Mike and Olga Cantrell

Such is the Spirit

Mike — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:37:37 +0000

I’ve just returned from time with a mission team in Montenegro and I’d like to share one example of how the team served and how God spoke.

We ran a youth camp for a few days earlier this week. As a part of the camp, in one session the team had a time during which each camper was prayed for and team members would share impressions that they sensed as they prayed; the purpose is to share scriptures and words of encouragement and comfort.

One of the young lady campers heard about this ahead of time, and that day, as she was reading the Bible story of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume and wiping them with her hair (Luke 7) the camper said to God something like — ‘if this team is really hearing from you and if you really speak to people, then have one of the team members mention the story of this woman to me today’.

We all, Americans and campers, sat in a circle as the team shared their words of encouragement. Each team member prayed, asking God to give good words to share with each camper. Many good, encouraging words and scriptures were shared with all the campers. When the time came to share with this young lady, though people said many things to her, no one mentioned the story.

After we’d spoken to each camper, there was a time for team members to say anything they may not have had time to share before. Again, no one mentioned the story to the young lady. She was dispirited and sort of ‘gave up’ on the whole thing.

After we dismissed that meeting, one of the team members went to the young lady and said that the Lord had put something on her heart for the camper. It was Luke 7, the story of the woman washing Jesus’ feet!

The camper was in awe that the Lord would hear her prayer and love her so much as to answer it so specifically. Her heart was deeply touched and she was very encouraged. Only God could make that specific connection for that young woman. Her faith was increased and she felt the touch of the Lord.

God is love. He will be found by those who seek Him.

Montenegro — Camp 2008 Here are a few short and simple videos of our...
A Postcard from Montenegro — Surprising Blessings I (Mike) arrived in Montenegro on July 2, a day...
A Postcard from Montenegro — Fruitful Relationships I just returned from a very fruitful trip to Montenegro,...

A Snapshot from Montenegro

Mike — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:44:49 +0000

Here’s the view from our kitchen in Podgorica, Montenegro:

A mission team from Athens, GA arrives today. Tomorrow and Friday we’ll meet with university students and early next week we’ll run a youth camp.

A Snapshot from Montenegro Here is the view looking over the Adriatic as we...
A Postcard from Montenegro — Surprising Blessings I (Mike) arrived in Montenegro on July 2, a day...
News from Montenegro Stoneworks continues to expand its ministry in Montenegro. In May,...

Mike — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:25:08 +0000

We had a work day at Elama on Saturday. It was cool and rainy, so we didn’t get as much work done as we’d hoped, but we had a great time of fellowship together. Elama will host quite a few people this summer.

I’m now in Montenegro, awaiting the arrival of a mission team. The busy part of the summer will quick be upon us.

Here are a few pictures of the day:

Masha, Katya, Yan, Olga, Sergei (Kristina was with the kids, I took the picture)

Ksusha (one of Sergei and Kristina’s daughters) by the summer kitchen

Sergei and Kristina

of course, we cooked shashleek

and you gotta have kvas!

Masha Oshkina

two years ago a mission team cut down a BIG tree; we finally got it cut up and moved; now we need to split it for firewood

A New Pavilion at Elama As many of you know, Elama is our camp in...
A Postcard from Russia — Spring Awakenings at Elama We are actually in the US (in Texas right now),...
A Trip To Elama Yesterday Sergei and I went to Elama, our camp about...

Snapshots from Russia

Mike — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:44:07 +0000

We were all at dacha for the May 9 Victory Day holidays earlier this week. I go to Montenegro tomorrow to meet a mission team, and it was nice to have this family time before my trip.

The little white flowers are called “Under the Snow” and are considered to be the first flowers of Springtime. The daffodils are also blooming now.

The buds are on the trees:

We organized and cleaned the summer kitchen. It looks worlds better than it did:

Of course, we have a meal together. We cooked shashleek the day before and had good leftovers as well as traditional Russian salads.

Great-granddad Orest came to visit our home a few weeks ago. I like this picture:

Snapshots from Russia This is a pretty standard view of our city streets...
Snapshots from Russia Yesterday we attended the wedding of two dear friends —...
A Snapshot from Russia Olga and Valerie were coloring together at dacha. The light...

A Trip To Elama

Mike — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:34:49 +0000

Yesterday Sergei and I went to Elama, our camp about an hour north of St. Pete. It’s time to start opening it up, and yesterday among other things we connected the primary part of the water system to be sure things are working. We also met with some workers who will clear some land and remove trash (see pictures below).

This summer the Elama calendar is booked solid. Next month we’ll host a team of 20 from the US who will run a camp for foster children. We’ll also host several church retreats.

You can see more at the Elama website. If you’re interested in helping, we need funds to help improve the bathing facilities. We’d also like to install flush toilets (we have outhouses now).

It was a great day, and I’m very glad we’re there for our 5th summer.

A Postcard from Russia — Elama This is some exciting news — we have been given...
New Pictures from Elama Here are some pictures from the last few days at...
Elama Then and Now In early 2008, I was offered some land and old...

