This interesting pic with the smiling moon and two starry eyes was taken outside our house at Bukit Jelutong
Lawrence and I with Haruki
Mr. and Mrs. Takashima
The traditional tea ceremony
As we approach 2009, Grace and I would like to specially express our thanks and appreciation to you for your friendships and love . Church and ministry can sometimes keep us so busy that friendships that have been built
over the years are often overlooked So before the year ends, we want you to know that you are in our hearts and we wish you and your loved ones a blessed and wonderful Christmas. As we step forward to the new year shrouded with economic and political uncertainties, we pray that the Prince of Peace will truly reign in your hearts. May the certainty of the love of our everlasting Father keeps your hearts rested in His care . We pray
that His Presence will guide you along Paths of Overflowing Provision and Joy in the coming year. May God abundantly bless you, Once again, A Blessed and Love-filled Christmas and a wonder-ful New Year to you
and the ones you love, Know that the Best is Coming!!! and know that, we love you,
With Love and Blessings,
Ron and Grace Hee
Mission Trip to Kobe, Japan
Day 12- Glad to be home but will miss Russia. We had fond memories of the trip. It was especially wonderful to have Grace with me on this trip.
Day 10 (Tues)- We left Volgograd and arrived in Moscow. Since we have about 8 hrs before our flight to Hong Kong, Ps Thomas suggested we visit Islamvogo where there was a large flea market. Every tourist to Moscow will have to put up with its atrocious traffic jam. It was definitely worst than KL's
Grace wrote this email to Sarah and Nicholas just before we head towards the Volgograd airport:
It is 5.20am and we are waiting for our transport to the Volgograd airport which will be a 2 hour journey to airport. We bought some souvenir mugs, salami, Mayonaise, condensed milk that is quite unique to Russia.
Russia is very interesting land of diverse peoples and opportunities. Its like a western developing country.
We have to wait in Moscow for about 8 hours so will get chance to do a bit more of sight seeing and also shopping if any. I don't plan to buy anything much.
Boy, you are fetching us right? See you in about 30 hours time.
Mum
In the evening, we met with the medical students, many of whom are Malaysians. Hana did a very good and encouraging icebreaker with them. For some reasons, I was very touched as we worshipped together- I wanted them to know that God our Father is with them even as they were so far away from home. We encouraged them to have a vision for our nation and to use medicine as their calling from the Lord. Grace and I prayed for everyone of them It was unfortunate that we could not have a meal together with them. I wanted to buy pizza for them all.
Ps Simone got me to share what we do in New Life with his staff. I shared our 3 Bs and our 3 Fs with them.
Russian Borsch.
This a dish of pork fat. Eaten with mustard, it tasted exactly like sashimi. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
One of the church members took us for a special Russian lunch at a restaurant.
This monument was to commemorate the founders of Volgograd.
Day 9(Mon)- Back in Volgagrad. Ps Thomas rejoined the team and Ps Simone took us for a visit to the city centre. We were hoping to catch a cruise to sail down the Volga river but unfortunately the cruise was not in operation during this low period.
Our journey back to Volgograd
Akhtubinsk sign in Russian. A red line is drawn across the name to indicate that it is the end of the city limits.
Final pic with Ps Arthur before we leave Akhtubinsk. Our host Valya did not want to let us go. They are so keen to pay a visit to Malaysia and saving up for it.
Sunday morning church service- 3 hours long. They also celebrate birthdays etc.
I ministered to the adults. This picture was a session that I took with the leaders after the main church service.
Hana and Grace ministered to the Children.
Day 8 (Sunday)- We were outside the apartment without our interpreter so we had to resort to the Russian-English dictionary to communicate.
Altar call after Grace ministered the word.
Saturday night service. This picture was taken outside Ps Arthur church.
We had a bit of a scare after taking this shot of Hana. If you look at the top of this picture, we caught the speedboat coming towards our direction. We thought it was the military and our suspicions were heightened when it stopped in the middle of the river just next to us. Hana and I did not wait to find out if we were right as we scurried away quickly. Akhtubinsk has some military towns and some of them are still closed to visitors.
Day 7 (Sat)- Ps Thomas told us to make sure that we try 'Rak' so we conveyed this to Ps Arthur who went 'Rakking' and came up with a whole pot of it. We discovered it was 'crawfish' of which we had tasted in New Orleans. We went for a picnic and had a real feast of the crawfish next to the Aktuba river. It tasted like steamed lobster or prawns but getting the little bit of flesh from its body (the majority of its weight is on its head which is discarded) takes a bit of work. It was fun eating crawfish outdoors in the cold.
Had dinner back at the apartment after the meeting. By now we have developed a good friendship bond and we were comfortable enough with one another that Valya, her daughter and her grandson Nikita sang as a beautiful song in Russian. The fellowship was sweet. Since it was late, we reluctantly broke up this wonderful time of fellowship to retire for the nigh.
Friday night- we had a service at Ps Arthur's church. I preached on sonship. I ended by praying for Ps Arthur and his leaders. Apparently, this was the message that the Lord has been speaking to them about.
We then went to buy some flowers to place on Ps Viktor's grave. Every other grave had a Russian Orthodox cross which is slightly different to that of a normal '+'. It has two different length horizontal bars instead of one and a skewed bar where the ankle of the Lord was supposed to be (you might be able to see one of them on the above picture- on the extreme right side). A Russian Orthodox official wanted to remove Ps Viktor's cross because it is different (and they consider protestant churches cultist) but the Lord's grace prevailed.
We then visited a nearby river. It was so quite and peaceful.
In the afternoon, Ps Arthur took us to see a house which he desires to purchase for a drug rehabilitation centre. This house has a big piece of land and will cost USD7000.
We passed by a one lane wet market and bought lots of fruits which were cheap.
Day 6- We got our host to take us to have a look at their local products in the supermarket.
We were going to leave after ministry but the hostess was so sad and insistent that we decided to stay and eat. Everywhere we go, we can't leave without partaking of their food.
We then laid hands and prayed for everyone.
After lunch we headed towards the border (to Kazakstan)town of Baskunchak where Ps Arthur pastored before he went to take over the church at Akhtubinsk after his father's passing. We gathered in this living room which was so hot despite being freezing outside. The hostess has an amazing story of God's deliverance for her daughter who was mentally deranged and violent and had to be locked up for 15 years. It was such an amazing testimony. The now mentally sound daughter is in the room. I ministered the word of God and shared about the plan and power of God for our lives.
With Ps Arthur, his wife Luda, his mother Natasha and his maternal grandmother. They fed us so much. Today's lunch included roast chicken which i enjoyed thoroughly.
Visitors to Russia will notice that there are many monuments and memorials everywhere. Here in this small town is a memorial to those fought with the airforce. We stumble upon this memorial during our morning walk and decided to take a picture with the automatic feature. This structure is a combination of the wing of an aeroplane and that of a bird.
Day 5- Grace and I went for a walk in the morning while waiting for Ps Arthur to fetch us for lunch at his mother's house. It was cold but we enjoyed it.
This shot was taken from our room of a neighbouring block of flats similar to the one we are staying in. What surprised me was the high tech security door at the ground floor.
Praying for them after the meal.
With the couple, Dennis and Svetna, a covert from Islam who told us an incredible story of her conversion. She certainly has God's destiny in her life and she will be a tremendous soul winner. I bet we have not heard the last of her yet.
Pastor Arthur took us to Znamensk to meet a couple who will be starting a church there. The couple just bought a rather dilapidated house with no electricity and no running water. Here we are outside the house trying the well water. Picture show Ps Arthur clowning around and saying "The well water is poisonous" as he clutched his throat.
At Akhtubinsk with Pastor Arthur and our hostess, Valya. 
Together with our translator, Dennis, the three of us (excluding Pastor Thomas, who remained behind to teach at the Bible school) then headed towards a small rural town named Akhtubinsk. One glaring feature about the landscape during the journey is its flatness. Not a hill in side. The journey took about 2 hours.
Pastor Simone is Ps Alexy's right hand man. We chatted and shared pastoring ideas over the breakfast table.
Day 4- After breakfast, Hana and Grace went outside with our host to visit her garden. They took many pictures of the colourful flowers and plants which are too many to post.
In the evening, I ministered at one of their outreach churches. Pastor Tatiana has such a heart of a mother for her flock which filled her living room. I shared on 'Keys to the Kingdom'. Many came forth for healing. I was moved by their needs. Many were divorced and struggled with alcoholism. Three (above) accepted the Lord as their Saviour.
Dennis got Grace and I to pose in such a way that it seems like we were holding the torch- which burns day and night in memory of those who sacrificed their lives in defending their motherland. We were fortunate to see the changing of guards which was quite a show of excellence in precision and discipline. The weather was perfect. Beautiful blue skies, cool breeze- Thank you Lord.
They scheduled me to teach a session of their Bible school but Pastor Thomas got too passionate and took up my session so we went to 'Mama Hill', a famous Volgograd landmark- a must see for all visitors. The statue is apparently taller than the statue of liberty and can be seen from a long distance away. It is a symbol of the motherland calling all Russians to defend the country against the invasion by Germany. It was a great victory for Russia and halted Germany advancement.
Day 3- They did not plan any ministry in the morning so one of their staff took us to visit their war museum. It was a visit that helped us to understand the history of the city. Did you know that V was previously Stalingrad? I was impressed by Valera's (second from right) knowledge of the historical events.
The flight to Volgograd took about 2 and a half hours. It was already dark when we landed and w were met at the airport by our translator Dennis (who visited Malaysia last year) and a couple of the Malaysian medical students. We stayed at Ps Alexy (the senior pastor of the mother church) and Galina's house. That Galina on the left with her son, Alex who knocked on our door and said 'Go, eat.' At least he knows more English than I know Russian.
Tried their reputed underground transport.
Posing in front of the Russian Duma.
We have 8 hrs before the internal flight to Volgograd so we visited the famous Red Square and the St Basilica Cathedral. It was cold (10C) but we enjoyed the walkabout. Paid 100 roubles each to see the inside of the Cathedral. Full of icons. Pastor Thomas is a veteran missionary to Russia so he doubled as our guide. BTW, he is our church's Christina's father.
Day 2- Finally arrived in Moscow after 18 hrs. 4 hrs to HK on Cathay Pacific- another 4 hrs transit in HK- 10 hrs to Moscow on Aeroflot. It was a tiring journey especially since I could not sleep a wink. No entertainment on board Aeroflot. They used to clap when the Aeroflot lands successfully but this round, only a few did. Hope they keep the tradition. Kinda unusual but cute.
