jollyswan's Xanga

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:21:29 GMT

the last word here

Hi folks,

My time for blogging is less and less these days, mostly by choice and somewhat by schedule, and I've decided that since I don't have tons of time I'm only going to maintain my other blog: http://swanson.covblogs.com. So update your bookmarks or links or rss subscriptions or whatever, because you won't see me much over here in xanga-land. I'll probably hang on to my account to post comments on friends blogs, but you won't see new stuff up here. - Jolly

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:16:34 GMT

a brother in Ukraine

Hi folks,

One of the Ukrainian guys I roomed with while in Ukraine, Yaroslav Ageenko, works full time with Campus Crusade doing university ministry in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yarik is about my age, and has a heart to serve the Lord and the diligence to do it. He organized the summer project at which I served as an English teacher.

He is seeking $400 in monthly support, and I'm asking if you would consider supporting him, or at least give a one-time gift. I've put his support letter, which includes student testimonies about his work, on my website in JPG (http://kepler.covenant.edu/~swanson/YarikSupport.jpg) or PDF (http://kepler.covenant.edu/~swanson/YarikSupport.pdf) formats.

His Campus Crusade account number is 2775210. To give, go to https://give.ccci.org/ and put Yarik's account number in the "Enter a Quick Link Code" box.

Ukraine just had presidential and parliamentary election today, and the results are uncertain as to which parties will form a coalition to form a government. In a country divided like Ukraine, there is only one message that crosses the political and language (Ukrainian in the west, Russian in the east) divisions: the gospel of Jesus, who crossed the great divide between God and a rebellious humanity.

Pray that the gospel of God's grace in Jesus will advance in Ukraine. Pray that Yarik receives the support that he need, and if you are able, please give to help this brother.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:32:23 GMT

reality czech

Thursday night I went to see The Plastic People of the Universe give a show at the Barking Legs Theatre in Chattanooga. It was really fun music, and I enjoyed the rare opportunity to hear this historic band live. A few of the musicians are original members, rockin' with their long hair, beards, and in the case of the sax/clarinet player a few bottles of Heineken, and the other musicians are younger folks filling in the gaps left empty by former band members who've died or aren't playing anymore.

According to Wikipedia, "The Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) is a rock band from Prague, Czech Republic. It was the foremost representative of Prague's underground culture (1968-1989). This avant-garde group went against the grain of the Communist regime and due to its non-conformism often suffered serious problems such as arrests." Their manager was an art historian and cultural critic.

I took a few pictures, and they're online here: http://kepler.covenant.edu/~swanson/pics/PPU/

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:18:32 GMT

I've finally managed to find some software and put a few more Ukraine pictures online at the address below:

http://kepler.covenant.edu/~swanson/pics/ua/

I don't have a mechanism for folks to leave comments on individual pictures yet - perhaps I'll figure that out at some point.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:07:45 GMT

3012 words

the flag of Ukraine

God made it all!

highest land in Ukraine

... and a few more words

(Our church missions conference is this weekend - I came back and haven't had much time to stop, but hope to write up a letter and put pictures online next week. Thanks for praying for my time in Ukraine--it was exciting to see God answering your prayers!)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:15:34 GMT

drink kvas

Last night I tried my first glass of kvas (квас), a fermented drink made from black or rye breads, popular in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and other slavic countries. Mine was non-alchoholic, and I liked it, but am looking forward to trying it from a street vendor in his barrel of kvas.

I also just picked up a Ukrainian phrasebook from Rock Point Books, a relatively new bookseller in downtown Chattanooga, right across from Lupi's and Greyfriar's. I've been working on learning the Ukrainian alphabet, and am hoping in the next three weeks or so to learn a few basic phrases.

Drinking kvas, speaking a few choice Ukranian words: cultural aquisition at a 5409 mile (8704 km) distance!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:10:50 GMT

please pray for me...

... while I'm in Ukraine the end of next month, teaching English with Campus Crusade. Here is my prayer letter.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:32:50 GMT

the action was in st. louis this past weekend

http://swanson.kepler.covenant.edu/babynathaniel/

When my aunt Becky saw those pictures she wanted to see me holding Nathaniel, because she thought Aaron looks a bit aprehensive or unsure about holding a newborn. Hopefully my experience holding my friends' babies (Adia and Lyle) came in handy here...

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Sun, 20 May 2007 02:58:20 GMT

what my brother said

"50 pounds of strawberries will make about 50 jars of strawberry jam, 4 pies, as many strawberries as anybody wants to top vanilla ice cream, and snitching fresh strawberries for about 11 people." - Erik

I feel very full, and very satisfied. God is good, all the time.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Sat, 19 May 2007 03:47:34 GMT

braggin' about my kin-folk

So, Aaron and I arrived in St. Louis late last night and found that our sister-in-law Joy received the 2007 Outstanding Graduate Student award from the Missouri Speach-Language-Hearing Association. You tell 'em, Joy!

The next bit of news we found out was that our brother Erik graduated from Covenant Semenary suma cum laud! Party people!

Join me in celebrating the academic gifts the Lord has so graciously given to Erik & Joy.

Perhaps the really important news about today was that Erik prepared for his graduation by taking us all out to pick strawberries, and between the seven of us we picked about 50 pounds of strawberries. Pie, anybody?