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Things Not Taken For Granted

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:01:20 GMT

Things are different here in Almaty. For instance, there are no free refills on you soda pop, no unlimited food buffets like America, and we don’t have unlimited high speed internet. Things are expensive here as well. So, you can understand how simple things we take for granted every day in America become precious here.

For some reason, even though I am invested in college football out here, I am in dire need of ESPN. Our “man” family desperately misses watching the baseball playoffs, ESPN college football and our NFL Cardinals. We do not have TV.

My dear friend and former coworker in Chi Alpha on The UA, Ray McBroom graciously put the first 4 games on DVD and got them to me. What an incredible blessing. We love to watch the commercials from Tucson!!! So we have watched the Central Michigan game, NAU, Iowa, and Oregon State games. In desperation I tried to secure a radio station carrying the Wildcats football games. Not doable. Finally I ponied up and paid for the UA All Access which allows us to hear the games live via the internet. How fun it is to hear Brian Jeffries and Lamont Lovett calling the games live. We get up on Sunday mornings in the wee hours to hook up and listen with great anticipation. It must be like the 1940’s when everyone gathered around the radio for entertainment.

We do not take Circle K, QT, and 7-11 for granted. We could even go for a Golden Corral! Wow, I’ll take the lines in Wal-Mart now. And American fast food not taken for granted any more.

E. Scott

Proud Father and Husband

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:16:01 GMT

Tien Shan International School is known as a premier college preparatory institution. Mercer and Marcus each have the privilege attending this school. When we first arrived in country, Mercer would get home at 4 pm, take a 30 minute break and then begin studies. He would study until 9:30 pm and then go to bed. He got up at 4:30 am and studied until 7:15, then ate breakfast, showered and was out at 7:45 am. Marcus’ wasn’t quite as bad, but he studied hard as well.

It has slowed down a little now, but it is still rigorous. The boys enjoy school, and as Americans they are in the minority. Mercer has only 4 Americans in his 8^th grade class. Marcus has only 4 as well in his 6^th grade class. It is truly international.

They received their report card this week. Crystal and I are very proud as the Two Boys continue their academic excellence. Bascially, straight A’s on the scale out here which is quite an accomplishment. I am going to give you the comments from Marcus’ teacher:

“Marcus has proven to be a great addition to our sixth grade class this year. He has a special gift for understanding the reading concepts that we have been covering, evidenced by his thoughtful paragraph answers to specs lod questions. I was very impressed by the detail and strong writer’s voice in his personal narrative. In science, Marcus has been successful by keeping his notebook in order and preparing for quizzes well in advance. Most of all, I appreciate Marcus’s love for reading as he is always ready with a book! You have great leadership potential, Marcus. Keep up the good work!”

Marcus is blessed with a very hard working and committed teacher.

Mercer has a group of teachers so he doesn't receive written comments, but the verbal comments that come to us are always complementary of his work and behavior.

Lastly, Crystal spoke at the 4^th Gathering this past Tuesday evening. She did a remarkable job and was so led. It was a powerful presentation that struck the heart of all who were there. She had been preparing many years for that word and it was evident. Excellent job!

E. Scott

Happenings

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:38:42 GMT

Crystal spoke at our fourth Gathering this Tuesday. She did an excellent job in delivery and content. We had another significant turnout with 65 in attendance. Students are enjoying The Gathering and we are building momentum each week. Many girls want Crystal to be their role model and I hope they live that out. We have students over to our apartment very frequently.

LIfe Groups are growing and doing well also. We have three consistent Life Groups now and we are encouraged. We would like to add a few more by the end of the school year.

Last night we had our OMF official fun October event: Movie Night. We watched the movie Hitch with Russian subtitles. Again, we had over 60 in attendance. It was fun to listen to them all laugh. It is all about relationship. A good core is developing and I would estimate we have at least 80 students involved right now.

Following Movie Night someone was dunked. Very cool.

E. Scott

The Party

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:21:31 GMT

Last night we were a part of our first big student party in Kazakhstan. It was hosted by Work and Travel/World Exchange which is an organization that teaches English and prepares and assists students to work and travel in the United States during the summer break. World Exchange is owned by a young Kazakh woman who is like minded as us. We have been given the privilege to work with World Exchange, teaching students English and American culture but also having the opportunity to connect them with One More Friend.

