OLYMPICS!While Deena may not be quite ready to compete in the 2010 Vancouver games (is Finnish Sledding an Olympic sport yet?), we do have one Olympic medallist in the family already. Last week Sonia placed third in the city-wide English Olympiad!
It's been a much warmer week here in St. Petersburg, so we have been able to take the girls out more. The playground continues to get regular use, and we even got out to Central Park for some Finnish sledding and a visit to an ice castle! We really appreciate these opportunities to spend time together as a family. Work is getting busier after a brief lull, and I will soon have to travel to Finland for a new visa, then possibly Moscow for an Uzbek visa, followed by another trip to Uzbekistan and soon after that, Canada.
Thank you all for upholding our family & ministry in prayer!
– Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena
COMING TO CANADA
It was one year ago that we told you that were postponing our MBMSI-scheduled trip to Canada in order to prepare to sponsor Lena & Sonia for immigration to Canada. A year of prayer & preparation has past and we are excitedly making preparations. Thank you to all who have been helping us search for a home, a vehicle, kids' car seats, furnishings, and more! We still need more help, though, so please don't be shy about offering your suggestions!
Speaking of suggestions, they are coming in from last weeks' request for help for Lena. In order to help people see what has been suggested already, I've decided to post the helpful info on a new blog titled, Shopping Tips For Lena. Got any suggestions or tips for foreigners as they transition to shopping in the North American marketplace? Drop them off in the comments, or send an email to lenahamm -at- gmail -dot- com. Thanks for your help!
BLESSINGS
Lena continues to have opportunities to cut hair for friends and neighbours. She has also resumed studying and travels three times a week to an advanced hairdressing course. We are very thankful for Nina's help with the girls during Lena's absence.
We recently received a small care package from our family in Canada. As well, we suddenly received a batch of Christmas cards and letters (the post office was perhaps saving them for us?). It is always a blessing to hear from loved ones–thank you to all who took the time to send us expressions of your love!
PETITIONS
From March 6-17 we will be conducting the second session of the Camp Directors' Institute. Four of our staff will travel to Moscow to take part, along with the rest of the 25 students. Please pray for Gary Fawver, Dean of the Institute, and the rest of the instructors and staff as they prepare.
We are soon reaching a critical juncture in our plans to move to Canada. We need to hear from Immigration Canada on the state of my application in order to proceed. As well, we need to reach a decision very soon if we will sell our apartment in Russia in order to afford a home in Canada. Please remember our Canadian plans in your prayers.
DID YOU KNOW...
...that "Day of the Defenders of the Motherland" is now a federal holiday? This is the first year that February 23 is a day off, so most everyone is making it a long weekend (schools included). The price for her teacher's partying is that Sonia and her classmates will have to attend school on Sunday (!) through Saturday!!!
ESSENTIAL INFO
Kevin & Lena Hamm are missionaries with Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International, serving with Christian Camping International/Russia in St. Petersburg, Russia.
A printable version in Adobe Acrobat format is always available for download.
Visit www.krhamm.com/pray for links to print versions, archives and more.
For more on our ministry in Russia, please visit www.krhamm.com.
You can help! Please visit www.krhamm.com/support for ways you can help our family & ministry.
Hundreds of our recent photos can be viewed at Flickr.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment