Seryozha

Please be praying especially for Sergei in the next few days. He's "our" orphan who graduated a few years ago from the orphanage here. He's going to visit some relatives near Moscow to see in the New Year. We just said goodbye to him, and he promised he wouldn't drink; pray that he'll be able to stick to that and stay out of fights and other trouble! Pray for God to protect him and keep him strong.

January 12
He did make it back safely, but we don't know any more details than that. We've only had a quick phone call from him so far.

Our roof

It has started leaking again in a few places (not so many as before, though). Could you please pray for the leaks to stop? Will says to pray for really cold weather, but I'd rather just have a miraculous cure. :-)

January 12
The roof was better for a while, even with the warm, wet winter that we've had. Thank you, Lord! Now it's back to leaking again. There's a building meeting coming up on Sunday. Please pray that they'll decide to fix the roof.

This week

I updated Maksim (just added a photo), Visas, Gospelink, travel, etc, Raia's teeth, and Sunday school this week.

Visas, Gospelink, travel, etc

I hardly knew what to title this prayer request. I listed things, instead of just calling "The Mess." Our visas were way overdue, but we haven't had any problems, and we weren't in a hurry with them. Then, Will went to the bank on Monday to withdraw the Gospelink money, and they wouldn't let him without his passport. His passport is in Moscow, getting a new visa. He had already promised some of the Gospelink men their support. Now he has to wait until he has his passport, and he's going to have to make more trips to Moscow. We had hoped to only have two: one to pick up passports, do all the
registration work, and meet with the Gospelink men; another to go back for the registered passports. Instead, Will's going to have to go pick up his passport, come home and get money, then go back and distribute money and start registering, then go back a third time to get the registered passports. We hoping that they'll call today and say our visas are ready. Then Will would be able to make the first trip tomorrow.

Are you confused yet? Here are some concise prayer requests:
1. that our visas would be ready today (or soon!).
2. that Will would have good trips back and forth.
3. that the wait wouldn't cause any problems for the Gospelink missionaries.
4. that all would go smoothly in general.

Thanks for praying!

November 21
They have “almost promised” that our visas will be ready on Thursday, so Will bought train tickets to go to Moscow then. Friday is the bi-regional missionary meeting, so he needs to have the money by then. Pray that he’ll be able to get it Friday morning and then make it to Vladimir before the meeting is over.

November 27
Thank you for praying! Thursday and Friday went smoothly. Tomorrow Will is going to Moscow to meet with the men from that region and start registering our visas, so please keep praying.

Raia's teeth

Once again, Raia's teeth are giving us trouble. She usually such an easy baby, we hardly know what to do when she's fussy and sleeps badly! Right now she's working on all four first molars.

November 27
Believe it or not, she's still working on those teeth! She holds her cheeks and says "pain," just like I remember Jaan doing. Poor baby!

Maksim

As you know, our partners here had a little boy born to them in June. He was early and little, but he did well and caught up to average size very quickly. Now, for the past month he has been eating less and less. He's the same happy little boy as always; just not interested in food. He doesn't seem to be loosing weight, but he's not gaining, either. Tanya is "panicking" (her own words). Please pray that Maks will start eating more again and that Tanya will be able to be calm. They'll be going to see a doctor on Tuesday.

November 11
They decided not to go to the doctor. Maksim is starting to eat better again! More than that, Tanya is calm. What an answer to prayer!

November 26


Doesn't he look like he's ready to eat?

Please Pray Pertaining Phyllis

Please pray with us:
Phyllis experienced some strange, migraine type symptoms today, which is extremely unusual for her. Something similar happened 2-3 months ago, and while a one time strange episode is unsettling, a recurrence leads us to think we should see a doctor.

That itself is a separate challenge for us. We don't have a regular doctor, so more than likely we'll visit a clinic when I go into Moscow next week. We have asked for recommendations of clinics or doctors from friends who live in Moscow. Moscow (western style) clinics are quite expensive. We will pay all expenses out-of-pocket, and will be reimbursed later. We also will be paying for new visas at this time, our biggest expense of the year, and will have separate registration expenses as well.

Please pray for peace for Phyllis and I, for complete reliance on God's provision of a good doctor, and for His provision for our financial needs.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Will =o)

November 3
This is Phyllis writing now. I just wanted you to know that I have doctor appointments in Moscow on Tuesday.

