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We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Elijah Fengfei (Fungfay) Wolfe! This is not the usual baby announcement, because Elijah is a 10-year-old Chinese boy. Our oldest son and his wife, Christopher and Jocelyn, along with their other 4 children went to China on January 8 after spending a week in Japan with Jocelyn's family. Michaela, Johanna, and Ami love having another brother, but Benjamin is ecstatic! The entire process took 2 weeks, which gave all of them time to start getting to know each other. They returned to their home in Columbia, Missouri, on January 23.
Each day since meeting Elijah has been filled with a roller coaster of emotions for everyone. Elijah has a sweet personality and goes with the flow--exactly what he needs in a family of 7! Please pray for the family as they get back into a routine, and for Elijah especially with the overwhelming adjustments he is facing. Welcome to the Wolfe family, Elijah!
In Russia by far the biggest holiday is New Year's. In the last two or three years, the government extended the national holiday season to extend from January 1 through Russian Christmas, January 7. With a little more fine tuning, the actual holiday was ten days. Workers traded the Friday after Christmas for the following Sunday. The good part was ten or eleven consecutive vacation days; the down side was that Sunday was an ordinary work day for many, even public schools.
New Year's Eve is similar to American Christmas in some ways. There is a decora
ted tr
ee, gift exchange, "Grandfather Frost" (who often wears blue instead of the traditional red of Santa Claus), and lots of colored lights in homes and outside displays. Before midnight is family time, filled with many traditions and gift exchange. After welcoming the new year, the children are put to bed while adults head off to parties for the rest of the night. Fireworks are set off at midnight to welcome the new year and continue until morning.
Since the vacation time is eight or ten days, many people will travel to neighboring cities or even other countries. Turkey and Egypt are popular destinations. Of course, snow skiing is popular, as well as ice skating in outdoor rinks, often at one of the many parks or even Red Square. Most of Moscow is flat, but there are some hills for downhill skiing. Cross-country skiing is very popular, even with little children.
Christmas is celebrated according to the Orthodox calendar, so it falls on January 7. Many people attend a late-night service on Christmas eve. The main Orthodox church in the center of Moscow began its ceremonies at 11 pm and went for at least three hours--and there are no seats in Orthodox churches! Christmas is only a religious holiday. As mentioned earlier, Santa, gifts, and decorations are all connected with New Year's.
We enjoyed the holiday season because we had the time to do lots of visiting and fellowshipping with friends and neighbors. It's a great season when people aren't so busy and the routine slows down. We always look for opportunities to talk about the important message of Christmas, that Jesus came as God in the flesh.
An area minister's conference brought together men from at least six different congregations in the Moscow region. A special guest flew in from the far eastern edge of Russia. We met in the city of Goose Krustalny, about a five-hour drive from Moscow. The church in Goose has a new three-story building, which is designed to house a number of visitors and provide comfortable meeting facilities.
Max Goins brought Bryan Morrow, the Minister of Involvement at the Fairview Christian Church in Carthage, Missouri. Bryan shared practical ideas on how Russian pastors can use small groups.
The conference was very encouraging for all the pastors attending. It was helpful to get acquainted with one another and learn about the work of sister congregations.
