Firsts

Firsts
The later part of November brought about many “Firsts” for the Roberts family. Marty was given the opportunity to preach at Central Baptist Church in Petropovlovsk-Kamchatsky during the morning service. The Lord certainly moved during the service and we give God all the glory for all that was done. Emma Grace pulled her first overseas (zyb) tooth. She and one of the Putnam’s kids had a race going on who was going to pull their tooth first. I believe they pulled them on the same day. Emma Grace also had her first day at Russian School. She enjoyed it very much. We were able to meet with the administrator (principal) and her teacher two days before she started class. The administrator spoke English very well and the teacher spoke a little English. The school reminded us a lot of Wheeler School. Emma has made friends with many of her class mates, all 22 of them, and has begun to learn to write Russian. She also studies math, science and art at school. Lee and Emma both are doing a home school curriculum and their teacher, Ms. Rachel, arrived in PK Saturday safe and sound.
We also experienced our first overseas Thanksgiving celebration. We celebrated with our team members in PK. There were 12 of us that gathered to give thanks together. We managed to have turkey with all the trimmings despite the fact that we had been without power for 2 days.
We currently have around 5 inches of snow on the ground and it is averaging -3 degrees C each day. Lee has enjoyed snow sledding with some Russian boys and is looking forward to the opening of the snow slopes that are not far from our home. We will need a few more inches of snow before he tackles his first snow board run. Suzanne and I had our first Russian language exam this week. We both scored really well. A (5) was the highest grade available and the teacher scored each of us at (4+). We were both excited.
Don’t forget this year’s Lottie Moon emphasis is on the Former Soviet Union. You can read lots of good info at www.imb.org. Please be in prayer for the Former Soviet Union (Russia and the 14 other countries that gained independence). Also, please pray for God’s guidance on how to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering this year. Without the obedience of God’s people in giving, missionaries all over the world will not be able to stay on field to spread the Good News of God’s saving grace.
We are very thankful to have folks like you holding the rope on our behalf. Praise the Lord for faithful prayer warriors like you. God bless each one of you! Roberts family (Marty, Suzanne, Lee & Emma) Philippians 4:13.

Snow! What's That?

Wednesday night it was difficult for Emma to go to bed. She has always wanted to have a white Christmas. Looks like she might even get a white Thanksgiving this year. About bed time Wednesday it began to "spit" a few snow flakes. By Thursday morning we had a light dusting for PK standards. There was enough snow that it would have caused problems in MS. Wheeler would have certainly turned out school and the grocery store would have sold all their milk and bread. Everything was normal in PK, even the grandmaw's were out and about. It did make for a fun walk to the magazine (grocery store). We picked up some klep (bread)just so we would feel like everyone in MS when snow is predicted. Lee and Emma did have a chance to toss a few snowballs at one another. Suzanne and I spent the day in language school. We are learning many words and different endings but still find it very difficult to make a complete sentence. I feel like I am in first grade again. Each day Zoya makes us recite the alpahbet. Two days this week she gave us a "pop" spelling test. Zoya is a great teacher and has taught us alot in only 7 days of class. Zoya only speaks Russian. That made the first couple of days quite a challenge.

Everyone is doing great. Rachel, the new homeschool teacher, will arrive this week. She has recently had knee surgery. Pray that she and the kids develop a quick and healthy relationship and that she is able to get around and her recovery from the surgery is smooth and easy.

We are here!!!

