Enjoying the Bahamas... while hubby is in Israel

Did you know we live in the Bahamas? I know, I know... I'm confusing you. Within Ukraine there is a little village called the Bahamas. At least, that it what the sign says at our village bus stop - "Bahamas" - something one of the villagers jokingly painted and hammered up. In actuality, though, our village has no name unless you count "3rd village" as a name. Our streets out here are nameless as well. And, our house has no number!

We have been using public transportation since returning to Ukraine. And, boy, do we stir up the comments and stares... especially since, other than us, no one who uses our village bus is less than 60 years of age! The reason? Most of the younger generation do not live out in the villages where there are no schools or jobs. Daily transportation to and from the city would just be too difficult since most Ukrainians rely on public transportation and these buses only run four to five times a day. So, to where were we riding in those pictures? To church... our favorite place... to enjoy Wednesday evening services, baptism, and the Lord's Supper!

Pictured below are Pastor Bob (left) and the four who were baptized:

And this (below), my dear friends, is our indoor baptistry!

Yes, on the mission field we "make do" with what is available. But, praise the Lord for those who have been saved and boldly come before the church to follow the Lord in baptism, no matter what the baptistry looks like. What a sweet testimony!

On another note, hubby has been calling daily from Israel. Yesterday he spoke and sang to a school of over 1,000 students about the importance of the Bible, near Mount Gilboa where Gideon was greatly used of the Lord in Judges 7. At the same time he was there in the north of the country, a tragedy took place in the south of the country: an anti-tank missile was fired from the Gaza Strip and struck a school bus, critically wounding a 16-year-old boy.

Our hearts are saddened anytime we hear news like this. Please be in prayer for Israel and for my David. I spoke with him through Skype and told him we would be happy if he just remains in the north for the rest of his trip. {smile} He's a smart man (actually brilliant) and would not go into a dangerous place on purpose.

So, until he returns late Monday evening, we'll just be enjoying our "Bahamas"... in our coats!

God. Loves. Me.

Look what appeared in stores in my little part of the world while we were on furlough! And, I did not even have to go to a "big" grocery store to buy them.

Just four packs of four. Sixteen cookies. Imported from Spain.

Not even double-stuffed.... When you've waited nearly nine years... who cares?

Got milk?

Missionary Monday - What's in the Box?

When we returned from America two weeks ago, these boxes (above) were waiting for us. And, I promised to share with you what was in them. When we first came to Ukraine nearly nine years ago, I'll never forget David telling me that we could live on little and still be very happy. He said, "If Ukrainians can live without it, so can we!" Wisely stated. Of course, he was telling me that we could not just box up Wal-Mart (or Target) and ship it to ourselves, and that I was going to have to get used to not having availability to some things anymore. Not that we lived with a lot then, anyway... I mean we were newlyweds and had just finished deputation. (We were on the field just two years after we were married.)

So, all that said... we can live without so much.... and we have. But, since we were just back in the states and had the opportunity to stock up on some supplies, I enjoyed the pleasure of it all. So, just ask yourself, if you could box up some things that you knew would not be available to you for two years and ration it out, what would you take? Well, as far as food goes, here are some things I decided on (I'll share non-food items in a later post):

Now, some things you saw in the pictures that we can get here: baking powder and cocoa (I just wanted the handy, labeled cans for refilling with the little packets we buy here), popcorn (expensive here) and peanut butter (expensive and "dry").

Some other things I have brought in the past or people have brought me: syrup, powdered sugar (we have it here, but the quality is not as good), lots of various seasonings and spices, cake mixes, brownie/muffin/cornbread mixes (no mixes here, including pancake mix or Bisquick), hot chocolate packets, hot apple cider packets, Kool-aid, marshmallows, Reese's, Butterfinger, Oreo cookies, pudding, jello, Starbucks coffee {gotta love it!}, etc...

There are other things we cannot get but just do not bring, either because it is too heavy, will go bad, or just is not practical because it gets used up too quickly. Some good examples of this would be the cans of Campbell's soups, Velveeta cheese, or cherry pie filling. (The pumpkin pie filling you see in the picture was not mine but my mother-in-law's who bought it to take to Mexico and it accidently got shipped in my things! Oh, well... guess I'll just have to "suffer.") We also have to give serious consideration to the weight of items since it is costly to ship things and we pay by the pound.

In an earlier post, I mentioned Reese's and Starbucks coffee being high on our priority list, but in actuality, the only Reese's I brought was to give as a gift to another missionary wife. And, the things we do bring for ourselves are rationed out over time and savored... every morsel is enjoyed to the fullest.

It is amazing to learn what you can really live without. And by the way, there are some things here that are not in America that we have learned to love and miss when we are not here!

And, did you know... living without all of the "instant" foods has made me learn how to cook from scratch? And that's not a bad thing! I've also learned the meaning of the word "substitute." Also, I'm sure my family is much healthier here than they would be if we lived in America. So, hard as it may be to spend so much time in the kitchen at times, the end result (a healthy family) is certainly worth it. It was also funny to me to return to America this last time and think that so many things there tasted "fake." Yep, we are eating real food here... it may be simple and modest, but it is not processed. So, any volunteers for the mission field?