Bintan and Beyond

It's more than a month after the wedding, and we are now catching up with communications. Lots of travel, 2 weddings and lots of getting ready for our trip back to Russia have kept us busy over the past month.
Some of the highlights in among the errands include:
1. Honeymoon in Bintan - Our best holiday yet!!! Tropical Island, lots of wildlife and HOT!!! Comforted by a swimming pool.



2. Our Aussie wedding celebration - Another great time of celebration with friends and family, thanks to all of you who helped put this together - most of all Mum and Dad who helped out so much.




3. Day on the green, My brother Mike gave us tickets to a concert down the coast to one of our favorite artists. It was HOT!!! No Pool!!! The report said 46 degrees C in the crowd, Sonja was sweating like a fountain. It has started off quite hot so far for our stay in Oz, but now seems to be cooling a bit. Sonja is pleased to say the least.

First pics from the day...

Ok, so we are still at the hotel in Seattle (A beautiful room with a view over Elliot Bay and the Olympic Peninsula that is covered in snow) but we do have some initial pics from the day for all of you eager to see us at our best.
The day was just perfect, low stress, and Sonja and I had a real peace right the way through the day. Our advice to those who follow - "Keep it Simple!!!"
Anyway here are some pics I'm sure there will be heaps to come. You can find more at my flickr page - just click on one of the photos.



The Cake(s) and more fun!!!

The Big Day

Well it is finally here, the big day, we had the rehersal yesterday and every seemed to go well.
With only 4 hours to go, all things are in order. We want to send out a very big Thanks to all who have been praying, helping and supporting us through this big event. We are so grateful for all of your help in this time, I've had a bad back this week that is still recovering, but we are just amazed at the fact we are finally here!!! Stay tuned for Photos and exciting stories of our adventures.
- Cam (and Sonja)

Bucks party Яussian style

Ok, so we are 10 days out from the wedding and I still have 4 countries to stop in before I get to the wedding. I should be there by Sunday. Its been a hectic past 6 weeks, trying to finish up all my roles here in St Pete, but I have finally finished work (yesterday), Packed up our house (last weekend) and even found time for a bucks party in between.
So what does an Aussie in St Pete do for a Bucks Party?
Eat lots of meat - We went out to a restaurant called Sphinx for dinner where John and I split the pharaohs feast - a 1.1kg plates of ribs, burger, steak and of course Shashlick.
This was followed by the traditional Russian banya - a group of guys getting naked and beating each other with birch branches in a steam room.
This is slightly more enjoyable than it sounds to most of you, anyway as I finish up here in St Pete, Sonja is working hard to get things ready in Seattle. Please be praying for us as we travel and workout this thing called marriage. we've been working on both marriage prep and wedding prep for months, but lately - particularly because of the distance - it seems like its all wedding. I'm sure we'll get to the end of this soon, only 10 more days to go.

28 days to go until the big day!!!

Firstly we'll take this opportunity to wish all our friends a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

As for an update on the lives of Cam and Sonja, Sonja left for the States on wednesday after 3 very fruitful months here in Russia, learning the language and taking on her new position in our office. The Lord has been so faithful to us in this time and a true testimony to our call to this city.

For those wondering about our schedule leading up to and surrounding the wedding, I will be in Russia until the second week of January, then fly via Singapore to Seattle for the wedding on the 20th. We will be in Seattle with Sonja's family for 2 weeks, then fly via Asia to Australia where we will be for my 3 month furlough through until April when we will pack up our bags again and head back to Russia.

We hope to catch up with many of you during this trip, so drop us a line if you'd like to catch up.

Once again many thanks for your support and prayers during the year, we couldn't do it with out you.

Blessings, Cam and Sonja

Big News and the Newsboys!

Cam got home from North Carolina last weekend and we went straight to a Newsboys concert here in St. Petersburg. The Newsboys were playing with 6 other Russian bands in a Christian Rock Festival here in the city. The venue that they played at was rather small, seated about 1000 people, but it was great to see them up close. I've only seen them before with about 10,000 other people. Cam has a loose connection with one of the members of Newsboys, named Paul Colman. Cam knows Paul's dad from church back home, and he's actually going to officiate our second wedding ceremony in February. So when Paul came out on stage to fix his microphone we called him over and started talking to him. He was amazed that there were Australians and Americans at the concert. After the concert we got pictures taken with the band and autographs. When we were leaving we saw the band standing at the front doors waiting for their bus and we stayed there and talked to them for another 45 minutes. It was so much fun!

It's 8 weeks to our wedding! We're trying to get a lot of details organized while we're over here. I'm traveling back to the states in 4 weeks. Crazy times!!

Cam and me with Paul Colman from the Newsboys

with Peter Furler (lead singer for the Newsboys)

Check out more pics on flickr.com/photos/camgibbons

November Update

It's been 5 months since we’ve given a blog update, but we’re still here. I (Cam) am writing this from Waxhaw, NC while Sonja is back working with SIL in Russia. Yes, since we last wrote lots of great things have happened. Sonja over the Northern Hemisphere Summer Returned to the States and joined SIL and then returned to St Petersburg in September to begin working in our office, supporting the Admin Team.
She is currently learning her position and also learning Russian to help her live in Russia. As for myself I have been busy with conferences traveling Europe for a month over summer and I am now in the US for 3 weeks of international meetings and workshops. Busy Busy Busy!!!

As for the wedding plans nearly everything is in place. With less than 3 months to the big day, the venue is booked, date has been set, Invites on their way and our tickets are purchased for or whirlwind world tour. The Australian party is currently in the works so stay tuned for more details.