We finally made it!!! A little over a week ago we said good bye to our families inside the Memphis International airport and our journey officially began. We boarded and left for Chicago……….no problem. From Chicago we flew to Frankfurt, Germany. We landed in Germany and found our next terminal according to our tickets, gate B-72. The strange thing is that the airport in Frankfurt does not open until 5 am. We know this because our pilot stated that we were going to circle the airport from 4:35 am to 5 am until it opens. At gate B-72 it was a ghost town, no one was there. We sat a few minutes and finally found a lady who only spoke German but finally managed to tell us to check the computer on the wall. When we found our flight number to Moscow it stated in big letters CANCELLED!!! It was off to the races; I ran up stairs to the Lufthansa counter and stood in line for 45 minutes. They issued us a standby ticket for the next flight that left in 50 minutes. I ran back down stairs, found the family, ran back up stairs and around the airport and made the next flight to Moscow. We had someone meeting us in Moscow to help us change airports there. We did not make our original flight because of the cancelled flight in Frankfurt. Oh well, we were tired and it was a blessing to get a hot shower and a night’s sleep in Moscow before we flew on into PK. Our check in and flight the next day went as expected. We flew into PK and the mountain tops were covered with snow………..pictures will never do justice to the beauty of mountains. We were greeted by the Covington’s and the Putnam’s and Pastor Volodya. Volodya is the pastor of Central Baptist in PK.
Every single piece of luggage made it to PK in perfect shape. We loaded our bags and headed to our apartment. It is about 1200 square feet with great heat and hot water, two different views of the city and all the amenities that anyone would desire to have or need. We even got our internet hooked up today. We have purchased beds for each one of us, tea pot, microwave, table and chairs, washing machine and a few dishes. A person can purchase almost anything in the city, even ice cream and microwave popcorn.
We started our language training on Thursday. We have had 8 hours, 4 hours per day, thus far. It is fun but trying at times. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Suzanne and I catch a bus and travel to the next town, Elizovo, to meet our teacher, Zoya. On Mon, Wed, and Fri she will travel to our apartment. Please pray for Zoya, she is not yet a believer but a very nice lady and great teacher.
The three big mistakes Marty has made thus far…………………All comical! (1) The very first day in PK attempting to use a little Russia language……………I really thought I knew how to ask someone if they would like something to drink. I asked Pastor Volodya if he wanted something to drink,…..everyone laughed,…….somehow I managed to ask the pastor if he would like to go out and get a drink…………..an alcoholic drink………..Praise the Lord for a sense of humor, everyone just laughed really loud. (2) Attempting to use the Russian ATM to withdraw money to purchase the washing machine I punched in the wrong pin number and the ATM retained my card. Once again in big red letters……..CARD DETAINED IN MACHINE. Randy called the number on the machine and then we had to go to a Russian bank fill out some paper work and show them my passport. They had to go and retrieve the card, call Randy on his phone and then we had to go back and pick it up. (3) Shopping at the market…………….be careful on what you order…………….asking for a small fish and getting several pounds, market is a great place to practice your language but you never really know just how much stuff or what type of stuff you may be asking for. There will certainly be more stories to come from the market.
The kids are adjusting great! Lee already knows the bus routes better than any of us. Emma loves going to the market. They got to go eat real Russian food while we were in our first language class. Lee ate blini (a pancake or crepe type thing) and Emma ate a Russian salad and soup. We have had smoked salmon from the outdoor market. Lee even ate caviar (salmon roe) and liked it. The breads are out of this world. We go to the corner market to get fresh bread every couple of days. We definitely don’t have to be afraid of going hungry.
Thank you so much for praying for us. We are still waiting on a mailing address. As soon as we get one I will post it. Please remember that if you mail us letters or anything it will take about 4 to 6 weeks for them to get to us. Also, if you send material goods please do not list the value of being over $30. If it is over this amount we will have to pay taxes on it to receive it. Just label it as gift and value $25 or $30.
Thanks for holding the rope,
Roberts Family (Marty, Suzanne, Lee & Emma)
Philippians 4:13
Contact Information:
going.east@hotmail.com
http://robertsinrussia.blogspot.com
home # 011-7-415-227-3716
If you give us a call please remember the time difference. We are 18 hours ahead of the states or one day minus 6 hours. For example if it is 12 noon Monday in MS it will be 6 am Tuesday in PK.