From our VIM Team in Central Asia

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to send an update. We have had a very full week. We arrived in Baku with no problems and stayed in a nice hotel. We spent one day shopping and sightseeing at Baku. It was a wonderful time. Then, we then traveled six hours to Genja. It was not too bad. The road was ok. We did have to stop once at a "traditional" Azeri toilet. Yes, the smell was lovely!!

Then, we made it here to Genja. It rained the first couple of days. That was not too fun to walk around in, but it was not bad.

My straightener won't work...go figure!! Guess Chi's are not meant to be used here. We spent an afternoon at the psychiatric hospital making friendship bracelets with some of the women. Debbie and I each made one as well. We expressed to them that just like the bracelet has no end, neither does our friendship with them. One women went on and on about how she would hold that in her heart and it meant to much to her. I told her that it will forever be in my heart as well. And, oh will it. They are so lovely and give more to me then I feel I could ever give to them.

Matt lead the cooking classes at the Tech school with the kids. We made western hamburgers, pigs in a blanket, and fries. They were all a HUGE hit!!! The workers were even coming down to try the fries.

Matt and I saw the experiment as a success! We think it might be something to look into in the future for a restaurant.

Our other team member Debbie lead some tap dancing classing at the Tech school. I think we were all a little nervous about how they would receive this. They loved it and came back a second day to dance some more. It was wonderful!

Bill has seemed to love the English classes most with the tech students. He did have one young girl ask him if he loved G and then later if he loved J s. It is neat to see how G can shine through when we least expect it.

We found out that our last week here N&L will be gone to Baku for five days. This means Matt and I will be left to man the house and do all our own shopping and getting around town. Should be interesting.

Matt and I will also be preparing the food twice a week for the weakest patients at the psychiatric hospital on our own. Flora who normally does this will be away on vacation, so we were asked to fill in for her. Both of these should be great opportunities for us.

We had dinner last night in an Azeri home. It was so wonderful! We had summer dolma. Basically, it is tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers stuffed with lamb and other stuff. It is Matt's favorite Azeri meal. It was just so great to get to know this family and enjoy an evening talking like old friends.

I have been feeling under the weather the last day or so. I spent the whole day in bed today; feeling like I am just drained of all I have. In being sick today, I was also very homesick.

Matt is being strong for me, when I am down. This is nice.

So, we miss you all. Please please email us. We can check in on a regular basis and would love to hear from our family and friends. Email is free, texting is not. :)

Here are some things to pr for.

That I will feel better. That the baby will be healthy and continue to grow well while I am here and in times I am sick.

That Matt and I will pick up on the language. (we have already been trying and have a few things)

That we would trust G in all the situations that we do not feel confident in.

That we would have couple time to be able to share with each other what we are thinking and experiencing.

Love you all!!!

Matt and Jennie

Galveston Construction April 23-24, 2009

Final Day
We have come to the end of the week with no injuries. Thanks for your prayers for safety. Yesterday was more sanding and mudding. Bruce Gumtow and Marold Lohrenz worked on putting a ceiling in the converted garage. Jeff Polk has guided us on mudding the drywall in. Team co-leader Mike Mastraccio has managed us well on work assignments. Steve Zenthoefer our other leader has kept us focused on daily devotions and using the new VIM books "Called" and Challenged". Dr Rex Smith out traveling "Arborist" has continued to remove dead trees from the yard. So many have been killed on the island from too much salt water.

We attended a Galveston Disaster Recovery worship service last night. We worshiped with VIM teams from several states. It seems we are all doing similiar reconstruction work on homes. The Texas Conference staff for disaster recovery was also present and thanked all the teams. The asked we return and tell the story of the great need in Galveston for more workers. They also updated us that the Asbury Deaf Ministry VIM team that worked earlier this year that the family would be moving back in soon.

We will complete our time of work on Bea's home today and be driving back to Oklahoma on Saturday. Thanks for your prayers.

Survivor Galveston Island-Day 3
We had tribal council and voted last night. It was a tie so no one was voted off the island! We are getting tired but all torches remained lite. There are some we would like to send to "Exile Island". The homeowner that is currently living with her son Gilbert north of Galveston came by yesterday. Her name is Bea and she serves with the Salvation Army. She is a widow and is 80. She expressed her gratitude to the Asbury team and prayed for us. This home had 6 feet of water inside after Ike.

The work continued yesterday with more mudding and drywall work. Rex, Linda and Steve worked on clearing the yard of downed trees. There will be more sanding and drywall work today as this older home is being rebuilt from the inside. Lisa and Angela have a contest to see how much mud they can apply to their clothes as well as walls.

We went and walked the beach after dinner last night. That is something you can't always do on a VIM trip. We are staying safe. We will attend a Ike Recovery worship service tonight. Thanks for your prayers and "Tree Mail". Your Asbury Galveston team.

Galveston Construction April 22, 2009

We have now completed two days of work on the Hurricane Ike damaged home. We are one of seven VIM teams currently working on the island. Your Asbury team has completed sheetrock (not Chinese!) on the garage and almost completed the ceiling. When you are working on restoring an older home it is always with challenges. Linda , Lisa, and Angela have been covered with dust as they have sanded walls from mudding. We hope the homeowner will be in her home by the end of May. Wesley Parsonage is our home this week. It was also damaged, but had been repaired for teams to live in. Chef Rex Smith is feeding us well as always. Just saw the sunrise over the ocean so we have another beautiful day to work. Thanks for your prayers as no injuries, just sore muscles. Steve Zenthoefer's mother from Texas City came and brought us fresh baked cookies yesterday.
Rob