November 17
Thank you for praying. You can read about my doctor's appointment, if you go to our blog or click here. I could definitely tell that people were praying for me! Also, I just want to be sure that you all know migraines are VERY rare for me. They are NOT something that I'm struggling with on a daily basis. Please praise the Lord for that.

Our neighbor

Please pray for our neighbor Natalya (the English teacher on the second floor, for those of you who know). She has had to take a year off from work to take care of her sick mother. I saw her a few days ago, and she said that her mother was dying. They had called the priest to do the last prayers with her. Please pray for Natalya and her whole family during this hard time.

November 17
I've seen Natalya a few times, but didn't get to talk to her until today. Her mother did die, and Natalya has had a hard time with that. (Of course!) She's doing a little better now, but her husband is in the hospital with heart trouble. Please keep praying.

Will's travels

As I said, Will is going to Karabanovo on Thursday. From there he'll go to Moscow on Friday to work on our documents, and from Moscow to Ivanovo for a seminar on Saturday. Please pray for Will as he travels and for us as we're home without him.

October 21
Everything is going well, but we're looking forward to having Will home tonight, and he's looking forward to being back with us.

Karabanovo

On Thursday many of the missionaries around here (including Will) will be going to Karabanovo for a work day. The church there was given a building, but it needs lots of renovation. For now the men are just going to get the roof into good enough shape to last through the winter. Please pray for safe travel for everyone and that they would be able to do all that needs to be done in one day.

October 18
Will is going to ride with Ivan. Ivan just called and said that he wants to leave tonight, instead of terribly early tomorrow morning. He also said that he sprained his ankle, so please be praying specifically for him ("One Foot") and Will ("One Hand") as they work tomorrow.

October 21
All went well. They worked really hard! Thank you for praying.

October 23
Will's going back on Wednesday to help finish up. The group of workers will be much smaller this time.

October 26
Yesterday was canceled. Will only found out once he had already arrived in Vladimir. He came home, and we were happy to have a free day with him, though. Please pray that they'll be able to finish this project up soon, though. . . maybe Saturday.

Will's finger

This morning when Will was getting our windows ready for the winter, he broke a piece of glass and cut his finger really badly. He'll be okay, but he needs to lead music tonight and tomorrow at the orphanage, and he probably won't be able to play his guitar.

October 21
It looks like it's starting to heal! Will still doesn't know when he'll be able to play guitar. The kids at the orphanage tried to convince him that he could just turn the guitar around and switch hands.

October 29
Thank you for your prayers! It's definitely healing. There's no infection, and Will can already play his guitar. . . gently.

Church meeting place

Our church has been meeting on the top floor of a shopping mall for over a year now. A new big store is opening there, and they want us to move. The director of the mall has been very nice and helpful in finding a new place and giving us time. He's offering to actually sell space in another building to the church.

Please pray for everything to work out, for Pavel to have wisdom in making decisions, and for the price to be affordable. (We should find out the price soon, and we expect it to be low, because the building is in terrible condition now.) Praise the Lord for such a friendly building director!

October 29
We have to be out by Tuesday, and there's still no progress on finding a new place. Please pray! The men are starting to pack and distribute things for storage. We'll probably be meeting in apartments for a little while.

November 4
There hasn't been any progress on a permanent solution, but Will (with Pavel and Jaan) has spent the whole week working on getting Olga Grigorevna's old apartment cleared out to meet there. It's way too small, and the neighbors might not be pleased, but that will work for right now.

November 17
The apartment is working, but please pray for something better!

Sunday school

Yesterday was the second week of Sunday school. Both times four girls from the neighborhood and orphanage have come. They're really enjoying it. Please pray that they'll bring their friends.

One of the girls is Nastya. Yesterday Will found out that she's actually from Orphanage No. 1 (not the one where we have Bible lessons.) He noticed that she has a terrible case of lice. If we can catch her around here, while she's visiting her mother, we'll probably try to treat them. Pray that she'll come by and that we'll be able to reach out to her in that way.

And please be sure to pray for Ulyana and Nadya, who are leading the Sunday school ministry.

October 4
The Sunday school group is slowly growing. Nastya's head seems better.

October 29
This will be the last week of Sunday school until a new place to meet is found.

November 27
Actually, the girls parents are letting them come to the apartment, and Sunday school continues! PTL!

