Since It's Tomorrow.....

Dear Readers,


Since Halloween in just a day away I would like to share a great article with you. 

The Five Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween

by Douglas W. Phillips, Esq., October 25, 2011

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)

Our country is in the grip of a fear crisis. The tension because of this fear is almost palpable. There is fear over elections, fear over the economy, and fear over hundreds of other issues ranging from the environment to terrorism.

The one fear that America is missing is a fear of the Lord. As a people, we no longer fear God. Because we do not fear God, we no longer hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).

Instead of hating evil, Americans toy with it. We toy with holidays like Halloween that were conceived in evil and that promote the “cute-ification” of evil, whether that evil takes the form of witchcraft, sorcery, ghoulishness, or some other form of malevolent imagery paraded before our children. We laugh at the very things that the Lord describes as “abominations,” and we find ourselves obsessively fascinated by, and attracted to, all things dark.

Yet we do not fear the Lord.

Those who “hate evil” are very scary to a secular society that fears man more than God. They are scary because they dare to declare that there are absolute standards by which society must be governed. They are scary because, if they are successful, industries like Hollywood that make billions of dollars by promoting ungodly fear will lose their influence. They are scary because such people will not be swayed by political candidates who use fear as a tool for manipulation.

With this in mind, I offer you the five “scariest” things you can do this Halloween:

1. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not make light of evil. Halloween was conceived in evil and has remained a celebration that uses children to promote a fascination with darkness and superstitious fear. Simultaneously, it makes light of things that the Bible describes as evil. Stand against such things, and the world will find you very scary indeed. The fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil (Proverbs 16:6).
2. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not be fearful. The media wants you to be afraid of everything from overpopulation to global warming. The politicians want you to be afraid of the economy and political instability. God wants you to do what is morally right, trust Him completely, and never be gripped by an ungodly spirit of fear. You can place your trust and hope for this nation in the King of Kings. Jesus said: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4-5). Believe this, and you will be light to the world.
3. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to completely skip Halloween and remember Reformation Day. It was 494 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his world-changing 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. These theses included rebukes to ungodly fear and superstition. 502 years ago, sometime near October 31, a baby named John Calvin was conceived who would dedicate his life to eradicating an ungodly fear of superstitious beliefs and proclaiming the gospel of grace. His emphasis on reformation, revival, and the sufficiency of Scripture had such far-reaching implications for nations like the United States that he has been described by Christian and secular scholars alike as the true founding father of America. The Reformers did something that was very scary to the world of their day. They stood against all forms of dark superstitions which grip the minds and souls of men. It was their emphasis on the fear of the Lord and the wisdom of Holy Scripture that was used by God to liberate untold numbers of men and women. But to remember the Reformers instead of Halloween is very scary to the world. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).
4. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to refuse to watch or allow your children to watch any of the toxic Halloween and horror films emerging from Hollywood. America’s fascination with ungodly fear has made horror the most popular and fastest-growing film genre among youth. When parents allow their children to toy with this genre, they promote ungodly fear, and they contribute to the fear-factories in Hollywood that prey upon the youth of our culture. Say “no” to Hollywood horror and you will be dangerously scary to the media elite. “Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence....?” (Jeremiah 5:22).
5. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to get on your knees as a mother and father and pray that the Lord will send you many children who will fear God, not man — children who will especially shun the glorification of witchcraft, the bondage of ungodly fear, and the “cute-ification” of evil that is promoted through holidays like Halloween. Cultures that toy with evil end up being cultures of death. The Christian response is to be a people of life. That means babies. It means fearing God by honoring His command to “be fruitful and multiply.” It means remembering that the Scripture describes children as a “blessing” and a “reward.” Raise children that fear God more than man, and that will be answer enough to our Halloween-and darkness-obsessed culture; for if you trust God over your womb and commit your children to a holy education, you will be very scary to the modern world. “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11).

Last Couple Days.....

Dear Readers,


  Today we got to go to the orphanage I was at and visit. Vova came with us and it was exciting to see him after 7 years. My director was so nice. She showed us around the orphanage and the group I was from. A lot changed there, it looks so much nicer now. They fixed up the orphanage really pretty. After looking around we went to a small group of 8 kids ages 7-10, and gave them some treats. Most kids were at school and the orphanage was quiet. The little girls really enjoyed the bouncy balls that were in the baggies. One of the little girls showed me the room where she stays in with her friends. Adorable! A lot of kids I grew up with were already in colleges and working. I had a really good friend growing up her name was Dasha, she became more of a sister to me. I was hoping to find her while I was in Almaty. I asked the director and she tried to find what college she was going to. We  found the college were the Director of the college helped us to locate her. She wasn't at the college. After many phone calls and the kind help of others, we found her mobile number. I was so excited! I never forgotten Dasha. We were both so excited to see each other! In KZ, we grow up walking in parks, and doing things outside. We didn't have all the technology, phones, computers, we didn't even watch TV that often. We had time to spend together! I love that about Almaty, though it is catching up to the technology, people are still doing things in the real world instead of cyber space. Anyways, we walked in park and had a wonderful time catching up. She is doing ok, she lives with her mother now, but her mom drinks, she has been an alcoholic all Dasha's life. Dasha was in the orphanage 18 years. When she wanted to be adopted, her mother wouldn't let her. So she lives with her, and it's hard. I know it's difficult to live with an alcoholic, my dad was one. My heart truly ached for her. She didn't have much to eat, she's going to school on the orphanage funding. I wanted to take her home with me. Honestly, I wanted to take every child that was in the orphanage home with me. It was hard for her to go home. When I asked her if she needed to go home after we were done visiting, she  was quiet, I knew I would keep her with me as long as I could. She spent 2 days with us, I'm so thankful to God for letting me find her, and spend time with her. I got to give her  a Bible, I pray God could use it to open her heart to Him and to take comfort. 


Vova and I also had a small chance to visit. He looked good. Still looking for a good job. He graduated from college studying computer programming. Keep praying that he would find a good job. We gave him a Texas Longhorn backpack, hoodie, sticker, Father's Love Letter, and candy. He likes the Texas Longhorn. Also thankful for your encouraging words.

The girls room/ ages 7-10 

She was such a happy little girl!

on their beds

the girls opening their gifts

older kids orphanages/  and their mom/caretaker/ Dere

Vova/Me/Daddy

Dere got to take them to the Mountains/they were so excited! 

Oh Sunny Day......

Dear Readers,

Our 3/4 day was filled with food, lots and lots of food! My grandma insisted to cook for us, so did my aunt. We ate from 1pm- 5pm. I'm pretty sure we never stopped :), my aunt kept cooking. :) That was our day! We spent it with my grandma. She still insist on talking to my dad in Russian. I think they have a conversation going now in two languages. I love watching them attempt to understand each other. My grandma said all I know how to say in English is "no". So she said no in agreement with my dad. :) Today, we are going to visit the orphanages and Vova! I am very excited and can't wait to give them soccer balls, and the baggies of goodies for them. I will take pictures and post them for you later today. Back home it's 9:25pm, here in Almaty it's 8:25am. :) Sorry that this post it's too exciting but I thought I would write a little bit. :) Thank you for all of your prayers!

