The REST of the story--2015

I’m not usually one for communicating through “Christmas letters,” but I guess this is a form of one. I'm not sure why today I'm feeling this need to reach out. Maybe I’ve been affected by the eerie isolation I’m feeling on this foggy December 22^nd, or it’s the prospect of spending this Christmas without the presence of our dear daughter for the first time in 29 years. (She’s traveling to British Columbia to spend the holidays with Mike’s family. We'll miss those two, but we're happy to share!) Whatever the reason, I'm feeling this urge to communicate. Also, many have asked for “the rest of the story” of our wanderings in 2015. So here goes.

Young Life Club in Yerevan

When I last wrote, it was late August and we were still in Armenia, heading into the home stretch of our stay there. We enjoyed working with our final volunteer team, Tom and Susan Holmes, who joined us at Young Life’s “Fellowship House” in Yerevan for ten days. We loved being housemates with this gracious couple, as Susan and I did English language assessments with Young Life staff and Tom and Doug worked on projects at the camp property. We also had some time to explore the neighborhood together and visit Young Life clubs in the city.

Bolshoi Theater, Moscow

After the Holmes left, Doug and I had the privilege of traveling to Moldova and Moscow, where we were warmly welcomed by Young Life folks who were happy to introduce us to their clubs and staff members. We will forever be amazed at the universal embodiment of Christ that exists in Young Life people. We were overwhelmed with their hospitality and eagerness to share the “local color” of each of the places we visited this year. There is no better way to travel! For all of these connections we owe a debt of gratitude to our Young Life Expeditions "angel" Carrie Fraser, who was our advisor and prayer warrior for our entire summer sojourn. 

On September 24, we said goodbye to Armenia, with a pledge to return, God willing! After a visit to Vienna on the way home, we returned to Michigan on the 29^th.  We were happy to be home for two weeks before leaving on October 14 to spend two weeks in Jamaica, where we enjoyed witnessing the wedding of Doug’s niece, followed by a time of total relaxation at a remote beach resort. It was a great way to “wind down” from our travels—Ya, mon!

Now we’re back home and settling in for the winter (or should I say, the winter that we wish would come!). Doug has resumed his work with Fasteners, Inc. I will rejoin the work force in January at Top of Michigan Trails Council.

We don't foresee being in any kind of rut in 2016. God has placed a Young Life-shaped space in our hearts, and we are hoping to fill it by staying involved in some way in the year to come, hopefully with another (shorter) trip to Armenia. Recently we were thrilled to see pictures of the construction that is taking place at the camp property there, and we are excited to go back and see the progress and visit the beautiful people that we met this past year. Meanwhile we are happy to be supporting the Young Life ministry in Moldova, St. Petersburg and even here in the Little Traverse Bay area with financial gifts. It’s exciting to be a part of reaching kids with the life-altering message of Christ’s love.

We want to wish all of you a most blessed Christmas. May the reality of “God WITH us” be the source of your joy and your peace. We pray that His presence in your life will be manifest as you move into the adventure of a new year! 

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:23 

But one thing we now know for sure...

It's almost September! Our summer has been a whirlwind, but today things seem slower, the temps are a bit cooler, and I have time to breathe.  It has been much too long since I sat down to update this blog.  Now it’s Sunday morning, I’m feeling reflective and grateful, and I have a few minutes to get some words from my heart to the keyboard. So here goes!

I was thinking about the title that Doug chose for this blog: “We won’t know until we get there,” and how appropriate it has been on a daily basis.  Every day or at least every week has presented new challenges and experiences that leave us gasping in many cases, laughing in some, and always glad that we made the decision to come to Armenia.

Volunteers from First Armenian Presbyterian
in Fresno scraped and painted the
outdoor theater at the camp property

Central Peninsula Church (SF Bay Area)
volunteers took on removing flooring
from one of the dorms

Our work at the Young Life camp property has been so very rewarding as we watched transformation take place, both in physical structures, and in the hearts and minds of the volunteers (including us!) that came to help. We counted over 30 volunteers that came from the US to help out, some long-term, others for a few days.  Each one had a story of how God moved them to serve, and their stories were a great part of this experience for us. From many volunteers we learned a lot about Young Life and how it changes the hearts of young people, so we were excited to be involved in creating a new camp that will have this effect on lives in the future here in Armenia.

Zany times at Club with Arsen and Aram--
Young Life Armenia camp in Bujakan

In fact, visiting the Young Life camp in Bujukan in early August was one of our highlights of the summer.  The members of the YL Armenia team are insanely dedicated to their work, and the quality of this camp experience (currently taking place during four week-long sessions in a rented resort facility) is a testament to their love for kids and their desire to share the love of Christ with them.

The talk at Club time was on "Heroes"

In mid-August we moved from Hankavan Valley, where the camp property is located, to the capital city of Yerevan, where YL Armenia is based. We have done some commuting to the camp (about an hour away) to continue projects there, and we have used the time here to do some exploring in this beautiful city. Tomorrow we will be joined by Tom and Susan Holmes, the last volunteers for the summer. Susan and I will be doing some English language assessment and training with the YL team members, and Tom and Doug will go back and forth to work at the camp property.

We are taking advantage of our location to do a little traveling in our free time. Last week we made a short trip to Batumi and Tbilisi, two towns in Georgia, our neighbor to the north. In mid-September we are excited about a chance to visit Young Life folks in Moldova and Moscow. Then back to Yerevan before our final departure for home, with a four-day layover in Vienna on the way.

