Hamm's Headings

Hamm's Headings is a bi-monthly newsletter (mostly a summary of Hamm Prayer Points). Available online, in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, or by email.

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Location: Portage la Prairie, MB, Canada

2007-02-18

Hamm's Headings - February 2007


Canada, Here We Come!

An early Valentine's gift arrived on the 13th: "the" letter came from the Canadian Embassy in Moscow! In it, we were told that Lena & Sonia's immigration visas were ready for pickup. Praise the Lord! After over a year of forms, mailings, paying, waiting & praying we finally have the permission to travel as a complete family to Canada. We have sent the passports to Moscow and should receive them back early this week. Now that we're almost ready to travel, we have to prepare to close up shop, as it were.

In short, here's what we have to do:

  • Sell our apartment (it is now on the market)
  • Pack all we can into ten suitcases and five carry-ons
  • Try to store the essentials that do not fit in Nina's one-room apartment
  • Sell and give away all of our appliances & furniture, along with most of our books, toys & household items
  • Book one-way tickets to Canada
  • Say good-bye to Nina and our friends & co-workers

It is quite the task before us. Since we really cannot begin to pack/sell/buy plane tickets until we know when/if our home will be sold, we have to remain "on the tarmac", so to speak. We don't anticipate much difficulty selling our home, but of course we cannot be certain of the timing involved. Typically once a price has been agreed upon, the time to complete the sale and move out is about four weeks. That should give us enough time to hold a yard sale (sans yard, naturally!) and get packed.

In Brief...

  • The visas have been granted and are on their way to St. Petersburg
  • Our home is now on the market; we need to sell it before we travel to Canada
  • We hope to arrive in Manitoba by late March or early April
  • We may or may not have a temporary home waiting for us upon our arrival
  • Once we arrive and settle in we will spend the next six months doing MINA: Ministry in North America, as part of our service with MBMSI
  • Beyond that... only God knows for certain!

What Happens Next (and how you can help)!

Now that we are definitely coming to Canada we have to get organized. Once we have a buyer for our home we can confirm our flights and prepare to leave. The arrival of the visa news was most timely: because of the additional delay I was able to fully participate in our annual winter conference (see below).

Please pray

...that our apartment will sell for a fair price
...that we will wisely & efficiently use the time remaining

We still need

...a temporary home in the Portage la Prairie area to settle in
...some things for our Canadian home (please contact my parents, Jake & Elsie Hamm, at 204-857-3802 or jakehamm@mts.net for specifics)
...more monthly support (our deficit has been erased, but we're still under budget)

Ministry Highlights

September 16-22... CCIR's first-ever Camp Director's Institute completed its' final semester with 13 directors graduating. Praise God for these highly-trained leaders!

February 4-9... CCI/Russia's annual Christian Camping Leaders Conference was held north of St. Petersburg. 315 participants & instructors representing 95 camps came from more than 10 countries to receive new training and encouragement.

Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/krhamm/sets/72157594533822895

Blessings Received!

  • A retired couple in Manitoba gave us the money they normally spent giving Christmas presents to each other!
  • Many people gave us personal financial gifts during our time in Canada to help us with expenses and clear our deficit with MBMSI.
  • Lakeview Church sent a Christmas care package and money for our girls' presents.
  • The mobile home where we have been storing our personal belongings was broken into the day after Christmas, but thankfully nothing of note was taken and only minimal mischief was caused. We are thankful for God's provision & protection!

Since we last wrote...

  • Maya celebrated her 6th birthday and Deena celebrated her 3rd birthday
  • Lena continues to cut and style hair in her spare time
  • Sonia is three weeks away from completing her jewellery-making/design course
  • We hosted Lena's maid of honour and her daughter for three days this past month. We hadn't seen Natasha since our wedding almost eight years ago!!!

For a weekly dose of Russia trivia, news, praise reports & prayer requests, subscribe to Hamm Prayer Points: hpp-subscribe@myinjesus.com

A Tale of Two Christmases

Dec. 12 - Jan. 8... Maya & I travelled to Canada to visit family and prepare for our impending move. Also during our time there we gave a report at our home church: Community Fellowship in Newton. (View photos from our time in Canada here: www.flickr.com/photos/krhamm/sets/72157594428159193)

Meanwhile, back in Russia...Lena processed the newly-requested documents for the immigration process and had minor surgery (thankfully all went well). After that the remaining ladies (Lena, Sonia, Deena & Nina) had a nice, quiet Christmas celebration together. New Year's wasn't quite so quiet, however! As Lena wrote at the time,