Orphanage

Bible lessons start up again tonight. They'll probably be on Monday and Tuesday evenings. (The schedule isn't set in stone yet.) We'll be working with at least one new 4th grade class this year, as well as children from last year.

October 11
The schedule is set now:
Monday evening - one 4th grade and one 7th grade class
Tuesday evening - different 7th and different 4th grade
Now we just need to figure out our family schedule of visiting. Will has to be there for every lesson. We tried to go to both lessons in one evening all together, and our children couldn't make it through. But if we only go for first lessons, it's not quite fair to the second classes. . . .

We're very sad that the 8th graders decided that they would rather have their nightly disco than a Bible lesson. These are the kids that we have worked with for the longest. (Some of them have been to camp: the red-haired Sasha, Nadya, Babushka Bonnie's little Olga and others.) Still, they are very eager to be with us: the boys constantly beg Will to play football and the girls hang all over Yulia, Ira and us. Please keep praying for this group!

October 21
Well, maybe it's not set yet. There is talk of combining the seventh grade classes and taking on a new younger group. Please pray for wisdom for Ira as she works out the changes and that none of the teachers will be offended if she can't work with their kids.

Gospelink

Please pray that Will would be able to finish up the work for this quarter as soon as possible. It seems like there are a lot of loose ends to tie up this time.

November 17
It's finally DONE. Praise the Lord! (But we're already in the midst of the next quarter's work.)

Kostya's visa

Kostya Petrash (the oldest son of Ivan, the camp director here) has a chance to visit an American family and study English. He's turning his visa application in now. Please pray that he'll get the visa!

September 11
Kostya's visa interview will be Tuesday, September 19.

September 20
They denied him a visa. Now pray for wisdom in what to do next.

October 6
He should be reapplying soon.

November 4
Kostya was denied a second time. He's not going to try again.

City Day

On September 2 the city of Kovrov will celebrate its birthday. Our church is going to take part in the festivities by setting up an informational exhibit, singing, and talking to people who are interested. Please pray for Will as he works on getting the exhibit made, for everyone else who is preparing, and for the people who we will be coming in contact with through this.

September 1
I forgot to say to pray specifically for good weather. We've been having rain, rain, and more rain. Pray that tomorrow will be clear!

September 18
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get back here and update this. We had a wonderful City Day! The weather was beautiful, and people were very interested in talking. The exhibit turned out beautifully.

We're back online!

I know I haven't written for a long time. Now I should be able to update again.

Baby Vika's surgery

I haven't been updating here, but we have a chance to use the Beaird's computer, so here's one urgent prayer request:
Baby Vika will be having surgery on Monday.

September 4
As you probably saw on our blog, Vika made it through surgery. Please keep praying for her and her family.

No new news

While we're without our good computer, I won't be updating here. Please continue to pray for us and for our computer to be fixed. You can check our blog for updates and new prayer requests.

Computer

Our computer is completely dead. Praise the Lord that I've been able to get our old one up to where we can limp along. (I"m still not sure about email, but I should get that figured out before too long.) We're planning to send the computer to Dad and see if he can get the information off of it. Please pray very specifically for our photos! I can't stand the thought of losing them. Also, this is a really hard time to be without our address book and phone numbers.

September 5
We lost bunches of photos. But we have a brand new computer now! And I had backed up our address book; it's very nice to have that again.

Visa registration

Ivan (the camp director) just called to say that they're having some problems with the visas that he registered in Vladimir. So far, none of the Americans are in trouble, but the hotel where they registered is being investigated for not registering their visas correctly. Also, Ivan is worried that they'll be checking us (Will and me) out next, because they were interested in who registered Abby here. Please pray!

June 21
Anna said that they spent five hours at the passport office yesterday, and it doesn't sound like they made any progress. They were threatened with deportation, but she said, "we won't know about that until next week." They're hopeful, though, because one of the ladies was very nice to them. You can also be praying for the two Moldavian girls who are in the same situation with Anna and Abby.

June 25
No update, but I do have a correction. Abby's visa is fine. It's Anna, the other Americans, and the two Moldavians who are having trouble.

Anna

Anna (Will's sister who is helping in the Vladimir church camp right now) sent us a message saying that she has a sinus infection.

June 25
She's doing much better. Thank you for praying!

Busyness

Please pray for us as we head into the busy summer time! I posted an outline of our schedule here.

Dad

Please be praying for my father.

Camp!

