ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕС!!!

Did you know that in Russia they celebrate Easter too?! Of course you knew this...in fact someone reminded me last week that all over the world Jesus' name would be proclaimed in some way...what a celebration! We were unable to be in Russia this year to celebrate our Risen Savior with the Russians, but our hearts were united with them just the same!
Easter is the biggest religious holiday celebrated in Russia. There are traditional Easter cakes and other things that go on during this time of year. I do not know all of them, but next year I will be able to share with you from experience what goes on during Easter!

This year we did our own thinking of Russia as we reside here in the States (waiting for baby #2 to arrive). Our fellow missionaries, Jeff and Gelya, gave us some egg decorating wrappers from Russia right before we left! We decided to try them out! It was a lot of fun and the eggs turned out beautifully. I did my best at trying to read the directions in Russian...I think I managed to read the words "cold" and "egg". After that I decided to use the pictures to help me figure out what to do...then after that didn't work, it was trial and error. (I guess you need HOT water to the wrapping to shrink around the egg...I figured that out...eventually!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy the beautiful eggs!

Blessings,

Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

The different kinds of wrappers we received! Thanks, Jeff and Gelya!

The paper is placed over the egg...like putting the egg in a sleeve

This is how Philip did his eggs...smart...then the wrapping went on straight.

Dip it in the HOT water...I used a spoon to help push the egg into the water

My little dolls were not exactly centered, but oh, well!

My lovely egg...this is a popular, traditional Russian pattern

"He has Risen!"

New Partners!

We want to take time to thank Mt. Zion Wesleyan for their recent commitment in joining our team! We are encouraged and thankful for their recent Faith Promise! We are so excited to partner with this church and see how the Lord ministers to this congregation through the work in Russia! Last spring we were able to visit this church and share our vision during their missions week. I had a chance to share with their children about Russia...we are so excited for their investment in our lives!

Thank you, Mt. Zion Wesleyan!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

LIFE

Sunday evening we had a wonderful time sharing about Russia with Faith Wesleyan Church! It was fun to be able to answer questions and share about life in Russia. We had some great helpers who helped act out a Russian folk tale (The Turnip)! I wish I had pictures to share with you, but I didn't get a chance to take any!

Thank you, Faith Wesleyan, for allowing us to share our hearts for Russia!

We feel like life is already picking up after being in the States for a little over 2 1/2 weeks! Last week we returned from visiting family in Ohio. This week begins by catching up with life! We have been to the doctor for the baby twice already.

We are currently working on:

• Reading some books to keep up on the Russian culture as well as beginning our Russian tutoring sessions here in Terre Haute. We will be meeting with a Russian student from Indiana State University twice a week. We are looking forward to keeping our language learning going.
• We will also be taking time to study on our own each week.
  
• Philip is getting ready to take a class for ordination, so he has a lot of "before" class work (reading and paper writing...yuck!) to get done before the first week of May.
• We are keeping up with our supporters---YOU!!!! We hope we can encourage you as we are home for this period of time! We have been able to get together with a few supporters so far and share more of what life is like in Russia!

Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for us as we get ready to transition into life with 2 little ones!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

Travels

Since arriving in the States we have had our share of "American" food. As you can see from the picture above, Adalynn is thoroughly enjoying the yummy ice cream from Columbus, Ohio! We have been traveling visiting friends and family. Right now we are currently in Ohio visiting with my (Kara's) family. We have been to the zoo, out to eat, the coffee shop where both of my brothers work, out to eat, and we have been playing lots of games! It has been fun! We are headed back to "home" on Thursday.

On Sunday we will be sharing with our home church Faith Wesleyan in Terre Haute, IN about Russia. We are excited to share about our experiences and our growing love for Russia. If you are able to come please join us on
Sunday, April 17th at 6:30pm at Faith Wesleyan Church!
We would love to have you come!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

We Made It!

We made it! We have been "home" for a little over a week now. Our flights were uneventful and we made it to Indianapolis without any trouble...we even got all of our bags! Praise the Lord! Thanks for your prayers! Adalynn did a great job during the flights. She even got a chance to play with a little Russian girl who shared her toys with Adalynn. As you can see Adalynn was catching up on her Russian reading while on the plane!

Oh, did I mention we got our Starbucks fix a few days ago?!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

Saying Goodbye

(Adalynn is ready to go...she was walking around the apartment with her hat and my purse saying bye bye)

Today we said our final goodbyes as we prepare to fly out tomorrow morning. We spent the morning with our field directors debriefing from our first phase here in Russia. We enjoyed lunch with them afterward! We are going to miss them!!!!! Adalynn will miss her friend Sophia! Philip went over to the old apartment/Ministry center to help Brian move some things and also to move the rest of our stuff into storage. Tonight we plan on doing the last minute rearranging of bags and hopefully getting to bed early!
We we fly into Washington DC tomorrow (our late Wednesday night) we have to get our bags, go through passport control, recheck our bags, and then go through security again. We don't have a ton of time between flights, so pray for things to go smoothly for us!

We are excited to see many of you this coming weekend! Thank you so much for your prayers and investment in our lives as we transition back "home" for a period of time!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

Russian on Hold

Today was our last Russian lesson...for now. We met with our Russian tutor twice this week. We had mixed feelings about it being our last lesson for awhile...well, our last lesson here in Russia for awhile. We are sad to have to stop the learning process here, but are kind of glad to not have the pressure in these last few days. We are praying and hoping for a language tutor once we are in the States. We are still waiting to make some contact with some people. If you know of anyone in the Terre Haute area (seriously, not just some Russian you know) please let us know! Here is a picture of our tutor with Philip at the end of my lesson today.

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen