Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points - 28|02|07

APRIL 15, 2007...

...is the day that my Russian visa expires. Since it makes little sense to go through the trouble and expense of applying for a new visa just to leave Russia, we have decided that this will be the day that we will depart from Russia as a family. For the last several days as a family we've been discussing our impending move (hence the lateness of this newsletter). Our biggest concern was having to leave with (possibly) our home unsold. Today Nina surprised us by offering to act on our behalf and finalize the legal matters if needed. What an answer to prayer! Now we can set a firm departure date and prepare to leave without having to be concerned about any delays in selling our home.

Thank you for upholding us in prayer!

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena

COMING TO CANADA

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since Lena & Sonia handed over their passports to Pony Express for delivery to the Canadian Embassy in Moscow. What we thought would be a simple, quick process of picking up the visas (judging by the price they charged!) has turned out to be another long wait. Will we ever see the visas??? ;-) Hmm, perhaps Pony Express uses real ponies...?

BLESSINGS

* Praise God for a growing pile of prepared documents. We are now preparing for bureaucracy in Canada by getting important documents translated. Birth certificates, diplomas and more need to be readable on the other side of the ocean!

* We are very thankful for all of the encouragement and congratulations we have received over the past weeks. Thank you all for your kind words & prayers!

PETITIONS

* Sickness seems to be coming upon us! Today Deena had a high temperature and both Lena & I seem to be coming down with colds. Please pray for health and healing for our family.

* Please continue to pray for a buyer for our apartment. It's not the best time of the year to sell real estate right now, but hopefully we will be contacted soon by a potential buyer.

* Beginning March 6, CCI/Russia will be hosting three important events in Moscow:

  • March 6-9: CCI/Russia Ministry Strategic Planning
  • March 12-16: Camp Director's Institute instructors training course
  • March 18: Camper's New Testament planning session
Please pray for the CCI/Russia board and staff as they will be joined by regional and other leaders to plan and prepare for future ministry.

DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that I finally attended a hockey game in Russia? Together with Lena and several staff from the CCI/Russia office we helped cheer the local team SKA on to victory! This was the next best thing to an NHL game—the Russian Super League is the premier Russian hockey league. As impressive as that sounds, I couldn't help but find more comparisons with minor league hockey. But it was a lot of fun nevertheless! Lots of photos can be viewed over at Flickr. Some interesting things I noticed:

  • Almost no one sang the national anthem
  • The scoreboard displayed only the most basic of information and the video screens showed no replays and only once an animation
  • The game featured very few bodychecks and no fights
  • The referees and linesmen were skating bank advertisements

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. (And now Sonia's pictures too!)

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points - 20|02|07

BEING JESUS

During this month's Christian Camping Leaders Conference I listened to a camp director from Estonia share about how a first-time counselor impacted a young boy's life. The director told how a certain camper had been completely overwhelmed by the love and compassion shown by the camp staff, particularly that of his counselor, Valentine. One day the boy asked his him, "Are you Jesus?" Taken aback, Valentine answered, "No, but I am trying to be."

I can very much relate to this young Estonian boy. Going to camp as a boy in Canada I remember well how my counselors showed Christ's love to me. I recall little of the fun activities, Bible lessons, food and chapel talks. But what remains vivid in my mind these 30-odd years later is how my counselors treated me. Young men like Larry Schmidt, Brent Petkau & Harry Froese truly were Jesus to me.

There are countless children & youth who need us to be Jesus to them. Praise God for my counselors who encouraged and inspired me to follow Christ. Praise God for men like Valentine who prayerfully accept the call to volunteer at camps in the former Soviet Union. Pray that many more godly men & women will heed Christ's command to "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34, 35)

May we all strive to not simply be like Jesus, but to be Jesus to those who need Him the most!

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena

P.S. In case you missed it, I just sent out a four-page Hamm's Headings in which I shared in greater detail about our upcoming move. If you didn't receive the newsletter this past Sunday, you can read it online at http://hh.myinjesus.com. As well, you can easily receive future issues by sending a blank email to hh-subscribe@myinjesus.com.

COMING TO CANADA

I've been trying to prepare Maya & Deena (particularly the latter) for our impending move. During evening prayers I've encouraged them to pray for someone to buy our home so that we can move to Canada. Deena is having a hard time comprehending all of this. Today when I told we want to sell our apartment, she said, "but then we'll be outside!". When I reminded her that we were going to take an airplane to Canada to live there she said, "but where's the airplane? I don't see it!" Admittedly it's a bit hard for us adults to see how it will all work out as well. Please pray for us during this time!

