Updated

I was going to delete this post, as I put up a new one, telling what I'm updating today, but I'll leave it because of Alissa's comment.

Sannikovo

Will and Ira went out to the village of Sannikovo yesterday, because one of the little girls called us to say that she and her mother are moving away, and she couldn't leave without saying goodbye. Will talked to the mother on the phone, and then they went and visited with her in her home. (The little girl was gone when they first got there, so they had to wait with just the mother.) This is a huge answer to prayer, because it is the first interaction with adults in the village! Unfortunately, she's moving away now.

Regular visits and lessons in Sannikovo will be starting up again in a few weeks.

September 15
Ira went out and did the first lesson of the year on Saturday. Will wasn't able to go with her then, but he will be from now on.

September 26
The regular lessons are going on every Saturday now, so please just pray for the children of Sannikovo whenever you think of them.

October 1
This weekend, instead of a Saturday lesson, we'll all be going out to Sannikovo tomorrow. We'll take part in a special tea for the elderly, and then we'll have time with the children after that.

October 8
The tea with the elderly residents of Sannikovo was somewhat sad, because they were more interested in the vodka that was available than in the songs and poems from our group. Still, it was good to be there, and we did have a wonderful time with the children afterwards.

(That's just a visual reminder to pray for the children.)


November 5
The kids didn't have a lesson today, because Ira missed the bus. Will got off again when he realized that she wasn't coming.

November 26
They're going to take a break with the lessons in Sannikovo. There are a few boys who are being so disruptive that the lessons can't go on. Pray that the director of the club will be willing to work with us and find a solution.

February 4
I forgot to mention that the last time Will was out in Sannikovo a woman came up to him with a question about the Bible. She had been reading and didn't know of anyone else to ask. Will was thrilled that someone (an adult!) in Sannikova is reading the Bible and that she would think of aproaching him.

Yulia

One of our friends from church has been away and not walking with the Lord. Yesterday she came to the Bible study. Please pray that she will come back into fellowship.

August 26
Yulia came with some others to visit us a few nights ago!

September 15
Praise the Lord that Yulia is officially back as a part of the church!

On the road again

The Korneichuks are traveling again, this time to visit Tanya's parents in southern Russia.

August 30
They got home early Saturday morning. Thank you for praying. Now they need prayer as they settle back in and get Alyona ready for school, which starts Thursday. Tanya was a little stressed, because she hasn't even had time to start on that.

Baptism

Tomorrow five people will be baptized and join the church here! Praise the Lord for that! Please pray for them, as they continue to grow in their faith. Also pray for good weather and a wonderful time of fellowship tomorrow.

August 21
It was a wonderful day! Thank you for your prayers. There are a few photos here.

Korneichuk's documents

Tanya asked us to pray, and I'll ask you to pray, too. Alyona is starting school this year. However, she needs to have one medical test from her physical done over again in order to have her medical card signed. It looks like she won't be able to start on the first day with everyone else, because of this. Please pray that the test could be done more quickly, or that they can find a doctor who would be willing to just sign the card, or that the Lord would solve this some other way. Thanks!

August 30
Praise! They were able to get the test done yesterday, and Alyona will be able to start school, even before they have the results back.

A plea for prayer from Will

Greetings from Russia,
the land of the frustrated and home of the bureaucrat!

Hmmm... that sounds a little put out, well, maybe we are, just a little. The Lord is working on our patience and flexibility, not to mention that He is keeping us in complete reliance upon Him!
It's a great experience to live as a foreigner. Makes you much more compassionate toward others in the same position, regardless of the country they happen to live in!

We still have not been able to register Raia's birth with the appropriate governmental office. There HAS been progress, praise God! We still need to 'fix' one document, and then we'll be able to register Raia here in Kovrov. However, that involves contacting a doctor in Moscow, meeting up with her, and going to a Notary with her.

We were waiting until we had a birth certificate and a passport for Raia to renew our own visas, since that usually involves leaving the country.
We were also waiting to register our own visas here as residents of Kovrov until we got our new visas (our old ones expire tomorrow). Our visa expert had told us that there wouldn't be any problems with us waiting like that, as long as we didn't try to leave the country... and as long as we could avoid the fines involved with not having one's documents in order!
Well, as one friend said, our 'time of Grace' ran out and we're under the Law again! That is to say we had an unexpected visit from a local police man, and were fined, warned to register as local residents asap, regardless of what state our visas were in. (The amount of the fine should be around $100, this time. A second offense is more.) However, to register as a resident, you of course have to have a current visa. Hmmm...

