Monday, March 26, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points - 26|03|07


GOING, GOING...

...almost gone! This past week has seen a steady stream of potential buyers come through our door (often with just a few minutes warning), so it certainly looks more hopeful that a buyer may be found before we have to depart.

Tonight Lena & I emptied the girls' bookshelf, cupboards & closet. Tomorrow everything but their bed will leave, meaning we will have almost no place to store things except for our suitcases. At least this will help us see how much we'll be able to fit, and how much more we'll have to either get rid of or try to store at Nina's.

In other news chicken pox came and went (for now). Maya is still covered with spots but after finding relief with oatmeal baths (despite the strict orders of the local doctor not to bathe Maya at all for 10 days) she is doing fine. Sonia took ill shortly after Maya, but it seemed to be more of a flu than anything. Today Sonia forced herself to school so that she could get closer to finishing her final project. Deena remains healthy, but of course may still be harbouring "the pox". Time will tell...

Thank you for keeping us in prayer during this hectic time. We're trying hard to keep our heads above water during these final three weeks, but it's a challenge some times to get the dishes washed before bed (to say nothing of the laundry)! We truly appreciate your prayers!

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena


COMING TO CANADA

Well, we have a home! (For now, at least!) The mobile home that was made available to us last fall for storage will remain available to us until autumn. While the home is a bit small for us, it is a short walk to my parent's home and halfway between Brandon & Winnipeg, meaning that we will be conveniently situated. The search for a permanent home, schools and future employment will commence once we land and get over jet lag. We are very thankful for all who are helping my parents to prepare our home and are providing needed household items and food for our family.


BLESSINGS

* Praise God for continued progress in the moving & packing department. Tomorrow the second-last batch of available furniture will pass out of our doors, leaving us with lots of floor space for our many suitcases.

* Thank you for praying for Maya over the past week. She is doing much better and has all but forgotten about her recent "miserable existence". ;-)


PETITIONS

* The "yard sale" was postponed due to ill health in our home, so this Saturday (the 31st) will be it. Please pray that everything we need to part with will be taken (we desperately need the room)!

* Please continue to pray for good family health. Sonia is almost back to full health (her very nasty cough remains).

* Please remember to pray for a buyer for our home.


DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that Russian law prevents the sale of our property until we can either provide a new home for our under-16 children or unless we can show that we are leaving the country? The law states that every child must be registered in a legal residence, and people cannot sell a home without first giving up their registration. So until we have a new home (or leave Russia), we cannot sell ours! (Although we can, of course, have a few weeks of "temporary un-registration".)


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!)


Monday, March 19, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points - 19|03|07

MOVING ON

This past week has been filled with selling & moving. No, our apartment has not been sold yet, but only Maya & Deena still have beds left, and much of the other furniture in our home is now elsewhere!

In the midst of our packing & shuffling Maya contracted chicken pox! She went to bed Sunday night with one known spot and woke spot covered. Lena & I are the only ones in our family that have had chicken pox before, so we're holding our breath as we wait to see if Deena & Sonia will join the club! Such fun!!!

Even with all the commotion we've been blessed by the visits of numerous good friends. We are very thankful for all the godly people God has placed in our lives during our time in St. Petersburg.

Your continued prayers and support and most appreciated!

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena


COMING TO CANADA

Less than four weeks to go! As we get closer to our arrival we will be posting a list of semi-urgent needs for our "landing". Stay tuned!


BLESSINGS

* Praise God for good progress in moving & packing. We still have a lot of things in our home, so we'll be having a big "sale" (most of it will be given away) this coming Saturday.

* Our staff safely returned from a busy, but blessed time in Moscow. Thank you for your prayers.


PETITIONS

* Maya's health is primary concern right now. Please pray that she will rest peacefully and will not be bothered too much by the itchiness of chicken pox.

* Please pray for continued good health for our family, especially for Deena & Sonia.

* We are still trying to find a buyer for our home! We are confident that the sale will take place, but we'd simply prefer it if takes place sooner! :-)


DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that the local doctor told Lena today that since Maya has chicken pox, she should not be bathed for ten days???


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!)


Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points - 13|03|07


THE FINAL MONTH

It's official! The five of us are coming to Canada on April 15th. This afternoon I paid Lufthansa a princely sum to transport our family and a portion of our material goods for five sets of air tickets. Here's our itinerary:

  • Depart St. Petersburg at 1430; arrive in Frankfurt at 1525
  • Depart Frankfurt at 1700; arrive in Toronto at 1945
  • Pause for passport control, immigration processing, baggage claim, baggage check-in...and perhaps time for coffee with friends!
  • Depart Toronto at 2155; arrive in Winnipeg at 2328

All of this is Lord willing, of course! With Nina's willingness to complete the sale of our apartment in our absence, and with most of our belongings either sold or spoken for, we are almost ready to leave Russia.