Speaking of Canada, please don't hesitate to contact my parents, Jake & Elsie (204-857-3802 or jakehamm@mts.net) if you think you might have something we might need for our new home. Thank you to all who have helped so far!

BLESSINGS

* Praise God for a growing pile of prepared documents. We are now preparing for bureaucracy in Canada by getting important documents translated. Birth certificates, diplomas and more need to be readable on the other side of the ocean!

* We are very thankful for all of the encouragement and congratulations we have received over the past week. Thank you all for your kind words & prayers!

PETITIONS

* Municipal elections are being held in Russia on March 11. Many Russians believe that elections are becoming a farce in this country. Please pray for fair elections and honest, upright representation for the Russian people.

* Please pray that our home will find a buyer. Or the other way around. ;-) Regardless, this is the one major thing that needs to take place before we can come to Canada.

* Just when we thought Deena had recovered from her neck injury last week (thank you for praying!), she hurt it again! Please continue to pray for her healing and safety.

DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that a school principal in a small town in the Urals has been charged under anti-piracy laws? He apparently permitted the installation of pirated versions of Microsoft software on 12 school computers and is therefore being made an example. This kind of piracy is common here—Sonia did all of her school computer lab work using pirated software, and rare is the Russian home or business that doesn't use the widely-available and inexpensive CD-ROMs!

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. (And now Sonia's pictures too!)

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points (VISAS!!!) - 13|02|07

COMING TO CANADA...REALLY!!!

Today THE letter arrived from the Canadian Embassy in Moscow. "Your visas are ready to be picked up" is essentially what it read, precisely the news we've been waiting for for over a year! Praise the Lord!!! Tomorrow Lena will bring the passports to Pony Express so they can pick up the visas for us (it's less expensive than Lena travelling to Moscow herself to go to the Embassy).

Now begins the process of putting our apartment up for sale, selling some appliances and furniture, giving away toys & books and packing whatever we can fit into ten suitcases!

Oh yes, the Christian Camping Leaders Conference was a great success, with over three hundred participants from across the former Soviet Union and beyond. There is much to report, but for now please take a look at photos on Flickr from the six-day event!

Since there is so much to tell, I will save more writing for the next issue of Hamm's Headings, which I'll try to put out this week. If you are not already subscribed to our "summary" newsletter (or simply aren't certain that you are), please send a blank email to hh-subscribe@myinjesus.com.

Thank you for your prayers throughout the long process...and please don't stop praying now!

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena

COMING TO CANADA

Yes we are! Now that we know we are coming in the near future, the scrambling begins. While we wrap things up here, my Dad & Mom are busy organizing our newly-collected belongings in Portage la Prairie. The mobile home that we were given to use for the winter has become simply a storage facility, and since by the end of next month we have to move out, my parents will have to find another place to store our things. Our course we'll need a home to live in once we come, so we are looking for three- (or more) bedroom homes that we could rent or house-sit in from the end of March/early April until we can find a more permanent home.

We will soon update you on further happenings & needs pertaining to our arrival in Canada!

BLESSINGS

* Praise God that the visa process has been completed successfully. It feels a bit strange now that the wait is over, but we are so very thankful for all who encouraged us & prayed for us during this time.

* The 2007 CCLC was wonderful. We thank God for His provision and blessing on the conference!

* Our deficit with MBMSI has been paid off!!! Praise God for the many who gave generously over the past few months to help us start the year in the black. While we're encouraged by this development, we are still only receiving 75% of our salary, so we definitely need your continued support.

PETITIONS

* Please pray for our preparations & packing. The biggest question for us is when will our home sell. If we can sell it soon, we can be in Canada before the end of March. Please pray that we will be able to sell our apartment at a good price in good time.

* Deena injured her neck this past week, thankfully not too seriously. Please pray for her continued healing and for safety in our home.

DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that one of the biggest hassles of travelling to Russia is apparently easy to avoid? Every foreigner crossing into Russia must complete a migration card that subsequently must be registered at their place of stay. This costly process seems to be for naught: for the past six exits from Russia I've never been asked to show my migration card! (Of course, someday the authorities may come looking for me, wondering why I've never "left" Russia!)

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. (And now Sonia's pictures too!)

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