It's That Time Again!

Please pray for us as we prepare to go to Ukraine again for new visas. We are scheduled to leave Wed. night, May 27th, as our current visas expire the 28th. We are still waiting for our letter of invitation for the new visa.  If we have it before we leave Moscow, we should only have to be gone for a couple of weeks.  We will turn our documents in at the Kiev Embassy and then travel further south again to visit friends in Dneprorudnoe, as we did last summer.  We are grateful for their hospitality during our waiting time.  Please join us in praying the process will be quick, but also that the Lord's will be done...we are hoping this is His will, but will trust Him and His perfect timing!  We are excited to see our friends again and look forward to helping them with some projects!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!...Part 2

Christ is Risen!!

A very happy and belated Easter! In Russia, we celebrated the Lord Jesus'death and resurrection a week after the American date of celebration. We praise God for the love, mercy, and grace He has abundantly poured into our lives. We are so grateful for how He continues to use each of you through prayer, encouragement, and giving, which enable us to continue the work here.

Please forgive the lack of correspondence on our part. We had computer problems again and were without easy (at home) access for quite some time. Praise the Lord, we were able to get it fixed with some help from the world's greatest service center... dear friends who were able to walk us through replacing our hard drive, do-it-yourself style- at home! The Lord is gracious in meeting all our needs, no matter what area of our life they appear!

The snow is gone and new life is springing forth. The trees are budding, grass is growing, and the flowers give evidence of life as they push themselves up through the previously frozen soil. It all reminds us of Jesus, His life, death, and glorious resurrection. Let us never forget nor take for granted the price He paid to redeem and save us out of the bondage of our sin. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Over the past few months, we have been encouraged by a handful of guys who continue to spend weekends and attend church with us. There are others that often meet us there. It is encouraging to see that the Lord is alive and working in their lives. Speaking of encouragement, Egor L., after several weeks of local competition, was selected as one of the top English students in all of Moscow. Several weeks ago, he traveled to Smolensk, another city in Russia, to participate in a week long competition with other students from around the country. To think where he was ten years ago and to see him now, can be explained in no other way than a true walking miracle of God. We pray the Lord will continue to use him as a living testimony of His grace, mercy, and power.

While some of the students are doing well, others are struggling. A few have been convicted and recognize the error of their way. Their lives are miserable and they have no peace or joy. They have expressed a desire to return to walking with the Lord, but are unwilling to humble themselves, pray and seek His face, nor turn from them wicked ways. Those are the lost sheep, the ones God has brought back into our lives over the past few months. Please pray for wisdom, discernment, and yieldedness to Christ's leading to meet these young adults in their time of great spiritual need. "Where sin abounded, God's grace abounded much more. (Romans 5:20)

Please continue to pray for Egor G. as he continues to live in a very difficult situation with his mother. Much effort has taken place on his behalf, to free him from the bondage, but to no avail. It will take a mighty move of God's hand to rectify the situation. We are praying for Egor's safety and for his mother's salvation. It has been over 4 weeks since he has been with us and his mother has told him he is not allowed to see us anymore. We are thankful for the time God has allowed us with him and trust that the Truth that is hidden in his heart will keep him from falling into patterns of great sin. (Psalm 119:11)

A few more smiles~

                           

Slow connections...more pictures as we can get them to you!

WEEKEND ADVENTURES~

                                                                                                                        

                

1 Corinthians 16:13-14  Watch, stand fast in the faith, 

be brave, be strong. 

 Let all that you do be done with love.

This past weekend Andrei, myself, and 10 others (which included 8 young adults from various local churches) visited an orphanage about 5 hours outside of Moscow in Bezhetsk.  It was truly an outstanding trip.  It was so good to see the children again and they were excited to to have us back.  It was such an encouragement to see the youth from different churches plan and implement games, activities, and skits that teach God's Word.  Andrei was able to step right in and become part of the team.  His understanding of God's Word, ability to communicate with the leaders, and interact with the children made him an asset to the group.  With all the games, activities, and even teaching, the thing they responded to the most was the love of Jesus shown to them through each of us.  God opened the door for me to share with the older children from the Bible about David and his faith. It was through that faith and relationship with God that he was able to do the impossible when he slew Goliath. I conveyed to them that the same God wants to do the impossible for each one of them. 

The next night they were able to hear about, see, and touch a living miracle-one they could all relate to.  As I shared how God miraculously brought Andrei and our family together, they listened intently as I compared Andrei's situation to theirs.  Even with their personal situation of living in an orphanage, God's love for them is great and He is providing for all of their physical and spiritual needs.  In the end, many came to the front of the room to show their outward desire to have that same kind of relationship that David had with God.  Please join us in praying for these children, especially the older ones.  We praise the Lord for blessing, encouraging, and using us to touch these children with His love.  

While we were enjoying our time in Bezhetsk, Roz stayed behind to spend some time with three of our guys, Misha H., Misha N., and Egor G.  They also had a great time together in spite of a couple of them fighting colds.  They worked on some projects, played some games, went for a couple of long walks in the beautiful snow fall, and simply were blessed to be able to spend time together.  We praise God for the continual opportunities to share the love of Christ with some of the ones that used to live with us.  The boys left with grateful hearts, asking what our plans are for next weekend!  Praise the Lord!  

Please join us in praying for this coming weekend as we travel to Plavsk and the orphanages in that area.  Pray the Lord will open the doors for us to be able to get in to see the children and we would redeem the time for Him.  May we be ministers of His grace as we go in Jesus' name.

