Fun Pix

Arctic Dryer 

Hmmm... I wonder where his priorities lie? 

Polar Bear skin on the clothesline

Sledding Fun in May!

May 18 - Sledding!

America visits Greenland

As you may remember, there is no US Embassy in Greenland.  When Jonathan was born we were able to do all of the necessary paperwork for his passport, birth certificate, social security number, as well as renew the rest of our passports through the MAIL.  It was quite an Adventure to find an approved notary in Greenland!  (Now it's a funny story that I'll tell another time.)  That was several years ago and things have changed since then!  We still don't have an Embassy, but the American Consul did pay Ilulissat a visit yesterday and we were able to get all necessary paperwork filed.

Emilia Faith and the American Consul

It was an informal meeting with two friendly people from the Embassy.  We enjoyed talking with them and sharing a bit about life in Greenland.  They were pleased when we mentioned that we planned to stay indefinitely and are applying for Permanent Residency next year.  They asked if we would be available to help if a situation ever arose, and of course, we are.  As we informed them, that's why we are here in Greenland... to Help People!  

A few of the kids with Anita from the Embassy

Two years ago, after Matti's birth, we were in contact with the woman pictured above, but at the time they were unable to fit a trip to Ilulissat in the budget.  That time we took a trip to Iceland and accomplished everything at the Embassy there, as well as enjoyed some much needed R & R!

The Americans

The Arnolds were also able to get their passports renewed and after hearing our stories of what we experienced with Jonathan's paperwork, I'm sure they were very thankful to have it done this way!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  Greenland has been celebrating Mother's Day for a few years now.  Mothers have the greatest influence on their children and hence we feel it is important to let them know that.  They have an important role in the bringing up of their children, and we want them to know how special they are!  We enjoyed a special service for Mothers in church today, after which all the children presented their mothers with a rose.  My kids were so excited about the roses… it is quite rare to have REAL roses here in Greenland!

I've shared before about my Mom and what she has meant to me.  Here is a picture of her before the tragedy that left her so handicapped.  She has always had the most beautiful smile.  Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.  (Proverbs 31:28)   

I also want to share about these five precious kids who call me Mom.  God has blessed us greatly and given us some awesome kids!  Not only are they a lot of fun to be around and good siblings to each other, they are also good little workers.  Every Friday and Saturday they help to clean the church and make sure it is good condition for Sunday.  On Sunday afternoons we have coffee, sweets and a time of fellowship after church.  There is always a mess to clean up in the children's room as well as in the main room where the adults eat.  Each Sunday our children, vacuum, clean, and set up and take down tables and chairs, shovel snow, etc… all without complaint.  They know that they are not just helping Dad and Mom, but also working for the Lord.  We've got a crop of little missionaries in the making right here! ☺

Blog Stuff

Over the past few weeks I've been working on this blog as I find the time.  I hope to make it a place not just to keep up with us, but also to learn more about the Mission Field of Greenland. Eventually, all of the tabs above will have posts and pictures about different aspects of life here at the Top of the World.

Please feel free to leave any comments or emails with any questions you may have about this country.  We'd love to educate anyone and everyone with the need here in Greenland!

God is blessing the ministry here and we have been in touch with people from other villages wanting to know if the Baptist Church will also come there.  Chris has been asked many times by the inmates if there will be a church in their town once they are released.  We long for and work towards the day there will be a Baptist Church in each town in Greenland.

Matti's first DIH (do it herself!) haircut!

You can't really tell, but she's holding the little bit of hair in her hand.

Tonight as we were giving haircuts, Matti Joy decided that she needed her bangs trimmed just a little... bit... more...  Faster than we could turn our heads she had snatched the scissors and cut off a chunk of her bangs.  It's not that bad of a cut, and it's only hair.  It will grow back.  Thankfully!

Anna Grace - 10

Anna, all rosy-cheeked and happy after an afternoon of playing in the snow!  There's no fun quite like spring snow.  It's perfect for making snow forts and snowmen, and the weather is nice enough to enjoy it!

Exciting Times!

