weeks. Several of our families in the church hosted those kids, and the entire congregation were graced by their presence for this brief time. For those who are involved and interested, ABRO organizes occasional mission trips to Belarus to encourage host families and volunteers in America to visit children in Belarusian orphanages. Many good things have been said about the past mission trips, and after some persuading, my sister was convinced that this trip was for her this year.

Over the course of the next two weeks, my sister will be traveling with a group of people and visit several hearing and deaf orphanages, bring them toys and clothes, and look for some new orphans to bring back to America next summer. I have a detailed itinerary of what my sister will do on each day, and I will let you know what the plans are over the next two weeks. She also will be sending me occasional updates during her trip, and I will be sure to post it here to keep all of you informed! In addition to the above information, I will add some details about Belarus and what deaf orphans face there.

Your prayers are needed - the entire ABRO missions team will appreciate it! Until tomorrow!

Christmas Tree – A Concise History

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this e-mail message I received from my sister, but this is a fascinating story behind the Christmas tree. Feel free to correct any of mis-information here. Enjoy!

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     Nothing says Christmas like an evergreen tree. Of all the symbols of the holiday, it is the one we see most often. The story of the tree is one we should not just know but also share. Without this understanding, putting up the tree might just become another unwelcome chore rather than an exercise in love and faith. For your holidays to be full, rich, and rewarding, you need to shine a new light on your tree....

      Long ago evergreens were held in awe by Viking warriors. These powerful men knew winters that were long and harsh, in which many living things did not survive. During these bleak days, almost all plant life ceased to exist, and many animals starved to death. Stranded outdoors, a man could freeze to death. Yet in these horrid conditions, the evergreen not only survived; it thrived. Its vitality was so great, it seemed nothing could harm it. Because of that unique strength, the tree was seen as a source of mystery and power. Vikings prayed to their gods that they could be as strong and resilient as the fir tree.
When early Christian missionaries began explaining faith to these feared warriors, they used the evergreen as an example of God's undying love. They told the Vikings that even in their bleakest and darkest days, Christ would be with them. Their faith, like the evergreen, would survive every test. By putting this Christian lesson into a visible context, the missionaries helped thousands understand the love of God and the sacrifice of his Son. Yet the symbol of the evergreen and its tie to faith were not limited to Scandinavia.

     In the seventh century Saint Boniface, an English missionary, came across a trio of men gathered around a huge oak tree in central Europe. One man was holding a small boy who had been chosen as a sacrifice to the god Thor. Boniface raced up to the old tree and struck the trunk with his fist. The mighty oak shuddered and fell to the ground. As the dust settled, a tiny fir tree became visible just behind where the oak had stood. Boniface pointed to that little sprout and explained that the evergreen was the Tree of Life and stood for the eternal salvation offered by Christ. He also pointed to the triangular shape of the fir tree and explained that the three points represented the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Over the centuries, Boniface's "sermon" would be used thousands of times by missionaries all over the world. Long before the printing press was invented, the evergreen became the first Christian "tract" used in witnessing....

     Knowing the way the evergreen was used to help lead the lost to faith can help keep your focus on the real reason why we celebrate Christmas. Every Christmas tree you see will be a reminder of the power of faith. That alone should make viewing Christmas trees a much more moving experience. Through sharing this story with your family and friends, you will spread the special, original meaning of the Christmas tree, which is the evergreen's connection to missionary work and reaching out to others. In fact, if your tree becomes a symbol of a love that will not die, it can be one of the greatest reminders of the gift God gave us in that humble manger. Furthermore, this understanding will create a door to sharing that good news with others....

To get the most out of your Christmas tree, don't look at it as a sideshow; see it as a treasure with special meaning for the season. Let the trimming of the tree open the vault to stories of past holidays. Create new memories that will live on for future generations. You might even sing a verse of the wonderful old carol about this great holiday tradition.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are green forever.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy beauty leaves thee never.
Thy leaves are green in summer's prime,
Thy leaves are green at Christmas time.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are green forever.

Source: Unknown