I made a skeleton out of a leaf ...I use to do that as a little girl

Day 2

entrance 

Presidental Park 

fall colors

Dear Readers,

The second day was half filled with business and Almaty sight seeing with my grandma and aunt. I have my own apartment here in Almaty, and when I turned 18 I had a choice to stay in America or to go back and I would have my apartment. But I decided to stay in America. Oh, boy!  I know that wasn't grammatically correct, you see for the past two day's I've been confused majorly between two languages. I'm still in the Eussian (half russian half english). So if I misspell or say something funny, that's because I'm completely blanking on how to say it. :D So anyways, I had to sign papers to give the apartment ownership to my grandmother. After we were done with that we drove around, since it was slightly raining here we couldn't do anything outside. My aunt took us to a Mini-Bazzar. I absolutely love those. Here we don't have packaged food in boxes that are frozen and processed,  you don't even know if the blueberries are real or just sugar colored corn syrup, which is a fact I found out today, in all those muffins and cereals.  So the Bazzar is like a Farmer's Market, fresh fruit and meat and all kinds of goodies are there to buy. Then we visited another church near by,  Orthadox. There where my day was made even happier. My grandma whispered in my ear "God loves me." & "He loves everyone." I don't know what that means but I was too happy to hear her speak of God so openly without me asking. Praise be to God! Thank you Dear Jesus!

Later in the afternoon we went to a huge park called "The Presidential Park" it was founded by the president Nasarbaev. It was very beautiful especially all the fall trees; I've been feeling as though I'm in a book. Where all the pages are filled with those yellow and orange colors of fall. Where the leaves fall on the ground as the wind blows. Where your cheeks turn pink and the sound in the distance of a Mag-Pi (big black and grey bird) singing is heard. There was a wedding there and the couple were dancing in the soft rain. There was a the biggest fountain I've ever seen!  In KZ after it rains mushrooms pop up everywhere from the ground so you can see people walking around in the grass collecting mushrooms. So neat! You can smell the mushrooms. Don't worry they are the safe kind, as my dad gave me a concerned look. :) Oh! The funniest thing about my grandma. She love walking with my dad. My dad doesn't speak Russian, but my grandma insists on speaking to him in Russian. She would be walking and chatting away about the weather and asking him questions. I think it's hilarious, so funny. My dad just nods and smiles. I think she likes him. Well here are some pictures:

{the church we were at}

{the bazaar}

{That's all Foundtain, from where I'm standing it's even bigger, it's not on during winter}

First Day In Almaty....

Dear Readers,

My first day in Almaty; full of memories and leaves, beautiful fall leaves. From our outside window I could see a line of trees that are showing their fall colors. Most of the leaves here are yellow, bright yellow! They fall from the  branches and dance their way down to touch the ground. The weather, couldn't be better, in 60's. We walked in Panlov Park. The park I used to walk as a little girl with my dad. At lunch I got to see my grandma and aunt. We haven't seen each other in 7 years. It was filled with many hugs. We ate a big lunch, Borsh which is a beet soup, one of my favorites,  cow's tongue, which sounds absolutely gross but it was good. There were fish eggs, which I just couldn't bring myself  to eat. I never knew they were fish eggs when I was growing up so I ate them just fine, but then I came to America and I found out what it really was. Then we all went walking at park and there were many weddings going on, the Kazak/Russian brides looked really pretty. Today was a good day. This morning I didn't feel jet lagged,  but now at almost seven p.m  I am about to fall asleep. Oh! I'm in love with Russian Squirrels! They are just the best. I saw two today.  Here are pictures from today:

outside our window...

walking in one of my fav. parks..

Famous Church..beautiful..

there were a lot of doves that were fed/ the picture only shows one section

this one is my favorite picture/ The birds were spooked and went flying up  very low..they circled around and round. It was really neat to see so many birds and so close. 

There is my buddy!! He's the best! ...Those ears.. Adorable!

One of many weddings. I thought she looked really pretty. Two words came to my mind. Snow White.

Krasivaya=Beautiful

Safely in Almaty...

