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

"Wheels Up"

We are in a new place. This is true in more ways than one. We have had many changes in the space of just a few weeks, and so far this has all been good.

In the flurry of activity of getting ready for our trip, I just kept dreaming of “wheels up”—the time when our plane left the ground. Then it would all be worth it. Then all the planning and preparing and packing would come to fruition. “Wheels up” represented for me the time when our plan would be executed.

Now that I’m safely ensconced in a tiny room in a St. Petersburg B&B on this Sunday morning, I realize that there will be many more “wheels up” moments in the next few months. And I can honestly say that I believe both of us are ready for whatever comes our way. We have learned that together we can be teachable and adaptable. We look forward to having our opinions and beliefs challenged. We look forward to “letting go and letting God.” 

 

Anya took us on a "cathedral tour"
on Thursday. She is the area
director for Young Life here.

Dasha was our delightful escort to
Peterhof.

Liza gave us a most valuable gift by
registering us at the Post Office.
Bless her heart!

We have been warmly welcomed by the Young Life team here. They have graciously offered their services as translators and tour guides. We are amazed at their kindness and their commitment to God and to the kids of SPB. We believe that God will do great things through them, one kid at a time. Please pray for their upcoming camp in July, that many teens will be able to attend and that it will be a time during which many are impacted by the knowledge of the incredible love God has for them.

Now we are off to church to worship this great God. We have visited many beautiful cathedrals this week, and this place of worship we will visit today will, I’m sure, be much humbler. But considering the company we will keep I know that God will show up in a very profound way, in spite of the language barrier. I look forward to seeing him today, not in gilt statues or high arches or intricate mosaics, but in the faces of my fellow worshippers.

“Oh, God, here I am, your servant, your faithful servant: set me free for your service! I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice and pray in the name of God. I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do, and I’ll do it in company with his people, In the place of worship, in God’s house, in Jerusalem, God’s city. Hallelujah!”  Psalm 116:18-19