Christmas Week in Astana, Kazakhstan - 28 December 2008

It was another busy week here in Astana! Having the missionaries from Novosibirsk here for a few days with us was wonderful and we will never forget them. They had their visas by Monday night which was a relief to everyone! Not that we didn't want them to stay longer, but they were anxious to get back to their field of labor for Christmas, and we didn't blame them one bit! They left Tuesday morning for Moscow and then on to Novosibirsk.

Tuesday we went to a closing presentation for a project that we did for the Blind Society here in Astana. We donated 5 computers with special programs to use for those that are partially blind. We also paid for 80 pairs of glasses for this group because the government does not fund payment for glasses for those that are partially blind.This is Khamza Khazima Yerzhanovna who is the director for the Astana Blind Society. She had invited many of the people who are members of this group to come and be a part of this presentation. She presented us with a "Thankful Letter". We have enjoyed working with her.

Roy was asked to say a few words and then each of the members that wanted to speak and thank us took their turn. Khazima turned the time over to the group and then let them ask us questions about us and our church. It was great! We were able to explain to them about our humanitarian work and how our church is represented in over 160 nations in the world. They wanted to know how we get the money for these projects and we explained the principle of "Fasting" to them. They all applauded after that! They wanted to know about our family, how many kids, and how many grandchildren and they all applauded us for that and said that we are very richly blessed of which we totally agreed!! They wanted to know about the handicapped society's in America and lots of other questions. We felt like we were able to explain more about our church in this one meeting than we have done since we have been here!! It was a wonderful opportunity for us!

This lady is using one of the 5 computers that were donated by the church. The computers have external speakers because many of those who are partially blind have hearing difficulties, too.These two ladies received new glasses from the project. The lady from the optical store was also there and presented them with chains and glass cases. The people that were there were so appreciative of the glasses and the computers! It was a good presentation and we felt like we were able to explain a little more about our church and what we do.

Wednesday we made goodies to take to all of our friends we have made here in Kazakhstan.

Mira wrote the message in Russian to put on the gifts. Then we delivered some to Kulnazira, Kamka and Elena who are some NGO's that we have worked with this year and sang Christmas carols to them. We spent the next two days delivering the rest of them and teaching Mira some more Christmas songs.Wednesday night we went to the University English Club. This young man is Vitaly Tsimmerman. He wanted to give us a gift of the replicas of the dombra and the kobuz, Kazakh musical instruments, for our Christmas celebration. We thought that was so kind. He is such a delightful person!

Christmas Day was very busy! After opening the gifts we received from family, we went to the orphanage for a New Year's Celebration where "Father Frost" came and gave gifts to all of the children.

Here is "Father Frost's" granddaughter,(middle) "Snow Girl" with two of the handicapped children at the orphanage. The young lady on the left sang to the children. The lady standing in the back is Zhanna, who we worked with on the project for the orphanage. After the program was over, the director took us up to the room to see the materials donated by the church for the Montessori room. We will tell you more about it when we have the closing presentation in January.

Next we went to the "Duman", a fun center for families, for the handicapped day care New Year's Celebration. We saw children perform and had our picture taken in front of the big New Year's tree with Mira. After we left there, we sent Mira home and went to the University where the English department was having a Christmas celebration.

The students did a wonderful job and are so talented. We have grown to love each one of them. They all wanted to have their picture taken with us when it was over. Aizhan, their teacher, is standing on the left at the end.

It was such a cold day (-28 F) and we we weren't too excited to go out again that night but we were invited to the other English club's New Year's celebration.Here the students are having a good time playing games. We sat and watched and judged which one gave the best toast for the New Year in English. It was fun to be there with them. They are a great group of students and we enjoy working with them.

As we walked home in the frigid cold air, we reflected on what a different Christmas this was for us. Christmas here in Kazakhstan is an individual, personal celebration because there are so few Christians. We feel that our Christmas this year was more internalized because we realize what Christ has done for us personally and how important His birth was in our individual lives.

The next day we collapsed and stayed in and caught up on project and paper work. It was pretty cold outside so it was also a good reason to stay in.

Saturday we were invited to another New Year's celebration for the Blind Society, which is Kazima's group. We thought that it would be just a small group of people, but when we got there the whole gymnasium was filled with people!! We tried to remain inconspicuous by sitting on the back bench, but that didn't last long!

The people in charge came right over to us and wanted us to say a few words! Mira didn't want to, but we finally persuaded her to sing with us the only Christmas song she knew!! So when it was our turn, Roy said a few words and then we all sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"!!Anne enjoying herself with one of the participants!

Everyone got into the fun and they danced around the New Year's Tree and sang songs. Father Frost and Snow Girl also came and gave out gifts. We got in and enjoyed ourselves. At one point, they put on a song that sounded more American than Russian or Kazakh so we danced the swing together and the people loved it.!!They were happy that we were enjoying ourselves! It was a fun celebration and we were so glad that we went!

In the afternoon, we met Zarina, who has been a translator for us when Mira is unavailable, to give her a gift. She was with her parents and we also got to meet them. They are as wonderful as their daughter! We just can't say enough about how good people are to us here!!

Sunday we were back to just the three of us for church. But we enjoy being with Zhanna so much!

We surprised her with a Christmas gift which she was thrilled about! (Thanks, Kara, for sending the gift.) It has been a wonderful week and it was nice to be able to be a part of so many celebrations and feel of their love for us.

Next week we will be in Almaty for New Years. We will also be able to be with the people in the Branch on Sunday. We plan on doing some business for the NRT coming up next year. We are looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for all of the wonderful Christmas emails and cards we received from family and friends. They mean so much to us when we are so far away! It has been a Christmas that has been very special to us. We hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling