My mom - transition to heaven

Around 4 am, 24 December 2015, my mom passed from this life to the next. Fortunately she was alert to see all her children, my other two brothers, grandchildren - 6 and 13 great grandchildren. By chance my son from Germany planned to come for Christmas and arrived the night she went to the hospital on the 19th. His wife and hilden arrived a few days later to complete the family. she was in pain but suffered little before passing that next early morning.
     We had a memorial dinner and it was a good occasion to clebrate her influence on our lives. As far as I know everyone in this circle  is a believer in Jesus and she was the one who inluncedme to find Christ. I also owe my call to missions to her. And finally she encouraged me to ask Svetlana out. And I have found my true love in Sveta. There is no way I could repay her for her influene in my life.

Adopting a blind Russian child

I heard a testimonial on a recorded message. Lisa McConnel and her husband took in 12 foster children.   He is in the medical field and she is a nurse. They had taken in   special needs children. With 7 children already, they were praying for a child that no one wanted. Somehow they found a child available in New York. The child was born blind. Alex was born of a Russian family and abandoned to an institution. Lisa and her husband adopted him. He had a number of surgies and is still blind. They  have taken on the challenge to help special needs children. I admire them for their heart and calling to take in such children. She also mentioned the need of families needing a support group. She mentioned needing  break like a couple of days of care and prayer. We may not be able to adopt or take in a foster child, but we can help out. 

My mom-sugery

I talked to my mom last night, and she will either have surgery in her leg or the doctor will have to amputate the leg. As people age, we know events will happen. Yet I am very downcast over this situation. Watching a loved one got worse is harder than I thought it would be. Even though you know it will eventually happen, the impact is greater than I imagined. I wish all the orphans could have a mother like mine. I owe my salvation to my mother. Even though we had stopped going to church, just before my senor year in high school we decided to go church shopping. I landed in a church in which Pastor Ray spoke the truth. I heard the good news of Jesus and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. When I was at a decision point about going to the mission field or college, she encouraged me to go overseas. That direction dramatically changed my life. My mom was the catalyst for my Sveta. How differnet the world would be if all mothers cared for their children.

Pointing people in the right direction

Sveta has been going to the Orthodox church with a friend on Wednesday nights. They have a Russian group that meets afterwords for a spiritual study. We went to the service. One of the aspects of the orthodox church is how they really bring out the beauty and majesty of God in their services. You do have to focus on God (or daydream about other topics if you are not engaged). It is too bad the global church cannot see the strengths of each group. I had a vision several years ago of the church. It was a picture like you hang on the wall with four army groups in foxholes in each corner. Everyone had helmets and guns that were firing at each other. Perhaps we spend too much time "shooting" at each other and not finding common ground. Believe me, I could visit an orthodox or other church but would not necessarily find it the best choice for me for the long run. That is a personal choice. The priest read a story about Daniel. It was interesting, but one aspect that many spiritual leaders do not include is how does it apply to our lives. That approach is seen across the boards in the church. We read the Word of God and expect people to apply it, they do not get it unless the teacher covers it or there is dialog between the teacher and followers.
     That brings me to what I really appreciated in the follow on study. We watched a video in Russian about Moses and the children of Israel from their time in Egypt up to the Jordan river. The speaker presented much content and commentary. He did explain some of the traditions of the orthodox faith. For example, he covered the issue of work; the Israelite typically worked 7 days a week and when God gave the law, he allowed one day for rest. With the resurrection we added Sunday. His point was that we should be working 6 days a week and resting one day.
     Father Anthony came in after the video and asked what the group learned. I have heard him a few times before in other meetings about 9 years ago. He is very good at encouraging people and applying biblical principles. He gave the analogy of a vehicle traveling on the earth will eventually stop. Once a moving rocket in space is pointed in the right direction will continue to its destination. We must find the right direction and continue the journey. Time is the question that we wrestle with. We are on the journey and do not know when we will reach the destination. Some are moving faster and some slower, but the point is to move towards God-that is the right direction. Now I am challenged to point people in the right direction. There is so much interference in this world. As I grow spiritually, it is in my heart; now how do I apply it?

Strange dream

I have dreams alot, but pretty dull these days. Last night I had a dream about people in a swamp. They were eating small snakes and getting very pale. They were trapped in this swamp. Suddenly a huge snake came out of the water and devoured a person. It  startled me so much that I woke up trying to shake it off. I focused on the blood of Jesus. I went back to sleep or back into the dream and I saw Jesus as pure white. He appeared as pure light and walked up to the huge snake. He calmly grabbed the snake by the neck and held it tight. My thought was that we need to get these people out of here. The snake is Satan and he uses smaller snakes to poison people. Jesus can hold the snake and  prevent it from devouring people. Other than that I have no interpretation for  now.

