Christmas Cafe

This year we held a Christmas Cafe. We wanted to be able to celebrate the greatest gift anyone has ever given or received and to share the truth of that gift with others. We baked and decorated cookies, prepared the shorts talks and the worship group planned out their songs. The Cafe went well and was a good start to the Russian holiday season (Russians get 10 days off of work starting January 1- and some a few days before that.) So before everyone left town- we had one final event to end the year focused on an event that changed the world.








I enjoyed sharing the tradition of
decorating Christmas cookies with
some of my good Russian friends.

Sharing about the true meaning of Christmas

3rd Annual Krysha Chili Cook-off!!

This November, Krysha had it's 3rd Annual Chili Cook-off! The cook-off provides a great opportunity to introduce new people to the ministry- and it's a lot of fun...and work! I participated last year in the cook-off and came in 2nd place. I had high hopes of beating last year's champion and coming home with the 1st place prize! Having established my recipe while back in the great state of Texas early- I was able to turn my full attention to the acutal work of putting on a ministry event that involves so much food, a full program and a wonderful team of volunteers ready to jump and well, dish out the chili! From burning the edges of our invitations, to tracking down 6 crock pots in Moscow (no easy feat- I tell ya') to making sure we had all the rooms we needed rented for the time we needed them- oh, and let's not forget making my chili- it was quite the busy week. The day had finally arrived and we weren't quite sure exactly how many people to expect...which when dealing with food- is a scary thing. I finally gave the signal that the kitchen was ready, my team rolled up there sleeves, donned on our hats and start dishin' out the chili. By the time it was all said and done- we had moved 90 people through our serving line, with only a little bit of chili left. Again, it was great to see a lot of new people! I didn't see much that took place outside of the kitchen- but seeing as we were serving the food- I think it is safe to say I saw every person that came. It was really a great opportunity to serve others and to introduce people to the ministry. A good number of people who were at the Chili Cook-off have begun attending our monthly meetings and even our small groups. As we build relationships with new people- God is providng more opportunities to encourage them in their relationship with Him.
One last thing- I came in 2nd place this year..again! But only by one point :)
The first and second place winners of the Chili Cook-off
just wait until next year.....

Business Seminar- The Art of the Impossible!

One week before our seminar this Fall,
we had no idea how many people would attend.
We were getting nervous as we began to hope that at least 40 people would be there. We had a group come in from the states with a variety of purposes in mind- one of which was to present at the seminar! As the week went on, we started getting more requests for invitations and information on the seminar- which helped to relieve our anxieties a bit. We knew holding the seminar was the right thing to do and despite unexpected bumps in the road- we trusted that no matter how many (or few) people would be there- those who God wanted to be there would, in fact be there. The day of the seminar is a bit hazy for me, as I had not been back in the country even a week and had hit the ground running from the moment I landed 6 days earlier- and so was still experiencing quite a bit of jet lag.
I do remember though- as we got everything set up for registration- just being excited to see whatever it was God would do. People started arriving a bit before start time- registration went smoothly. I sat next to our American guests to translate the first half of the seminar. All my concentration went towards that task and once I finally did look up a the end of the presentations- I saw a room full of people!

The room was filled with people, even many who were standing for the presentations! God had brought over 100 people to the seminar! It was amazing to look around and see so many new faces. It was wonderful to see how so many people who are involved in the ministry had invited friends, coworkers, and even some bosses. We had a short break before our American guest, Mike Mellace of Mellace Family Brands gave a very interesting presentation on corporate responsibility. With translation now taking place from English to Russia from the front, I was able to enjoy more of an oberver's post. Again- standing room only. I watched as people intently listened to the presenatation and asked questions...even far past our stop time. Truly it was an wonderful blessing to see God draw so many people to the seminar- and we have blessed to see many of those at the seminar at other Krysha activities and small groups!

Coffee Break!

Mike Mellace presenting about Corporate Responsibility with translator Natalia Ivanova