Our Chialphastan team provided part of the entertainment component of the party . The team did a superior job in planning and implementation. Our preparty stations included the dice game “Cattle Around the Trough”, Wii, and Twister. This was new for many of the students and interestingly the dice game was a big hit. We put together the game, Who Wants To Be A M & Maire which was a perfect take off from Who Want To Be A Millionaire. We had the sound effects, graphics, and lifelines. It was an excellent set up and a lot of fun as students answered questions related to the United States of America.

Chialphastan also exhibited the Hanna Montana line dance and then got the students out to attempt it as well. It was a lot fun and very interactive.

Our part climaxed with the new “wedding dance” that has been a craze in the U. S. It was awesome as the American wedding was explained and then the team came in just like in the wedding procession, but dancing down the isle rather than walking. I was the groom and cut some good moves. Of course, Crystal was the bride and she was so beautiful. It was fun to marry her again and honestly, she looked more gorgeous to me last night than ever. The “wedding dance” was a big hit and culminated the night with the students singing and celebrating. I wish we had the wedding on video.

It was a great hit and many connections were made. We have our fourth Gathering on Tuesday and Crystal is speaking. Every day we have here is a privilege.

E. Scott

Recovery & The Gathering 3

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:46:20 GMT

After two weeks of battling severe illness I am at 95%. Mercer on the other hand is still fighting. He is now battling the respiratory stage of the infection but he is healing up. Please keep praying for divine health.

We held our third Gathering of One More Friend last night. As in typical university work, our meeting room was moved at the last moment causing us to scramble. But, although the new room was much smaller we pulled off the set up and we were ready to begin at 7pm. Everyone on Chialphastan was feeling good and excited about what was about to take place. All had worked hard to this point and dividends were expected.

No one was disappointed. The room was set up with the perfect ambiance with front and side projection, candles, tapestry, and carpet. And it was packed beyond capacity with students! Students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Belgium, Italy, and the U. S. A. were all in attendance. The interaction was superb as we began with the game, Show Me Da Money followed up with some of the coolest videos Chialphastan produced for announcements and Life Group promotion. I should put them on You Tube for all to see. We also had a cool shout out DVD that Chi Alpha at Sam Houston State U had made specifically for our One More Friend group. It is significant when the students realize this is a global movement and not just some little thing someone is attempting to do in Kazakhstan.

Mike, who is from Belgium and is part of the Chialphastan team is our Gathering coordinator. He told me we had at least 50 first time attendees at The Gathering! It was hard to get an exact number but we had at least 70 in attendance and that is conservative; students from all walks of life and faith.

Every day we have here is a privilege.

E. Scott

THE WAR BEGINS: FROM E. SCOTT

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:52:00 GMT

There is no hiding it now. The enemy knows we are here. He has begun a full scale front assault that everyone is feeling.

In Bishkek we blindsided the enemy. It happened to quickly that he was cought off gaurd. Not this time. He was ready. We all have a big target on our fronts and back.

First, I just recovered from the worst sickness I have dealt with in so long I cannot recall. Crystal says it is the worst she has ever seen me in nearly 18 years. I was ill for 5 days and in bed in one stint for a 36 hour period. Seriously, at one point I felt like I was dying. And for those of you who are saying right now, “Why didn’t you email or call?”, our internet went out leaving us with no communication. It is held amongst some medical professionals that Mercer and I suffered from a nasty global bug that is killing people. We pray that that little pig doesn’t touch Crystal and Marcus.

No TV, no radio, and no internet. And we were squirming in anguish. All we could do was writhe in bed and pray for a day that we would feel normal again. Did I say we pray that that little pig doesn’t touch Crystal and Marcus?

Dodge Ball Rocks

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:57:41 GMT

We held our first official event on campus yesterday evening. We hosted a dodge ball tournament on the “basketball” courts on the university. We made our first event somewhat low key similar to movie night in Bishkek. Our primary goal was to meet and make new student friends. Our students living in the dorms did an excellent job inviting students to play in the tournament. This was most likely the first time in history a dodge ball tournament had been played on the university.

Everyone had tremendous fun and my team played for the championship. The team I was on played in the losers bracket all the way up to the championship game. The team captain was a student and he had the choice of selecting his team. We named our team Barsi (snow leopards). He ended up with the three Martin men, so it was a blast to play with Mercer and Marcus. We battled hard. In the second game in the best of three series (we had already lost the first), only Mercer and I remained in the game for our team. I ended up getting knocked out and Mercer single handedly battled by himself to win the game for us. In the final game which would determine the champion it ended up only the three Martin men remained. It would not be good if we ended up winning. We lost. Cheers for the Kazakh students!!!!!!