This past week has been a whirlwind of people either calling or dropping in to ask about what's available. We had planned a fairly large (indoor) yard sale, but it looks like most things are claimed already! Yesterday we were surprised by the quick sale of our bedroom set (a buyer needed it immediately, and begged us to sell our mattress, which we had hoped to hang on to until next month!), leaving us with a completely empty bedroom! So for the next four weeks Lena and I will sleep on the couch while our room becomes a packing zone. Deena is still a bit anxious about all the disappearing items—yesterday she asked me if someone was going to take our toilet!

Thank you for your prayers for our family during this exciting, crazy time,

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena


COMING TO CANADA

Thank you to all who are helping us to find a temporary home in Manitoba. We hope to be able to decide on a place soon. Please continue to pray for our "safe landing" in Canada. It will certainly be a big adjustment for us all!


BLESSINGS

* Thank God that we were able to purchase the needed air tickets in time!

* We are thankful that so many of our things have found new homes. We have been trying to "stretch out the blessings" by giving away the many things others had previously given to us. Thank you for all of your generous gifts to us over the years, and know that the blessing will continue!


PETITIONS

* We are still hoping to find a buyer for our apartment before we depart. It would be wonderful if a Christian family were to take our place in this neighbourhood. Pray that it may be so!

* Please continue to pray for CCI/Russia staff in Moscow as they complete the meetings and training of future leaders.

* For the third time in as many weeks Deena has (mildly) injured her neck. Tomorrow Lena will take her to a specialist to have her examined. Deena is not a great fan of doctors, so please pray that the appointment will go well and that there will be no further injuries to her neck.


DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that the March 11 municipal elections in Russia were the first under the new "streamlined" rules? Gone is the minimum turnout limit (less than 34% turned out in St. Petersburg, well under the old limit that would have rendered the election void), the "against all" option (the old rule allowed for a win for "against all" to disqualify all candidates)(though some 37,500 voters defaced their ballot in protest) and the independent candidates (now all vote-seekers must be members of "approved" political parties). Lena did cast her vote (the party she voted for came in last), but like many Russians (a majority it seems) feels it hardly matters. With President Putin personally appointing governors and the two main political parties openly supporting Putin it doesn't look good for democracy in 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!)


Monday, March 05, 2007

Hamm Prayer Points - 05|03|07


FINALLY HERE!!!

Lena & Sonia finally have their Canadian immigration visas!!! Last Friday Pony Express delivered two envelopes to our door. Inside were the Russian foreign passports with shiny new Canadian visas inside! Also included was an info sheet (answering many of the questions that we've had for months) and two large forms which the girls will exchange for permanent residence cards once they enter Canada.

While the visas allow our family to remain here for another nine months, the wheels have long been in motion for the "big move". As we prepare to part with most of our material possessions, sell our apartment and relocate across the ocean, please continue to uphold us in prayer.

Thank you for your continued support & encouragement!

— Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena


COMING TO CANADA

With the visas in hand, we now need to focus on where we will be living come April 15. Several people have kindly offered us places to stay in the southern Manitoba countryside, but for a number of reasons we are likely going to try to rent a home in Portage la Prairie instead. Since our family will be coming to a "new world" as such, we will need to be close to family (my parents live just south of Portage and my sister and her family live in nearby Oakville) for support reasons. And because we will need to explore school and home options we will need to be able to travel easily (requiring the services of family babysitters). So...while we appreciate the home offers and "for sale" notifications, we will settle for a humble residence in a centrally-located humble city! In the meantime, please keep us in mind when hearing of possible homes in the not-too-distant future.


BLESSINGS

* Praise God for the safe arrival of the visas. It's been a very long time coming, but we are simply grateful they're here! Thank you for praying!!!

* People continue to offer us needed furniture and appliances for our Canadian home. Thank you to all who have helped!

* We are very thankful for improved health for our family. Thank you for praying!


PETITIONS

* Please continue to pray for a buyer for our apartment. As time passes without a sale it becomes more stressful for Nina (please keep her in your prayers too!).

* Please remember CCI/Russia staff in Moscow as they meet and plan future ministry.

* With six weeks to go before I leave Russia (and only three weeks until my official departure from CCI/Russia), I have a new office replacement to train. Please pray for Denis as I try to prepare him to take over the hands-on aspects of the IT Manager job. Pray especially that we will understand each other clearly as his English comprehension is practically non-existent!


DID YOU KNOW...

* ...that Lena graduated from university in 1988 with a teacher's degree? During her five years of study she completed twenty-five different courses, all with the highest possible scores. Notable courses among them:

  • The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  • Philosophy of Marxism-Leninism
  • Political economy
  • Scientific atheism

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!)