And so, we learn. The law is the law is the law, and that is right and good. Only at times, it seems that meeting the requirements of the law are almost impossible to meet... legally! Maybe it's the same in the States, but not to such a degree. The history of corruption here and lack of transparency in business and government affairs is going to take a loooong time to leave behind.

The bottom line of course, would be: PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR US!!!!

Specifically during the next month, and specifically that:

1-The Lord would give us both wisdom in making complicated choices.
2-I would be able to contact the doctor and meet with her tomorrow in Moscow.
3-We would then be able to register Raia's birth here in Kovrov.
4-I would be able to get our visa processing started tomorrow.
5-God would protect us from anyone in the Kovrov police dept. who would want to take advantage of the 'rich Americans.' (We are RIPE for the picking until we get new visas and registration as local residents.)

Thank you all, and I hope to have good results of God's provision to share before long, as a direct result of your prayers!

In the love of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Will =o)

August 13
Updates in the order that Will gave the prayer requests:
1-We have decided that we're just going to pay extra to have our visas processed right away, without us leaving the country.
2 and 3-He wasn't able to meet with any of the six doctors who we know approve of homebirths, so no progress on the birth certificate.
4-Will had no problems with getting the visa process started, so our visas should be ready in less than two weeks.
5-We found out that they have the right to check and fine us every three days until we register, but so far we have not had anything happen. The policeman who came to check us on Monday was quite nice, and said that he woldn't even turn the papers on us in until yesterday, so we are praising the Lord for that. Still, please keep praying.

August 21
So far, we have not had any more problems. We should have our new visas this week. Then we will need prayer as we try to register them here.

August 24
More frustration. Will went to register our visas this morning. According to the law, they have to be registered locally in three days. But, we can't register here! Please pray for us as we look for what to do now.

August 30
Will went to Moscow yesterday to work on registering our visas there. He had hoped to get it done quickly, and then come home the same day, but that didn't happen. He found out that he needed an address to register us, so he called one of the church leaders in Ivanovo for advice. Now he's in contact with the head of the Russian Baptist Union, who said he would find us a place to register in Moscow. PTL! Please just pray that Will can get everything worked out quickly in Moscow, so that he can take Dean around to visit the Gospelink missionaries (and come home to us! ).

September 1
Hurrah! Will came home last night. He was able to get everything worked out in Moscow, and we should be registered there in a little over a week. Today he'll go with our landlord to see what they can work out with the local police. Pray! Then he'll meet Dean and Co. in Vladimir and take them to Gus-Khrustanii for a few days.

September 3
They were able to meet with the police officer and make an agreement that we'll be left alone for a year, even though we can't get local registration. Praise the Lord for that! We might still have to pay the fine, but it might be less or possibly even canceled completely. It's such a relief to have this taken care of!

Gospelink

This is the end of a Gospelink quarter, so we're busy with getting sponsorship money out to the missionaries, translating their letters, and other details. On Wednesday Will will be going to Moscow to meet with the men in that region.

Also, Dean Kershner will be coming over soon on Gospelink business, so pray for his trip and preparations here and there for his visit.

August 13
Will had a good and safe trip to Moscow. Please continue to pray for Dean's trip and other details.

August 27
Dean's in Russia now. Will's busy with lots of details and phone calls.

September 15
The visits went very well. They were able to see almost all of the men who are sponsored by Gospelink and get some new applications. Keep praying for us as we work on translations.

November 5
Please just pray that we can get through the Gospelink work that we have. Right now we have work from two quarters overlapping.

November 8
I forgot to ask you to pray about this request, but now you can praise the Lord with us for the answer. The email at Gospelink's office in south Florida has been down since hurricane Wilma. It came back up yesterday, just in time. We were really needing to communicate! Please pray that it will keep working; it sounded like things were still a little shakey.

Visas

Another prayer request that I forgot to mention on Saturday is about our visas. Even if we get Raia's birth certificate tomorrow without any more problems, by the time we get her passport, our visas will have expired. Please pray that no one will check our visa during the overlap time between when they expire and when we can renew them. (But don't worry, moms, if they do check, we wouldn't be thrown in jail or anything. It would just be a fine.)

You can start praying now that the visa process will go smoothly, when we get around to that, too.

August 9 (and 13)
See Will's prayer update above for the latest.

August 21
We should be getting new visas next week. Then all we'll have to do is register them locally.

August 27
I frgot to say that the latest on our visas is in A plea for prayer from Will.