Plans are in the works to have one of the day camps in Kovrov! Please pray for Will and Pavel as they work on details like where to have it and for Yulia and Ira as they prepare lessons.

Please continue to pray for the overall camp plans, too. Ivan is very busy. The Ukrainian helpers are coming soon, the local workers are getting ready, and the small American team will be traveling before too long.

June 12
Camps start today in Teikovo and Shuya. The traveling teams are getting ready to go. As Ivan said, the important part right now is getting the system running, so please pray for everything to go smoothly from the start.

Pray for Ivan as he's driving around and coordinating. He brought us home at 12:30 last night, and we were just the first stop on his route.

Also, please pray about the idea of having a camp here. Yulia and Ira would have been heading it up, but Yulia's time off from work just changed, so now plans are up in the air.

June 26
Will, Anna, and Abby are at a camp in Sudogda. There's a three-day session starting today, and then another one after that. Please pray for the weather! (They're camping in tents.)

There is also a camp this week in Karabanovo. I think Linda and Elizabeth are there?

Camp here has been canceled.

Our visas

Our visas don't expire until August, but we're already looking into options. Please pray that we'll find a way to get visas that we can register here.

September 18
Please keep praying about our visas. Our situation is just getting more and more complicated. It does look like there will be new, good laws coming into effect in January, so please pray about that!

Easter program

Tomorrow Will, Ira and Yulia are putting on the Easter program for the orphanage. Please pray that they'll remember their lines in the play that they're performing and that the children will understand.

May 4
Ack! I just found out that I'm going to have to take a minor part in the play tonight. We also seem to have a very minor stomach virus going around in our family. Please keep praying.

May 5
All went well, and our stomachs are calm today. Thank you for your prayers!

Visas

Please be praying for visas for Anna, Abby, Linda, Kelley, and anyone else who will be coming over this summer. They're already in process, and we need to pray that there won't be any hang-ups. You can pray for camp preparation in general, too.

May 6
Praise! Anna's invitation came through yesterday. That's one step. . . .

May 18
Abby has her final visa, and Linda got her invitation.

May 26
Linda's application came back in the mail, so she had to resend it. And Elizabeth just got started with applying!

June 12
Everyone is here, so obviously they got what they needed. Thank you for praying! Now you can pray that there won't be any visa checks, or if there are, that there won't any problems.

Gospelink 1st quarter

Now we're in the midst of the work for the quarter that just ended.
We've asked our neighbor (Natasha, Olga's daughter) to help us with
some of the translations, so please pray for her and the time that
we're getting to spend with her now.

June 21:

(That's the finished list!)

Raia's teeth

Raia is having a miserable time of teething. Please pray for these teeth to come through and stop bothering her! She's still sleeping at night, but it seems like she cries all day long.

Baby praise

Tanya had a private sonogram done, and they gave her some dire diagnosis. She was very worried, but didn't really want to tell her own doctor and go through the mess that would have caused. Tonight she was able to get in touch with Lyuba, the midwife in Moscow who delivered Jaan. Lyuba calmed all our fears and explained that there
was absolutely nothing to worry about or get the doctors here upset about. Praise the Lord!

Please keep praying for a healthy baby and for the doctors to leave poor Tanya alone.

Updates

Over the past week I added to Youth club this week, Our roof, Colds, New baby, and Ivan's visa.

Youth club this week

Will is trying something new this week and showing the Narnia movie. Pray that more people will come and that there will be good discussions.

April 10
No new people came. The regulars did enjoy the movie, though. Please keep praying for creative ideas and new people!

Bible lessons at the orphanage

. . . will be starting up again! Ira and Yulia will be teaching
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Will is going to be helping with music and "crowd control."

(Our internet connection is down, so I don't know when this will go out, but the first lesson is tonight, April 3.)

Our roof

Last night we fell asleep to the sound of rain, which means Spring! It also means new wet spots on our walls and ceiling. I was beginning to think that God had "healed" our roof, because we had so few leaks over the winter. I guess not. Also, Will can shovel snow, but rain. . . .

Please pray that we wouldn't have too much hard rain, that the roof would drain, and that maybe our neighbors would agree to get it fixed.

April 10
Thank you for praying. We had some wonderful sunny days. Now we're back to rain and snow (which melts), though. Pray for our neighbors, because their leaks are much worse than ours right now. I noticed that there's a new greeting for the fifth-floor dwellers in this building: "Hi! How's your roof?"