From Russia to Estonia

Mike — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:43:18 +0000

I drove to Estonia from Russia yesterday. The total driving time from St. Petersburg to Johvi, Estonia is about 4 hours, but the border crossing can take anywhere from an hour to 5 hours. Yesterday I made it across the border in 50 minutes. That was nice.

I’m working on Sunbeam, a day center for children with disabilities we are opening here in Estonia. You can read the latest news here. I’m helping set up some administrative items, and I’ve been building a simple website for Sunbeam.

I made a couple of videos of my drive in Russia. I’ll call them Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. First, the nice Dr. Jekyll:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And the rough Mr. Hyde. (It’s no wonder I need to get my car fixed pretty often.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

And another:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just AFTER I made that last video, I saw a sign that said Rough Road Ahead. (!)

I’d like to point out that this is THE main federal highway from St. Petersburg into Europe.

Crossing from Russia to Estonia I’ve just arrived in Estonia after a very nice drive...
Estonia Estonia continues to be on our hearts. This fall two...
A Postcard from Russia (and Estonia) God has blessed us in many, many ways. Valerie has...

Vids of Val

Mike — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:04:19 +0000

Here are a couple of recent videos of Valerie.

By the way, she’s doing great. Beth Shanklin, a good friend who is a neuro-developmentalist, visited recently from the US. Beth assessed Valerie about a year ago and wrote a program to address some developmental issues. Olga has been faithful to do the program over the months.

Beth checked Valerie last week and Valerie is almost at her age level developmentally, with just a few small issues. Remember, just over a year ago Valerie said about three words (at age 3). She’s really catching up, speaking more and more English, too.

We went to a park:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And today she did something really great. I’ve set out my small travel hammered dulcimer for her to plunk around on, hoping she’ll take interest. I showed her how to play the Alphabet Song (she doesn’t know it as Twinkle Twinkle yet). Today, after some rough starts, she did this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

That’s m’girl!

3 Videos Here are three recent short videos. First, today we went...
Valerie’s Birthday Tomorrow (the 14th) is Valerie’s fourth birthday. We celebrated early...
Videos from Our Drive to Montenegro Here are a few videos related to my last post....

Kunda Mill

Mike — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:07:20 +0000

Last week in Estonia we did some exploring between meetings. Estonia has many old manor houses, and we went snooping around for them. You can see ALL of them at this website. Estonia has some beautiful places.

One great thing we found was an old water mill. Water mills are always in great locations, near flowing water often with beautiful trees, down in a low spot of land so that the place is remote. I often look for watermills in the various countries we visit. I’ve found them in Russia, Finland, Estonia, Montenegro and of course the US.

In addition to a great location, this mill has some wonderful old buildings. They are in disrepair (but the roofs and foundations are good) and it was fun to imagine how they could be brought back to life and used as a ministry center. (Anyone want to chip in a few hundred thousand dollars?)

First a video and then some pictures:

Click here to view the embedded video.

the grist mill

the distillery

water race

A Postcard from Estonia — Estonian Beauty I am currently in Estonia researching ministry opportunities for...
Tromping Snow at Elama Sergei Tovstopyat, John Bull and I went to Camp Elama...
A Snapshot from Estonia Today we visited the Keila Waterfall west of Tallinn. It’s...

A Snapshot from Estonia

Mike — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:43:05 +0000

I was in Tallinn today for a few reasons. I had a very good visit with my friend Heikki, I picked up my new Russian visa (!), and I met Beth Shanklin at the airport. Beth is a neuro-developmentalist who will be helping us establish Sunbeam; she’ll have a series of meetings with the leadership over the next few days, before we head to Russia on Sunday afternoon.

Oh, the picture is a view the Gothic town hall (c. 1403).

A Snapshot from Estonia Tallinn’s Town Hall on the main square in the old...
A Snapshot from the Baltic Sea This morning I took the ferry from Tallinn, Estonia to...
A Postcard from Estonia — Open Doors We visited Estonia this week and had a great visit....

Merry Chr. . .uhhm. . . Happy Easter

Mike — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:03:12 +0000

This was the view from my bedroom window on Easter morning in Jõhvi, Estonia. One would think we’re still at Christmastime:

I’m in Estonia getting a new Russian visa and having a great time with friends and ministry partners. The work at Sunbeam continues to go well. You can read the latest news here. Soon, we also plan to purchase a house and land to start a women’s rehab center. I’ll tell more about that later.

Olga and Valerie are in Russia and were going to join me in Estonia tomorrow, but Olga’s grandmother had to go to the hospital and so Olga’s grandfather moved to our flat to stay with Olga. Olga’s grandmother is improving, and we may yet work out a way for Olga and Valerie to come to me. I can enter Russia in a week, so it’s not too long before we can be reunited.

Easter is the proof that Christ is who He claimed to be. The Resurrection of Christ is the turning point of human history; the evidence of the defeat of death and the victory of love. Through faith in Christ, we can now be at peace with God and share in His divine nature. He is risen indeed.

Easter Greetings, at a Russian soccer match Interfax Reports: Fans greeted each other on Easter at a...
This Makes Me Happy Here’s a great example what gives me joy and of...
Merry Christmas!! Merry Christmas to you all. God is not far off....