Yay! After a loooooooooong trip. 8 hours on a plane from Houston to London, then 8 more from London to Almaty. With an several hours in between at airports! We got into Almaty at 12am, with so many russian's around me I was beginning to feel really excited! The officers at Almaty are very serious looking not a smile would be seen on their faces. We don't smile like Americans with teeth, we simple stretch out lips to give a soft smile. You always know who are the Americans, their smiling from ear to ear. :) That's how I felt as we stood their among many russian. I told my dad to stop smiling or we would look suspicious to the Kazak Officers, jokingly. :) I felt like a true American smiling to everyone I see, and I couldn't help it, I was back in Almaty! My previous home city, where I grew up, where God brought me up as child! The weather was cold, but not freezing, just perfect, I thought. It was around upper 40's. As I stepped out from the airport doors the familiar smokey smell of Kazakhstan, that I remembered, filled the air.

I was starting to get confussed between Russian and English. How can people do it? I guess it takes practice to get comfortable switching languages. That's what I need to keep on practicing. I get on Russian grove then I forget how to say things in English and I start speaking with a strange unknown accent. Essian= when you mix russian and english together. (my own definition) :) I have a picture from us going to Houston  I couldn't download the rest of pictures from the iphone, so they will have to wait.

24 hour Trip Begins....

Dear Readers,

Friday, the first day of my travel. I am packed and ready to head out; my bags are at their limit. Yesterday, we went to Target and got to buy things for the orphans. We made over 50 zip-lock's of goodies. Stickers, bouncy balls, socks, toothbrushes, lip balm, pens, pencils, coloring sheets, silly bands, etc. We can only make so much, for I'm taking a carry-on  with all the baggies, which is a backpack. Amazingly everything fit in it! :)  I also found "Father's Love Letter" in Russian! I was so excited! I'm taking a bunch of those with me. If you don't know what that is look it up on youtube and put in "Father's Love Letter". It's  one of my favorites!

I'll try to post some pics on my airport "Hello's".

Ashleigh

Trip to KZ

Dear Readers,


Wow! What a month? It flew by without me even knowing it! So here we are four 
day's away from my dad and I flying to KZ, Almaty. I am excited to see what God 
has in store for us. The trip there is going to be 24 hour travel. I can already predict
we'll be exhausted when we get there late at night, Saturday. I will try my best to
post some photo's of my travel on here, but I'm still not sure what the internet will be like. Thank you for some of you that have written to Vova. I do have some
updates on his situation back there. He is still in orphanage and it's been hard to 
find a job. The last job he had was being a security guy at the orphanage, but he 
soon quit because of older kids verbally abusing him. Continue to pray for him.
Your letters will be encouragement for certain. Kazakhstan is heavily Muslim 
populated  country, but the interesting thing is they let Christians worship and have
a church there freely, God's faithful provision. People ask me what is one thing 
you would like to get out of this trip. I pray that God will use me any way He desires
to bring others to Him. I will be seeing my grandmother there too. I pray God will 
open her heart to Him as I give her a Bible. I can't save her, only God can, I just 
pray I'll be a useful vessel while I'm there. 


Hopefully I'll be writing to you soon!


Ashleigh

Hello From Vova

Dear Readers,


Only couple of weeks away from leaving to Kazakhstan I was hoping to start a countdown...but unfortunately I couldn't find an automatic countdown box..thingy. If you know of one let me know ;] It's going to be bitter sweet as I travel back, a challenge for sure. I got a really happy e-mail today from Dere, a  picture of Vova! :] For those of you who have written to him, he got all of you letters and it encouraged him very much. Thank you, again! For those of you who haven't had the chance to write to him, you still have time. You are more than welcome to write to him and send me the letter I will personally give them all to him. Just make sure it's not to long. for it will take a while to translate. Get the letters to me by October 10th, if  sent later I won't be able to get them to him early, if later then I can mail them which will take a month or so to get there, if in one piece. So this is your chance! :) For those of you who are like "Why don't you just e-mail them?"  Good question, e-mail's just get to Dere and money is need to print things and so on. Their system is not so much advanced. Anyway! All that to say here is the picture-

If there are misspelled words, I apologize, to be blunt I was lazy to go back and double check but also on a hurry! :)