Cats and orphans

I realize cats are different than humans, just as humans are different than God. However, this analogy came to mind. I always considered cats as independent and not trainable. Lately, I ponder on how we trained two 5 year old cats to certain behaviors. Sveta frequently had the cats come in from inside. She clapped and called them and it worked about 80% of the time. In our new house, we had a concern about the cats roaming around the neighborhood. So we set an objective to keep them inside the yard-the area is big enough for them to get out of the house. We monitored them and kept them away from the fence. When we called and they came inside, we told them, "Good girls".  They basically stay with in the yard now.
   Sveta had a wish that the cats to sleep in the bedroom with us. One cat typically sleeps next to Sveta or in her arm. The other one would sleep in various places in the house. We set up a chair as a special place for her. I would bring her in and only pet her when she was in her special bed. Supposedly cats spend 70% of their time sleeping; now our cat spends 90% of sleep time in her spot.
     The point is how to encourage orphans. The negative stigma is a challenge. It is easy to look at the statistics and expect orphans to behave in ways that are hurtful to themselves and others. Or could we take a different approach and encourage them. Like my cats it is not a one time event; it takes dozens of repetition to make a break through. Expecting orphans to do well and reinforcing their lives with encouragement would be a good approach to take.

Sveta's Citizenship Ceremony and God

As I reflect on Sveta's citizenship ceremony, the reference to God by a federal institution has me thinking. There were 48 new citizens in the ceremony from 29 countries. When they said the oath, the final words were "...so help me God." Participants were briefed that they could leave this section out and they had a substitute phrase. When I looked down Sveta's line with 8 folks, I noticed they all repeated "so help me God." Just an observation, but perhaps me make a bigger deal about secularism in the US.
Secondly, they said the pledge of allegiance and the words "one nation under God" came up.
Thirdly, the President gave a nice speech (on video) to welcome the new citizens. He ended his speech with "God bless you" and "God bless the United States."
Fourthly, the final part was a video with a woman singing America- "God shed his grace on thee."

It is interesting that a federal institution - the Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Center would bring up God four times.

Nearing the finish of the house remodel

With our move to a new house last year, the remodel is near completion. We are on the final "punch list." The punch list contains the last tasks remaining. Lord willing we will be done this week.

I had hoped to have the basement used for orphans, but first I need to recoup the investment and pay off the remodel, the move and other unexpected debts. For the time being, the plan is to have international students stay with us. As an introvert, I like the tranquility of our house, far be it for me to have such a large house and not use it for some divine purpose. My heart would really like to have a bible study and fellowship at the house.

We have three rooms, a kitchenette, bathroom, washer and dryer, and access to our family room. I find it humorous that due to codes, the plans referred to the kitchen as a wet bar. Due to the regulations, I could not put in a stove, but I have a one and two burner table top "stove" on the counter...

We probably saved about 70% in the do-it-yourself model. I did defer work to a "bone fide" electrician and plumber. My son, Greg, came back from Seattle for a visit that ended up longer than planned. He was a big help to me to complete this project.  He did most of the heavy work for the external outside entrance-basement.The digging required taking out over 12,000 pounds of sand by shovel, mixing by hand and pouring about 9,000 lbs of concrete, and building a 30 foot enclosure over the stairs and entrance.

Hopefully, we will have some students by the first of the year. 

Citizenship for Sveta

I am sitting in the waiting room of the US Immigration building. Svetlana is interviewing for her US citizenship. I expected a larger number of Hispanic, but the distribution seems more mixed. I heard a name from the Baltic states, one from Africa, a couple of folks from Asia, and someone from one of the former Soviet "Stans". Just heard a Russian name. With Sveta that makes 4 for the former Soviet Union. Sveta practiced the questions and I would expect she will score a 9 or 10. We got here at the 7 am opening in Denver. Now I have another reminder for a blessing-I do not have to drive to Denver to work. What a flow of traffic at 6am!
     As I reflect on Sveta's journey, she was quite brave for a Russian to leave her family and job to come to the US. One of her patients planted the seed to  leave Russia. She had a good family and good career. She looked for opportunity for her two sons. She had the chance to go to Italy, Germany, or several places in the US. How did she end up in Colorado Springs?
     And the final word -  Svetalana is now officially a citizen of the United States!

