Meet Micah the cow!That's correct for all you Verhoogs...the milking ladies know all the cows names and all the cows have proper Russian names (Garry tried to give the new ones he bought names like Betty but the ladies insist that all female names end in ah- like Micah, who is now going out with the village herd because she is almost dry (only gives a couple liters a day.) For you non-family members, this is amusing because son number 4 is named Micah (after the Old Testament prophet, because Garry was doing a Bible study in SS in 1985.)
Now to answer the questions that have come in....
Please follow our blog! Although when we- or I- originally started writing it, I figured that our followers when be relatives, and people from church, we have people reading our blog in more than a dozen countries (but mostly the US and Canada- who trade most hits for the month status.)
Who's the team in team meeting? We are with the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission and currently in Dnepropetroesk there is another family (with teenagers) the Bellamys who originate in Alberta- they have been here for 7-8 years, and are working with assisting churches through CCL after the Bible Institute closed. The other two missionaries are also associated with CCL (Center for Christian Learning) which tries to get resources and seminars to help the church in Ukraine (mostly the "protestant" churches) and holds pastor seminars, and does topical teaching at some churches on topics like family life also. Marina and Olga (or Olya) are both Ukrainians and part of the team, Marina focuses on outreach through English to people who come to the Summer English Institute that is held every summer with Canadian teachers in July (its how we first came to Ukraine 4 summers ago.) Olya is involved in organizing seminars and teaching Sunday school teachers training courses for churches. Both of these ladies are fluent in English. Team meeting is when we get together once a month for fellowship and to share what's happening in our lives.
Biggest changes in life since moving to Ukraine? I think that it is different for each of us compared to Canada. I like to say Garry does the missionary/farm stuff and I just write about it! Garry has a much more hands on role on the farm here than he had in the last few years in Canada where our older sons had taken over most of thise things. Our son Josh says he never realized how much time Garry spent on the phone, organizing things until he had to do it. For me I have become less hands on farmer (I spent hours a day in Manitoba on calf raising with a 500 cow dairy farm) here I cook more, maybe clean house more, and spend those hours supervising the boys schoolwork (and grading math.) For Seth and Jonah the biggest change is homeschooling instead of going to school and spending all their time together- except for last summer when Seth went home to Canada to work on the farm for two months.
How often do we come back to Canada? We all come back in December for Christmas with the rest of the family and to renew our visas (you have to leave Ukraine to do this every year- we are here on missionary visas.) Last year Seth went home in the summer for two months to work and hang out with his brothers, and I went for two weeks in August to meet our new grandaughter Keziah who was born in July while I was teaching English at SI (Summer Institute.) This summer both Seth and Jonah will be going home for the summer- as soon as they finish school (and I hope to go for a couple weeks to see everyone)! Last year I also flew to New Jersey in November for my grandfather's funeral (yes I am an American- Garry was born in Canada, moved to the states when he was 5 and we moved to Ontario to farm when he was 30.)
What do the boys think about it? That's a tough one. I think they find it interesting at times, but they would rather be home in Manitoba, going to school and mostly playing school sports. They train the cats here to do the things the one in Canada does- stand on shoulders, as you see here with Seth. Seth hopes to do his last semester in Canada after Christmas (as long as his braces are off- we got both boys braces here last year in February.)He told his sister that he like Mom as a teacher but missed the rest of school.
Jonah tries a little harder to learn language, Seth just knows the very basics- politeness phrases mostly.
I think travel and living here has given them a different view of the world then they would have had at home. Luckily the two of them are two halves of a whole as the youngest of our eight kids. That being said they miss the rest of their brothers and sister and nieces - in fact after we called our son Luke on Monday for his 20th birthday- they have been inspired to see if they can finish off the schoolwork faster to go home (I think he told them the new Pirate of the Carribean movie is coming out soon- we don't go to the movies here as they are in Ukrainian.)
Yes, the duck is now sitting on her eggs with Mr Duck standing guard.
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