September 4
Our roof is finally fixed! Praise the Lord! We're having constant rain, and no wet spots indoors.

Colds

Raia is fussy and has a drippy nose, and Will's not feeling great. I almost expected this after our busy weekend, but I was hoping it wouldn't happen. Please pray that they'll get well soon and that the rest of us will not get sick. (And pray for me. I don't have the patience for another round of runny noses!)

March 30
Now we're all sick.

April 8
Now we're almost well. Some of us are still coughing, and noses are a little runny, but that's it. Those were some super germs that got us!

Prayer for Pop

Will's grandfather has been in the hospital. I didn't have a chance to get this prayer request out earlier. Now Pop is home, but with the diagnosis of cancer. He needs to have surgery and doesn't want to. Please pray for him and everyone else who is involved.

March 13
From Will's mother:
"Pop is going to go to his regular heart doctor on Tues morning for a stress test to make sure he can undergo the surgery. Then, after that, if all is well, they will schedule it. Please keep praying. Thanks! In Him, Julie"

March 27
They put in a heart stint, and if all goes well, the next step is surgery.

April 14
I was wrong. The stint will be put in on Tuesday.

April 20
He went in to get the stint and didn't need it. Praise the Lord!

May 10
The surgery will be May 19.

May 31
Pop came through the surgery well and is being moved to another place for physical therapy.

June 21
Again, from Will's Mom:
"The latest on Pop is that they are stepping up the physical and occupational therapy. But, his 20 days of medicare covered therapy ends on Sat. He is no where near being able to do for himself. We have a 'care plan' mtg scheduled for next Tues, June 27th to see where to go from there. (My thought is to continue therapy as long as he continues to progress with an eye on getting him home, of course!) Mediccare and AARP will over days 21 - 100. Hopefully, he will be home long before the end of that! His doctor said three or four more weeks of rehab would not be unusual for someone his age. I think Grandma thought he was going to be back to his old self in a couple of weeks, so she has been somewhat discouraged. Keep them and the rest of us in your prayers. This may end up with 'in home' care needed from all of us!"

New baby

Ulyana (Mark's mother) is in the hospital, waiting to give birth to their second baby. They did let her free for the weekend, so she was able to see her family and sleep, but now she's back there. Pray for her to have a safe birth and healthy baby. . . and if you have any idea of what Russian maternity hospitals are like, pray for her sanity! Also, please pray for Mark and Pasha (Mark's Papa). Mark is having a very hard time with the changes and his mother's absence.

March 11
Praise the Lord! A big boy was born yesterday! He probably won't have a name until his father gets to see him in another week or two. That's about all I know for now.

March 19
Hurrah! They came home from the hospital yesterday. The baby still doesn't have a name. He has a few health problems, so please pray.

March 27
Actually, he doesn't have anything wrong with him! That was just something that the doctors made up to scare Ulyana. Pavel and Ulyana are still going to have another doctor come look at him, but they're sure that he's fine.

April 11
His name is David (Dah-veed). That's not a prayer request. Just an update.

Ivan's visa

A while ago Galilee Baptist Church in Minnesota invited Ivan Petrash (camp director and missionary) to visit them. His visa was denied that time. Now he's trying again. We just helped him get started on the process. Please pray that he'll be granted a visa this time!

March 4
Monday morning he'll be making the trip to Moscow to turn in his application.

March 14
Ivan's interview at the American embassy is March 22. Please pray that they'll decide to give him the visa and for him not to be too nervous.

March 22

They said yes! Ivan can pick his visa up in a few days. Praise the Lord!

April 10
Ivan's trip is coming up. He leaves on April 13.

April 30
And now his trip is almost over. It sounds like it's been wonderful. Please pray for a safe trip home.

May 2
Ivan just called to say that he's on his way home from Moscow to Viazniki. He had a good trip with no problems at all in connections, passport control, customs, etc. Praise the Lord! He says thanks again to everyone he visited, and he had a wonderful trip.

Visa trip

At the end of the month we need to leave the country and come back to renew our visa registration. We had found some really cheap tickets, but we didn't realize that we would have to pay for Jaan too, now that he's over two years old. So, now we're back to square one with the planning. Please pray that we can find an affordable place to go (probably on trains) and have a good trip.

February 14
I just wanted to add that this is turning into a frustrating and expensive process, so please pray for patience and provision! Will is headed to the train station now to find out where we can go and buy tickets. . . .