The Prison ministry continues to go well.  God is really blessing and each visit Chris feeds the Gospel to hungry souls.  Although we have yet to see any souls saved, the ground has been plowed, the seeds sown and on each visit it is cultivated more and more.  Below are a few thoughts Chris has shared on the prison ministry.

Another awesome night in the prison! Since God called me to Greenland in 1999, it's been my desire to reach the entire country of Greenland. I thought it would be by boat and plane. But tonight I had a Revelation - we are reaching ALL of Greenland through this prison ministry! There are inmates in there from as far North as Thule all the way to the southern tip and then everywhere in between. As these men hear the Gospel and receive it, and then later are released, they will take it back to their homes. At the very least, the Baptist Church is making an impact on this country.

A young man (former inmate) dropped by and asked to buy a Bible. Not only did we give him a Bible, but we sat down together and gave him the Gospel again. This is an 18 year old young man who has no place to live because his mom and younger siblings moved away while he was in prison. Now he wants to move to Southern Greenland to live with his father and go back to school. He tried to get help from the local government, but they said no. That was before the Baptist Church got involved! Now the local government has agreed to pay half of his ticket cost and the Baptist Church will help with the rest. We are slowly becoming one of the pillars in the community and not only in Ilulissat, but we're touching towns all around Greenland. Exciting Times!

May

Remember when I posted about Springtime?  Well, much has changed in the month since then!  We've seen the temperatures drop and snow fall.  As I sit here typing now the snow is falling.  Perhaps it doesn't look quite like spring, but it's beautiful!

April - notice, no snow!

April... again, no snow!

Enjoying the beautiful weather in April

The girls having a picnic in April

All the above pictures were taken the first week in April.  By the middle of the month is started to feel like a "normal" Greenlandic spring again...  cold weather with plenty of snow!

Cold and snow - mid April

Flu Epidemic

Recently there was a flu epidemic in town.  It was reported that about 100 new cases were showing up at the hospital each day.  It became so bad that they were infecting the patients in the waiting room.  The doctors finally told everyone to stay home and rest, there was nothing they could do for them at the hospital.

Since our house has such a revolving door, it was only a matter of time until we caught the flu.  Thankfully, this flu did not include all the aspects that I've always attributed to the flu, though a certain small member of this household did often inform everyone that he felt "just like I'm going to throw up".  However, the fevers, chills, lethargy, sneezing, coughing, etc... was enough to make everyone just a bit miserable!  Thankfully after almost three weeks of this "bug" hanging around our house, we are now just about "flu free"!  Last night was our first night (in three weeks) of uninterrupted sleep, and it was Wonderful!

School really suffered during The Sickness, but we are getting back on track now.  Emilia is the one who LOVES school and except for her sick days she hasn't wanted to miss a bit of her school work.  As I was preparing supper the other night I was in the middle of giving her a spelling test.  As I called out each word she repeated it back to me with a puzzled look on her face.  It wasn't until I was grading her test and got to the vocabulary section that I realized... I gave her next week's test (it must have been all those sleepless nights)!  She hadn't even learned the new words or their meanings... and yet she scored a 100%.  So proud of that little girl!  ☺

Sibling Love

Matti has been suffering with a bad cold the past few days.  She just wants to be held and snuggled.  Poor little thing has been miserable with a fever, stuffy nose, etc...  She's been spending a lot of time on the couch snuggled up with her "sibling of choice."  Being the sweet, baby sister that she is, she has freely shared her cold with anyone available.  ☺

She's been enjoying lots of extra mommy time and I've been holding onto each precious moment with my baby who is growing up way too fast!

Springtime!

We have been enjoying an unusually early spring, and loving every minute of it!  In the years we've lived here we've yet to see an April without snow.  Typically March is the coldest month and temperatures won't rise above freezing until May.  April is the month we enjoy the lengthening days and hours spent in the hills sledding and building igloos.  This year we are almost out of snow so the sledding and igloos aren't happening.  While the kids are experiencing twinges of disappointment that the late winter fun has been changed, they are excited about the approaching summer and are already planning picnics and bike rides.  On the other hand Chris and I  are really loving this early spring weather while cautiously wondering if we are quite over with winter yet!

Resurrection Day!