"This year started on an odd note: our telephone died, the closet door with the mirror tore off, the kitchen garbage bin fell apart, our cutlery drawer was pulled out by Deena (she must have swung it out) and lost its handle (I pinched my finger while screwing it back on), and then our paper cutter lost its blade! I wondered what would be next (get ready for more)! At 8 p.m. the doorbell rang. We didn't expect anyone, but I though to myself "The Korobovs?" [good friends of ours]. Sure enough it was Igor and [six-year-old] Kristina. Igor had a bloody bandage on his nose and wrapped-up fingers. He said that they got into trouble, Ira [his wife] was on her way to a hospital and he needed us to take care of Kristina until Polina [their 17-year-old] came. He didn't say much, but it sounded like they had been attacked beside their car by some drunks. They were in their car when a guy jumped onto it, forcing Igor and Ira to come out of the car, and then they attacked them (I don't know exactly how many there were). Kristina saw it all from inside the car - what stress! Ira was taken to the hospital while Igor dropped Kristina off and then went there too. Polina joined us about 40 min. later. She wanted to go home by bus, but I called a cab (I paid for it) and had her call us from home. She called us shortly after, said that both Ira and Igor will stay in the hospital for at least two days - they both have their noses broken, Ira also has a brain concussion."

Thankfully they both recovered from their injuries. Unfortunately they were unable to get any assistance from the local police—the attackers obviously bribed the cops as Igor & Ira themselves were harassed for trying to report the incident. All in all a very disturbing but unfortunately common Russian experience. Please pray for the Korobov family, especially for their salvation.

Upcoming Ministry & Family Events

March

6-9 – CCI/Russia Strategic Planning (Moscow)

12-16 – Camp Director's Institute Instructors Training Course (Moscow)

18 – Campers' New Testament Planning Session (Moscow)

April

5 – Sonia's 18th birthday

17 – Our 8th wedding anniversary

29 - May 4 – Staff Training Workshop (Norkalni, Latvia)

May

4-9 – Staff Training Workshop (Minsk, Belarus)

5-10 – Staff Training Workshop (Blagoveschensk)

6-11 – Staff Training Workshop (Novosibirsk, Russia)

11 – Lena's birthday

13-18 – Staff Training Workshop (Moscow)

14-19 – Staff Training Workshop (Irkutsk)

15 – Nina's birthday

20-25 – Staff Training Workshop (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

flickr= Photos

View thousands of photos of our family, ministry and travel at www.flickr.com/photos/krhamm and at www.flickr.com/photos/sonique

Just the "FAQ"

Here are some of the more common questions we're facing (along with a few answers!) as we prepare to leave our place of ministry for the past eight years:

Why are you coming to Canada now?

Several reasons: If we waited until Sonia turned eighteen (the momentous event is only seven weeks away!) the immigration process would have become much more expensive and difficult. As well, both Sonia & Maya are ready to start new schools, so the timing is especially good for them. As for our ministry work, the CCI/Russia office is now in good hands in regards to my replacement.

Does this mean your work with MBMSI & CCIR is over?

Not at all! As far as MBMSI is concerned, we are (way) overdue for MINA, a time of reporting, debriefing and rest. In all likelihood we will continue with MBMSI through 2007. As for CCI/Russia, I hope to be able to continue helping CCI with website work, technical editing and by providing consultation. We also hope to be able to return to Russia to do training in the future.

What will you be doing in Canada?

In addition to what is described above, we will be trying to get settled into our new life (remember that none of my girls have lived in Canada before, and it has been 8 years since I lived there). We will need some time to acclimatize before making significant decisions pertaining to our future ministry & home.

Do you still need more financial support?

Most certainly. We are thankful that we no longer have a deficit with MBMSI, but we currently receive only 75% of our needed monthly donations. As we continue with MBMSI for the foreseeable future, our support needs will remain. We will let you know well in advance when the time comes that we will no longer require financial support.

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement & support. We look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months!

– Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena

Hamm's Headings...

  • A newsletter from Kevin & Lena Hamm, missionaries with MBMS International, serving with CCI/Russia in St. Petersburg.
  • Hamm’s Headings is written by Kevin Hamm except where noted. The material contained herein is personal, and is not necessarily reflective of MBMSI or CCI/Russia.
  • The print version of this newsletter was created using Scribus, a free desktop publishing program available at www.scribus.net.
  • We welcome your comments and questions.

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posted by Kevin R. Hamm | 23:25

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