Orphan home for adults

I picked this up from George Steiner's facebook.
A New Home? Yes! We are constructing a new home for our Ivanovo Ministry Center serving at-risk Russian orphans. It will house a large kitchen for daily meals, a multi-purpose room for seminars, events and activities, a computer lab, a small gym and staff offices. On this ‪#‎GivingTuesday‬, through the generosity of one of our donors, your gift will be doubled as part of our $250,000 campaign!To donate, go to www.orphanstree.org.
I went to an Ivanovo orphanage - I am thinking 2006. Nice place, but they closed it. Of all the places I have visited in Russia, Ivanovo seemed more like an industrial city. 

Riptide

     Do you ever wonder how you wake up in the morning and recall an event from the past? This topic I had not thought about for years and years. I am trying to pull the details from my memosphere, but it is that place in your brain that you try to access and seems to be out of your reach. Anyway I took some friends to the Oregon beach. It was somewhere around the end of my senior year of high school into my first year in college; that was when my car actually worked. I think everyone was sunning themselves in the dunes and I went out to the beach. Walking alone along the beach, I decided to take a swim. In hindsight, my thinking was dumber than a box of rocks, but at the time seemed like a good idea. I was challenged by swimming past the oncoming waves into the ocean so I kept swimming further out into the sea. Perhaps my fearlessness exceeded my common sense.  I suspect I was slightly autistic; they call it Asperger’s. I took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory a few years ago and one of the supposed negative traits was a lack of fear. I tried to research if I had Asperger’s. A psychologist told me there is no way to determine it at my age, because people tend to compensate and adjust by their 30s. That’s another story; somebody keep me focused…Swimming on my back, I felt a force pull me. By the time I turned over, I realized the force was dragging me out to sea. I was in the riptide.

     Fortunately, I knew what to do. Work with me people. This was Oregon; this subject does not come up in Colorado-more on the lines of hailstorms any month of the year, flash floods, and avalanches. Our natural instinct is to swim against the tide to shore. This is meaningless and will only end up exhausting the swimmer and you will eventually drown. I began to swim at an angle away from shore and into the ocean. A couple of times I looked back at the diminishing shoreline; it was an eerie feeling, but I was not afraid. Eventually a riptide will fan out and dissipate. Then I looked back to shore and went “whoa”. I have never been that far out in an ocean without a mode of transportation. Fortunately, I was a good swimmer so I made my way back to shore. When I stood up on the beach, it was so reassuring to be on solid ground and the warmth was great. Stay with me folks, the water is cold in Oregon, not like Louisiana or Texas where I preferred staying in the water for hours and turning into a prune. I had goosebumps all over my body. I was safe.

Now let’s see if I can draw this analogy. There seemed like a direction so right. Naturally I should try to fight the force of the riptide and swim back to shore. What seemed so right was so wrong. That thinking would lead to death. I had to turn around and take a different direction. The path involved a detour, but the end was a solid foundation and warmth. In this scenario the ocean represents life with potential dangers. Eventually something could happen to end your way of life. Think about your own life. Are you on a path that seems so right, but is so wrong? You have to turn and go a different direction. For me the riptide represents the force of evil that pulls us in a direction we really do not want to go. I had to turn around and by faith take a different action than my natural instincts. For me, the beach represents the solid ground of faith in Christ and the sun’s warmth is the comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

     The moral of the story: Examine your life and stay away from something that can pull you into a riptide. If you find yourself in a riptide, turn another direction and swim away by faith and you will reach the safety of the shore.

Romania or bust?

I have an invite to go to Romania in January. Last year I went and visited Roma (Gypsy) homes. We went out for 4 full days and my team visited 18 homes. We prayed with 21 folks 10 and up plus  several younger to accept Christ. Also we cast out demons in 2 homes. We also passed out coats and boots. I really want to go again. It would take a miracle to make it again. I will really need to have some kind of confirmation from God.

Shootings in Coorado Springs

Our city has had two public shootings in broad daylight within the last month. As we process these events, the question arises: "How do we respond to such violence?" The senseless tragedies caused by biterness and hatred for people is hard to comprehend. In last month's shooting my wife walked through the area exactly one day after that event to visit a client. She found out from her client about the actual shooting location. How would we respond if it was one of our loved ones? Certainly one could rationalize the situation and justify bitterness and hatred. Yet there is far too much bitterness and hatred in the world. They are powerful forces. However, I have learned a stronger force that stops these two -forgiveness. They seem weaker courses of action, but in reality when you actually forgive, the force is greater than hate. When Jesus said to forgive others, I see that not as excusing the behavior, but as breaking the vicious cycle  of hatred and bitterness that leads to violence. The other question would be: "Why is it so difficult to grasp and carry out forgiveness?" 

