December 24, 2005

Dear Friends and Family!

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. May the joy of the Christmas season enter in and bless each of your homes.

I look at the calendar and I am just astounded that we are already at Christmas again and almost through a year that feels like it just began. I don’t know where all the days and weeks went. I do know that it has probably been the hardest year of our time in Russia, but in that hardness it has forced us to find a new balance for our lives, and that has been a good thing. I have actually learned to say “no,” or at least “not just now.” Al and the girls have found their balance too. Al has been teaching new classes at Hinkson, which he has enjoyed, but the sudden death of his brother in August made the start of the school year very hard.

Allison is now a senior in college and so, in addition to schoolwork, is busy exploring options for next year. Meg has been enjoying her first year of high school, but she’s also discovered that it requires better time management on her part. She played on the varsity volleyball team this fall and was part of several fellowship groups. It wasn’t always easy to find the balance with the demands of her schoolwork, but she’s done well. Emma continues to be Emma, but she’s also grown into a new maturity that we just marvel at. She’s in the third grade now and making great strides with things that have up to now been rather challenging. She loves her third-grade teacher and has some very good friends this year.

In November, I mostly stayed home and got caught up. I made a trip to Belarus to participate in a conference on women in the church put on by the Belarusian Round Table. I tried to tell them that I wasn’t the best person to speak on that subject, as my area is focused more on interchurch cooperation. I have never felt that the fact that I am a woman was all that significant in what I do—it is just a part of who I am—but there are certainly challenges in what I do because I am also a mother and a wife. I cannot give up those roles as I take on others. It was valuable for me to think about the issues and listen to other women share their thoughts and experiences. My colleagues in Belarus were very interested in my discussion of the concept of servant leadership and asked me to elaborate. They will be publishing a booklet on the conference, but it will be in Russian.

Our family slipped out of Russia at the end of November for the vacation we never managed to find time for this summer. We went to Germany for Thanksgiving, with Allison meeting us there on her way to Russia for Christmas break. We spent a lovely long weekend with a young friend from our home church who is serving in the army there. We managed to get to Trier, a city on the Luxembourg border that Al had studied in for a semester in college.

Many fathers have left, leaving mothers to carry the load alone. The church in Vologda is seeking ways to reach out to both the special needs children and their courageous and often exhausted parents. The past two days, Al and I have been out in Smolensk helping the Istochnik Television Studio, which is part of the Smolensk church’s ministry. Al translated the script of two videos into English and did the English audio, so that these programs can be shared in churches in the United States. They are excellent programs. My role on this trip was to type out the new script. I also filled in for women’s voices.

It is always so good to come home again. We have spent the day getting ready for Christmas. We have many friends coming over for Christmas dinner. We are looking forward to the fellowship around the table. Last year we had 14 people in our living room, talking, laughing and eating long into the evening. We hope that everyone will enjoy the gathering as much this year as they did last year.

We wish you all peace and joy this Christmas season and may you experience the wonder of our Lord’s love in these days and throughout the new year.

With love in Christ,

Ellen and Al

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 188