E. Scott boldy defends his team against the onslaught of the Red Team.

They all said they would like to do this again next week. I pulled them all together and told them we would play another tournament next week under one condition. Each student, in order to play, had to bring One More Friend. Pretty creative. We all gathered together and did a shout out, “One More Friend!”. It was cool.

The team is estimating around 80 students involved. It was an excellent start and we are all very pleased. Can’t wait till next Friday!

I'll post photos soon. I was so busy playing and interacting that I didn't take any. Some of the team will give me theirs. Check back tomorrow if they are not up when you look.

E. Scott

History Made

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:18:44 GMT

A few students arriving early for The Gathering

I (E. Scott) am on my way out the door heading to Bishkek, Kyrygzstan where I will be meeing with our Chialphastan team there. But, I am reeling with satisfaction.

Last night we held the first ever OMF Gathering in the history of Kazakhstan. It went excellent and the team here did a superiour job putting together the videos, powerpoints, music, and room set up. We did the Central Asian ambiance in the room, taken after the set up from Gatherings in Bishkek under the keen eye of Lori.

Students laughed, were inspired, were challenged, and we believe got committed. We had right at our target objective of around 40 in the first meeting. I played the drum and spoke on "It's Time To 'Man Up'" for God. Of course I didn't use those terms I they wouldn't know what I meant, but you get the point. It was a call to 100% commitment. Most of the students were in shock as they had never heard a word like that and presented in that way.

Well, I feel great today. I should be tired but I am wired. Our next Gathering is Tuesday night, September 23rd. We are uping it then and meeting from now on in a larger auditorium and we anticipate weekly growth.

Oh, we concluded with the traditional OMF Cha Cha Slide.

Every day here is a privilege.

E. Scott

Crystal and Abby ready to serve students a post Gathering snack

305

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:32:47 GMT

While at the church on Sunday that I previously blogged, they had everyone come forward who had a birthday on the month of September. It just so happened that September 6^th, the very day, was Crystal’s birthday. So, Crystal went up along with around 8 others. I was surprised how many people in the congregation were born in the month of September.

Each person was to share their name and age. They have no problem asking weight and age to women here. So each person made their declaration and everyone clapped for them. Crystal was the final person. When they came to her she said her name perfectly, but she had a slight problem with the number 35 in Russian and it came out 305. People gasped in amazement. Could this be true? How could she look so good yet be so old? I feared Crystal worship could break out in Kazakhstan so we informed them she is 35. She looks gorgeous for 35. Most here think she is only 25.

Sorry to correct in public, but…..

We all went out to eat and Chialphastan 2 brought in a nice cake (of course a Russian cake) and some nice gifts. We sang happy birthday in the traditional English manner and then in our traditional Soviet style. Here are the words:

Happy Birthday

One day older one day closer to death

For live is just a drop from the womb to the tomb

You would find the humor in it if you were here.

Every day here is a privilege.

E. Scott

Chialphastan celebrates Crystal's birthday

Feeling At Home

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:59:45 GMT

We have been to three churches so far. Twice to fellow Bauer’s church (the international church) where he serves as pastor and then to two indigenous churches. For us here, church is not about us; it’s about blessing the people and the Church. It is not what the church can do for us. We desire to leave a wake of blessing everywhere we go. Just our presence in most indigenous churches here will be a blessing.

We knew coming in that our team would have relationship with three churches in Almaty. We are giving the team the option to choose which church they are committing to for the year.

We found our home yesterday. I have spoken in this church previously and it was pioneered by a friend of ours. As soon as we walked in I knew this was it. I didn’t say anything to Crystal, but I had the same feeling as when we walked into church for the first time in Brighton, MO; I knew this was it. It is a small fellowship with maybe 60 people, but they are genuine, welcoming, and friendly. The pastor’s wife shared with me with tears in her eyes that when she saw us walk in all she could say was, “it is a big gift from God.” Later, Crystal shared with me that she felt the same way as she did when we walked into church at Brighton for the first time; this is it. Isn’t God cool?

I knew some of the students and young adults there and they are eager for One More Friend. Their only question is,” how quickly do we get started!”. It is nice to be wanted, valued, and loved.

Regrettably the batteries on our camera died so I was not able to take a photo, but I will take some later this week.

I can’t wait for church.

E. Scott