So many of our family traditions involve food!  I guess that's not a bad thing, after all, we do have to eat!  Each year around Resurrection Sunday we make our annual Empty Tomb cake.  This year we added a new tradition by baking "Resurrection Rolls" and it was a fun, tasty object lesson!

Our Resurrection Cake - The Empty Tomb

To make the rolls we made crescent roll dough, rolled it out and cut it into squares.  Then we took the marshmallows, dipped them in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar, and rolled the dough around it, tightly sealing it inside.  We still had heart-shaped marshmallows from Valentine's Day and I thought that was very appropriate "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) 

The kids brushed the tops with the melted butter and sprinkled cinnamon-sugar over the top.

Jonathan's favorite part was eating the marshmallows.

The rolls were empty inside!  It was a fun experience for the kids and one we'll do again next year.

I was also planning to make Resurrection cookies with the kids this year, but the stores had been out of eggs for a while.  Once the ice clears out and a ship can make it into the Harbor we'll get our eggs and make the cookies.  It's always a good time to remember the Resurrection of our LORD!

Church

Our little church in the Arctic has been slowly but steadily growing.  A couple of months ago Chris took a huge step in the ministry and began preaching completely in Greenlandic.  Although he is fluent in Danish, Greenlandic is a much more difficult language and has taken him years of study to get to this point.  God has blessed his efforts and we have seen new visitors in church almost every Sunday since "the transition"!

Each Sunday after church we have a time of coffee, cake and fellowship.  It really touched my heart (during my recent trip to the States) when Chris informed me that the women in church were bringing baked goods in my absence.  I love how they stepped up and pitched in without being asked!  Our faithful few have become close and feel like family.  We are excited to be a part of this pioneer work!  

We have started having a church meal once a month and recently had an ice cream social for the church people.  That night there were 39 people in our small building!  Happily, almost every one of them has attended our services!  Each week we re-arrange the chairs in the church to provide the maximum number of seating.  We're discussing plans to knock down some walls to enlarge the church room.  We are in the process of starting up a couple of new ministries and outreach programs that I am very excited to share with you... soon!

 

School Day

Now that we have another homeschooling family in town I thought it would be good for the kids to plan a "home-schooling" day a couple of times a month.  Last week was our first one and it seemed to go well.  Chris taught a short lesson on the Resurrection and then the kids all made Resurrection Crafts.  Afterwards they all branched out into other artistic endeavors while enjoying cookies and milk.  I'm thinking of spelling bees, math drills and other fun, educational days in the future!

Matti even missed her nap (which she made up over the supper hour!) to join in the fun!

Such a big girl using scissors!

She loves to draw... on paper, on tables, on the wall... she loves to draw.

Craft Time!

Goofy Girls

Mattaliina Joy

Matti Joy loves being outside.  If Chris or I are heading out the door she'll come running, dragging her (or whoever's she can reach at the moment) coat saying "bye-bye?"  She has the most expressive brown eyes that are very hard to say "no" to. ☺ Here she is in Jonathan's outdoor gear hoping for a chance to play outside... at bedtime.

Good Friday

Greenlanders celebrate Good Friday by attending services at the State Church.  They raise their flags half mast to remember the crucifixion and death of Christ.  On Resurrection Sunday they will raise the  flags to full mast.

A Quick Update

Mattaliina Joy - She's TWO!

Our Sweet Baby Girl turned two on the 15th of March.  She's definitely lived up to her middle name and has brought so much joy to our home.  She's a favorite at church and has many doting "fans."  Matti loves to "talk" and will chatter away with anyone who will sit long enough to listen.  We usually don't understand most of what she says, but her facial expressions and eye language can get her message across.  Although her vocabulary is still very limited she can understand English and Greenlandic.  We're waiting for the day when she starts speaking in a "known tongue" and wonder just which language that will be!

Enjoying the perks of being the birthday girl!

Cleaning up!

Listening to Auntie Rae and Grandma sing "Happy Birthday"

Mmm Mmm Good!

Lady Bug Birthday Cake
(yes, I know.  Scary Face!)

Kisses for the Lady Bug!

Our Baby - Matti Joy