Sveta's surgery

After many years of trying to figure out a health problem for Sveta, the resolution is near. She had severe pain in the abdomen. After 2 trips to emergency this year and about 15 doctor visits, the conclusion is an abdominal hernia. So she will under go surgery Monday morning checking in at 6:15 am. The process should be 98% without incident. We packed a bag in case she has to spend the night in the hospital. The Lord our God will be with us where ever we go.

Influencing an orphan

From my research. A story about mentoring a Russian orphan.

It’s not through anything that we said like we taught or planned to teach a lesson. I really believe that it’s through the years of consistent modeling. Just living your life and being an example. And of course writing a lot of letters and sharing your life with them so that they really do know what you stand for and what you believe. Our relationship is much more than going and visiting them one time a year and having a good time with them. For us it has been about consistently writing and sharing things and there have been times where we felt like she was veering off in the wrong direction and we would very gently very gently and carefully write her and try to steer her back in the right path. And so I think that it has made a difference.

Russian orphan transformed by a bicycle mishap

Here is a story from my archives about a Russian orphan who turned to God due to a bicycle mishap when he was around 14 or 15. He had went to go visit his mom. From the very beginning his mentors have always talked about God and tried to make that a center of who he is. He was out riding a bike at night and there was a big pot hole. The bike hit it which knocked him off and he had twisted his leg. And he said, "I twisted it so bad I couldn't get up" and he realizes, "No one was really around to help me." He said, "That was the moment that I called out to God. I knew when I was finally able to get up I really knew there was a God who cares about me."
     When we become involved in an orphan's life, the mentoring can go on for years. Then some event takes place that triggers a transformation. Much of or spiritual life is about certain that event that causes a realization of the supernatural. Orphans have so many needs, but I find those who have a spiritual transformation have a greater chance of leading successful lives.  

Adopting young abused children around age 50?

I posted this video on my Facebbok page, but wanted to dscribe more in depth on my own thoughts. Mike and Lessa raised 5 biological children before starting to foster children. They now have 3 more little ones added to their family through adoption. And they were around 50 at the time!

When I heard their story I really had to ponder my own role in helping orphans. The urgency of the situation nd the trauma that children go through. I can not imagine having a 2 year old arriving at my home with the first two words F*** Y**. What a twisted world we live in and the victims are too often little children.
The link:

Watch "The Worleys: A Life Almost Lost, A Story Rewritten and Lives Changed Forever" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/apdG7Ow7QGwWatch "The Worleys: A Life Almost Lost, A Story Rewritten and Lives Changed Forever" on YouTube
The Worley's adoption story

Mr. Ja - (Vietnamese Da)

As I process  all the news about Syrian refugees flooding into Europe , my heart really understands their situation. Most of what I have seen in the media describes families trying to escape a bad situation. Yet many countries cannot abosrb the numbers or do not want to get involved in the refugee problem. This dilemma brings me back  to the time of the boat people escaping Southeast Asia as the so called "communists" moved in. I worked as a warehouse manager and had a shipping clerk, Mr. Da (pronounced Ja). He handled numbers so well, I considered him a human calculator. He managed our inbound and outbound shipments. One time he invited me over for dinner. Due to language barrier, before that visit, I basically knew he came from Saigon and escaped with his family. Since his children spoke fluent English, I found out the rest of the story. A Mennonite church sponsored or "adopted" the family. They arranged for him to live in a house. I recall visiting another employee from Cambodia in which 17 people live in a 3 bedroom apartment or 11 in a 2 bedroom apartment - my memosphere is lacking. He was very grateful to have his own house. I asked him somethng to the effect of "What would have happened if you stayed in Vietnam.?" He said he would have been killed. He worked in the Ministry of Finance for the government. I could tell by his skill and age that he was probably way up on the hierarchy. What would have happened to his family and children? I will never forget the impression Mr. Da made on my life regarding the situation of a refugee and his thankfulness for the church taking him in.

New spititual dimension

I had a unique experience this evening. I was working in the backyard and dusk began to set in.   I was tired so I sat down in the porch and listened to worship songs in German. Then it crossed my mind to pray for a country. According to the monthy calendar -my schedule - that would be the Ukraine. Since I sometimes miss a day like I did yesterday, I usually use a sliding scale and pray for three countries at time so I cover them throughout the month. So I began to intercede for Belarus, the Ukraine, and Russia. I was sitting on the porch and I sensed a spiritual vision of the Ukraine. The hard part is putting it into words, but I will try. I did not see the Ukraine as portrayed in books, the Internet, or news coverage but a supernatural picture of the warfare in the heavenly realm. Many years ago I recall seeing spirits of darkness when I was actually in the country. Never can I remember this type of manifestation in my own home. The awareness of something supernatural prompted me to get up and move into the yard. Although I did not see anything through my eyes, I looked east and <saw> the battle for the Ukraine. I looked a little left and ,
<saw> the one for Belarus. Then I looked right -past the Ukraine and <saw> Russia's battle. The Russian battle was huge compared to the other two. I have no idea what it means. I was caught up with praying for these countries. I have no idea how long it was as time seemed to diminish as I prayed. It was like I was in another dimension. I continued praying and worshipping God. It  was a lot of content, but some topics were: releasing God's power in each country. Moving of the spirit. Freeing the captives. Orphans, widows, aliens, prisoners, etc. It makes me wonder if my  focus should be praying for these countries in this manner and dedicate more time. Was it simply an isolated occurrance - time will tell. As I process this event, I will need to weigh carefully how to proceed from this point.

Orphans Tree

I follow a blog from Orphans Tree. They help Rusian orphans who are transitioning from orphanages to independent living. The web currently has a PawToons type talk on their mission. Their efforts are commendable as much of the focus is on orphans in institutions and Orphans Tree helps these young people outside the framework of the orphanages.
An interesting fact is that an updated study found out 30% or orphans are involved in crime, 20% are  homeless, and 10% commit suicide. I had quoted a Russian report in which 40% were involved in crime and 15% committed suicide. I was unable to find figures on homeless orphans. The situation is still grim for orphans.
Website http://www.orphanstree.org

Sasha - suicide

When viewing the statistics about orphans in Russia, the 15% suicide rate is alarming. I have heard specifically of several orphans who committed suicide and even visited the grave of a 17 year old girl who had done so. For this story I selected a Sasha since so many children are named Sasha. Sasha was an actual leader in the orphanage more by his strong personality. I do not recall details of his life before the orphanage. What impressed me was his knowledge of the scriptures and insight into the supernatural. He could answer most questions when we had bible class. However, I knew he was unstable from observing him, but one always hopes for the best. When he went off to technical school, he killed himself. The hard part to understand is that he had a really good sponsor who visited him in Russia and tried to care for him. It goes to show that we never know what is in the mind of a person and how a person will act. This one person continues to motivate me to keep trying for the rest of my life to help orphans. The task is overwhelming, but somehow I have a faith that is beyond reason to impact many orphans.

How would you interpret these events?

We desire to trust God, but things happen in life. I am posing a rhetorical question to reflect on these situations.

First I almost cut off my finger working on the downstairs. I was grinding nails left over from the carpet tack on one wall. Sveta was filling holes from some nails that were pulled and left holes. I had sparks flying and metal was glowing so I turned to see what she was doing. Even though it is a basic model, this grinder has really high RPMs. I  did not realize my left hand went into the grinder. Fortunately the glove absorbed the initial cut and I became a aware enough to pull my hand back and only sliced two pieces of flesh in the forefinger. Ironically I had taken off the guard to use the cement grinder attachment and forgot to put back on. (I did put it back on after the event). It was a close call.

Last week I took the Audi in to a mechanic because it was leaking antifreeze, but I could not find the source. Turned out that is was an external leak from the head gasket onto the engine. My regular mechanic  was so busy he said it would be 2 weeks before he could schedule it. I figured I would drive as long as I could before i was forced to repair it.

However, Sunday night Sveta was driving and called that the Santa Fe would not shut off. I told her to bring it home and I managed to turn it off. It turned out that the ignition switch went bad, so I ordered one. That meant we had to drive the Audi. It is 14 years old now. Monday night she came home and steam was pouring out of the engine. When I put in anti-freeze, it seemed to keep taking more. Then I looked underneath and it was literally poured onto the garage floor.

I bought the 2003 Santa Fe in 2005. For the 10 years I owned it and it never left me stranded. I only recall two trips to the shop to replace a transmission cooler pump and the speedometer broke. The A/C does not work any more-not a big deal in Colorado. The transmission is going out. In the past month I had to fix a broken door handle-cable and electronic window switch. Amazing that the junkyard had one Santa Fe and identical to ours-that was only $52 in parts. Now the ignition switch went out and I am waiting for the part to come in and then put it in myself.

So what is the point of all this? With the work and investment on the house remodel to take in international students, I had hoped the cars would last a little longer. The children of Israel apparently maintained their equipment and clothes for 40 years, I was hoping and believing for the cars to operate a little longer until we could finish the downstairs. Yet both cars broke and we do not know when it will happen again. How do you interpret these events. Random timing that the physical world moves to chaos and breaking down, the work of the devil, or perhaps a spiritual lesson to learn?