Thank you to all who have supported us with your prayers and encouragement for our efforts here. Special thanks go out to our friends from Young Life FSU (Former Soviet Union) stateside who have given us so much incredible support this summer. And we continually thank Jehovah Jireh, our God and provider, who has filled every single need that we encountered. This is the one thing we know for sure: He is utterly faithful. To Him be the glory!

8 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 

Psalm 34:8-10

For more information on Young Life Armenia, please visit Young Life Armenia's Facebook page.

Five Americans in Armenia

On the Fourth of July our work crew at the camp took the day off. We slept in, and of the five of us only Doug got motivated to get one thing accomplished for the day. He cut the grass at the White House with a bumbling lawn mower, while the rest of us mulled over what special thing we could do to make it a holiday. Our final decision: to drive to Lake Sevan (about 40 miles northeast of us) to go exploring.

Lake Sevan is recognized for being one of the world’s largest high-altitude fresh water lakes, at an altitude of 6,200 feet. It is large, like lake Michigan, but we discovered it is severely lacking in beaches!  We did find a picnic/swimming area and Doug and Caleb jumped in, and found the water just as cold as northern Lake Michigan in early July. We did climb up to discover another ancient church, Sevanavank (this one built in 874) overlooking the lake from a peninsula. After our explorations we went to a restaurant to enjoy fresh fish from the lake. It was a good day to be Americans in Armenia! 

Sevanavank Monastery

All is going well for us, in spite of some unexpected changes in our team! Only 14 days into our Armenian existence, we were sad to learn that Pete Alexander’s mother had passed away in California. Pete and Schell (camp managers) headed for the states, leaving us temporarily in charge of all of the happenings at the White House and the renovation work at the camp in Hankavan Valley. God has been good to guide us to make decisions and work with the three volunteers that remain here with us. We are so thankful for the support of the Young Life staff here in Armenia, and staff in the states, who have been talking us through situations and praying for us. Their support has been key to our sanity! We look forward to the return of the Alexanders this coming weekend.

Celebrating the 4th of July with
a delicious fish dinner at Lake Sevan

 On Sunday we moved to Yerevan in order to make space for a group from Young Life Armenia that will be using the White House for a planning/strategy meeting for two days. Yerevan is an exciting, vibrant city where there is much to do and see. This Tuesday the team is planning to visit the Armenian Genocide Museum. This is a special year for Armenia, as they observe the 100^th anniversary of the mass execution and relocation of Armenians from their homes in Western Turkey.

We have been enjoying our time here, in spite of the unexpected surprises and twists and turns in plans. Hankavan Valley where the camp is located is one of the most beautiful places on God’s green earth, where cows roam the roads, the river flows cold and fast from the mountains, men cut hay with scythes, and the lady at the khanut greets me with a friendly smile when I stop to buy bread. It has been a gift to be here, especially knowing that our work here will enable Armenian Young Life kids to enjoy coming to this peaceful valley to get away from their daily hassles and learn about how much they are loved by God.  

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be^[i] against us?
Romans 8:31

The latest from Hankavan Valley

We arrived in Armenia early Wednesday morning, June 10, and had three days in the city of Yerevan. We spent time chatting about summer plans with Pete and Schell Alexander, Young Life Armenia camp project managers. We also helped out with Young Life's English Club and met some of the staff there (photos here: https://www.facebook.com/sue.bouwense)

We are now settling in to “The White House” in Hankavan Valley, our home until mid-August. We arrived Saturday afternoon and set to work: Schell and I cleaned bedrooms and made beds; Maxine mowed the lawn; and Doug, Caleb and Pete handled lofty tasks like fixing the 2^nd floor key, installing the water tank on the hill and running pipe to the house, and adjusting the fuel feed on the lawn mower.  Sunday involved shopping in Hrazdan (which proved to be challenging—Schell couldn’t get her credit card to work at the grocery store, AND they only have about 50% of the product that was available last year). The Alexanders have a saying: “TIA (This Is Armenia),” which means basically that it is what it is, so get used to it! 

Doug and Pete tinker with a generator after lightning knocked
out the power to the White House

Getting ready for some serious demolition work

Pete explains the plan for the new camp dining room.
The view of the river valley from the windows is so beautiful!

Our co-workers for the next six weeks, along with the Alexanders, are Caleb, a student who is also from Michigan (YES!) but attends school in Florida; and sisters Maxine and Raquel, who are Armenian Americans from Pennsylvania. They range in age from 19 – 21, and they are the greatest! They are willing, gracious workers and a joy to have around. Raquel is off this week working with a medical mission group in a couple of different clinics in Armenia, and we look forward to meeting up with her again on Sunday.

Now that we are situated here we went over yesterday to assess what needs to be done at the camp, which is directly across the road from us. Pete gave me, Doug, Caleb and Maxine a tour to show which buildings are staying and which will be torn down. We were given an exciting vision of what the camp will be after Phase III. Pete promises it will be the most beautiful, inviting camp in the valley (and there are a few other camps nearby, including a FIFA [soccer] camp and another Christian camp). 

We are also looking ahead to hosting other workers.  There will be a structural engineer coming this week to help out; he is the one that assessed all of the buildings to see which were capable of surviving an earthquake.  We will also be joined by some of the Young Life staff from Yerevan this week.

Please pray for patience for us American types, who tend to expect that things will happen as planned and that progress will be readily visible, in spite of power outages, legal snafus, and workers that might not show up when they promised. Our prayer here has been that we learn to trust God with the details, and just be willing to work in his time frame.  Please join us in praying for that, as well as for safety as we do demolition work at the camp.

I hope to be sending some pictures of progress at the camp, as well as some of our travel adventures in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Found in one of the buildings: a poster from
the camp's beginning days as a
Soviet Young Pioneer camp