Praise the Lord, Sarah received her passport and exit visa without any problems. Thanks to Skymiles, she was able to inexpensively fly to the US for her new visa.  This saved the expense of one of us having to go with her had she gone to another country.  God's hand clearly directed the planning process and allowed her to meet up with John-David this past weekend for a BIG surprise visit to Roz's Dad in South Carolina!  On their way back from there, they were able to drop in and visit their dear Aunt Sarah and one of Roz's cousins. Thankfully, today Sarah received her letter of invitation for her new visa. She has mailed it in and is now waiting for it to be processed.  During this waiting time, she is able to be with some dear friends and their young children to encourage them while she, too, is encouraged! Please join us in praying for her visa and that all will go according to the Lord's perfect will.

Snowy February Greetings!

Praise God that we are pretty much settled in our 'new' home! We are about 8km beyond Zelenograd in a small area called Bearcenevka. The Russian name for our type house is a 'dacha' and the English translation, more or less, is 'summer house'.  Most are wooden, drafty, and lacking running water inside.  The Lord provided us with a 15 year old brick, well heated home with both hot and cold running water! Well, the water is a bit orange and rusty, but we have been able to install a couple of filters to minimize that problem.  Our skin and hair have a nice orange hue to them...

  
                                                                                

                                           

     

                                               

                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                             

 Since our return in January, we have enjoyed spending time with many of the students that lived with us over the past 10 years. Every weekend,  even starting with our second day back, we have had up to seven of the kids with us.  The big blessing is that even though we live so far outside Moscow, they all want to come visit. 

                                                                      

 Egor G. has been with us every weekend, while some will come Saturday night and then go to church with us on Sunday. We have been so blessed to have Galya, Vera, Nastya, Leanna, Arseni, Egor L., Misha H., Misha N., Serozha, Sasha R., and Kostya as our frequent guests. We are grateful for the home the Lord has provided that can truly be a refuge and place of ministry to these young people.

One of the guys, Misha, is one of 'our' guys from the past. He had a reputation for being a rebel and uninterested in the things of the Lord.  He called us 'out of the blue' a couple of weeks ago and expressed a great desire to come see us.  He met us at church and said he was really grateful to have been there.  Though many of the other students came home with us that day after church, Misha was Tom's shadow, talking about his need and longing to get his life right with the Lord.  We praise God for Misha and what He is doing in his life.  Please pray for his protection and for him to truly repent and put his life in the Lord's hands.  We praise the Lord for the many different people that have invested their time, energy, love, and prayers in Misha's life over the years.  He has so many vivid memories of God's Word and Truths that he learned through the Lord's servants.  He told us that when he was at the Training Center, he always thought that to be the worst time of his life.  "Now, I know those were the best years of my life."  Praise the Lord that His Word will not return void but will accomplish that which it is set out to do.  

Many of you have met Egor G. during his visits with us to the US.  We have had him on our prayer list since our return due to the worsening conditions at home.  Due to his mother's continued neglect, the government is stepping in and will most likely be removing Egor from her custody.  Please pray for Egor and us as we work through this challenging situation with him and the Russian authorities.  Please pray for the Lord's will to be done with his young and tender life.  As we have shared before, he has many emotional needs due to his mother's neglect and verbal abuse.  

As you know also from our recent prayer requests, Sarah had her passport with visa and other documents stolen about a week or two after our return.  Praise God she now has a new passport but has to get another letter of invitation and an exit visa to leave the country for about 3 weeks to apply and Lord willing, obtain a new visa.  Please pray for  her as she will be leaving the first week of March.

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit an English class where their teacher is a friend of ours from one of the churches we visit.  Praise the Lord we were permitted and even encouraged to open and close in prayer and openly speak to the students about God.  We were invited to come on a regular basis to interact with them and even help teach.  Please pray for discernment as we plan our days.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    This past Sunday, our family with 9 young adults from Golgotha Church, visited the orphanage that is very close to where we live. The young people, including Andrei, spent some quality time with the children while Roz, Sarah, and I were able to meet with the director.  She appears to be open to us to return as often as we can.  Please pray that God will keep that door open and will direct our path as we 'trust in Him with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding'.                                                                                                                                                                           

We have also gotten involved again with our Thursday evening Bible study group that is held in the southern part of Moscow at Resurrection Church.  I am doing a one-on-one Bible study with an American brother earlier on Thursday afternoons and then Roz and I travel down south to Resurrection Church for that time of fellowship and study.  It is an encouragement to see the commitment in these brothers and sisters in Christ as we gather weekly to study God's Word and seek to implement it in our lives.  

On Sunday afternoons, Golgotha Church has begun an English Bible study group for those who would like to study English.  We have been approached to be involved in that and are prayerfully seeking our place there.  Andrei continues to enjoy singing bass in the Sunday morning choir and we are grateful he is able to participate and praise the Lord through song.

                                                                  

John-David is still in the US living and working in the Charlotte, NC  area.  God has so richly blessed him with a family that has given him a home to rent as he tries to get established, two church bodies who are reaching out to him with solid spiritual truths, a car from a brother in our church in Pineville, and a job when times are so economically tough.  He still has his heart set on joining Life Action Revival Ministries at some time in the future.  We trust the Lord to reveal the right time for that.  Please continue to pray for God's clear direction and protection for him. 

In closing, we covet your prayers for our future here in Moscow. The business license under which our work visas come, is up for renewal. There are several requirements to be met in order for us to be approved. Our desire is to stay and continue to work with the many young people God has placed in our path over the years. Our commitment is to stay in the center of God's will, wherever that may be and whatever that may mean. We've said it often, but it is so very true...There is no better place to be than in the center of God's will...unless you are in His presence.

Thank you for your continual faithfulness in praying for us and for financially enabling us to be here serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is with grateful hearts that we praise the Lord for each of you.