February 15
Ack! We had forgotten that Raia doesn't have a visa at all. (She was born here and has never left the country.) Please pray that we'll be able to get her one, and that it will make its way to us while we're in Riga. You can praise the Lord that we do have tickets to Riga and that plans are coming together for our trip.

February 17
Will called this morning to check on Raia's visa, and they told him that there were "some complications." Please pray, because we really need it done by tonight, so that a friend can pick it up before the weekend. Everything is closed tomorrow, and we had planned to leave on Sunday.

February 18
Praise the Lord! As I said, Raia's exit visa is ready. Now, please pray for our trip. You can pray specifically for:

the children. Raia hasn't travelled nearly as much as Jaan had at this age, and I worry about how she'll adapt.

that we won't have any trouble getting Raia's entry visa in Riga.

and just for a good trip overall!

We'll leave tomorrow morning at 5:00 and take two trains to get to Moscow. Then we'll leave from Moscow that night on an overnight train to Riga. . . two days in Riga, then back to Moscow. We'll probably by home by Saturday, but I don't know exactly, because Will has to register us in Moscow first. The children and I get to visit the Beairds while he does that!

March 3
Thank you so much for all your prayers! We had a wonderful trip.

Praises

It seems like I really focus on petitions here. I just wanted to add
several praises, too. Of course, I could go on and on, but I'll just
choose out two:
-We just celebrated five years of marriage!
-Since the Christmas busyness has passed, we have been healthy.
And if you want more, this whole page is really a testimony of God's
goodness. Just read down and see how He has answered our prayers.

"I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee
among the nations." Psa. 57:9

Gospelink 4th quarter

We're in the midst of finishing up the 4th quarter of 2005. Will traveled to Moscow to meet with some of the men there, letters are coming in, and there are more people to meet with. Please pray for strength, safe travel, and organizational skills.

March 3
Two big praises: Dean found someone to help with the translating! And we finally got in touch with a man we had "lost"! (He's newly sponsored, and we could not find him to tell him that money had come for him.) Please keep praying, as we have several new people this quarter, and the work continues.

March 29
Now we have two translation helpers! Please continue to pray as we wrap up this quarter and specifically for the one long distance connection that we're having to make through the mail.

April 29
The fourth quarter is finished! Thank you for your prayers. We are still waiting for that one mail connection, though, and the Jan-March work started this week, so you can keep praying.

May 29
We finally got the forms we were waiting for in the mail! Praise the Lord!

Youth

We're starting up again with Sunday evening meetings for our church youth. Please pray that everyone will be able to come to these and that they will grow and be encouraged. Last night the discussion was about ministry and finding time to serve. We need prayer for more dedicated young people in the church, specifically for someone to work with children.

February 12
Will is at conference for youth leaders this weekend. Please pray that he'll learn and be able to put new ideas into action (and that he'll have a safe trip back!).

Baby Vika

A sweet baby was born to one of the Gospelink families about a month after our Raia. Vika has very severe heart defects, but so far she has stayed alive and grown and developed well. We just got another prayer request from her family. The doctors had planned to do a serious operation on her at six months. That would be about now. On Wednesday she has an appointment in Moscow to set the date for that surgery. Please pray for the doctors, for Vika, for her parents (Andrei and Sveta), and for Vika's two big sisters.

February 15
The doctors have decided that Vika is doing well enough to put off surgery for now. The older and stronger she is at the time of the surgery, the better chance there is that she'll survive it. Everyone says that it is a miracle that she's alive at all. Of course, Andrei and Sveta are praising the Lord for their daughter's life, but they are struggling with the uncertainty, stress, and constant trips to Moscow to see the doctors. Please keep praying!

June 12
This latest prayer request could be a little out of date. We haven't heard from them for a while:
"We went to see the doctor with her one more time, he listened to her heart. And the doctor once again put off the surgery for a few more months. But he said that in the end of May she should have the surgery done. They will have to sew in a cardio stimulator so that the heart would work smoothly and beat enough times. We are really worrying for Vika and are praying for her."

One more holiday program

Tomorrow night an American group will be coming through with presents for "our" orphanage. This means we'll have an opportunity to visit the school and see the kids!

January 23
The time with the kids went really well. I wrote a little about it here. Thank you for praying. You can continue to pray for fruit from this and all the other holiday activities that went on over the past month.