Susan

Please pray for our friend, Susan, and her family. (Click to go read their prayer request.)

Rejoice!

Praise the Lord with our friends, Jon and Carrie Dulin, in Russia! They got the three-year residency permit that they had applied for!

A camp visit

Will has been invited to visit a camp in a nearby village to talk to the youth tomorrow night. Please pray that will go well.

Praise!

I didn't even think to ask for prayer for this, but our friend Julie went to the American embassy in Moscow today to get Asya's Report of Birth Abroad for us. (We left Russia without it.) Apparently they didn't want to give it to her, even though we had emailed back and forth with them about it. By the time we heard that they were trying to get in touch with us and called, they had already decided to give it to her. Thank you, Lord!

Other friends from Moscow (the Sullivan family) are coming to renew their Russian visas and visit us, so they'll be bring it to us this weekend. Please pray for them as they travel, and pray that they will get their visas. We've been hearing stories of visas not being granted.

A man named V.

Will got to spend a while talking to an unsaved young man about the Lord today. This man's life seems to be falling apart right now. Please pray for him. Pray that he would see his need for salvation as the true answer to his problems, and pray for his family.

Work is finished

The projects that Will and the other men were working on are done. There will probably be more before long, but they're stopping for now. Thank you for praying!

Team

The team left last night. Everything went smoothly with the children's programs and what they were doing with youth. Please pray for fruit here. Pray that children they had contact with will come to camp, August 11-15.

Relief

Today is a cool, rainy day. Such a nice break from the hot weather!

English camps

There are a few people that I know on a team doing English camps near Kiev. Also, Anna (Will's sister) is working at a similar camp in Odessa. I heard from her today that her first classes went smoothly, and that she's tired but doing well. Please pray for these camps and everyone involved.

The team

They got here on Sunday, and they're going out into the city every day to talk to youth and children and invite them to evening programs. Please pray daily for the visiting group and for the church youth.

Hot weather

The construction continues, and they're making great progress. Please pray for Will (and the others) as they work in the heat. It's hard on Will. Last week was cooler and rainy; now it's just plain HOT again. Also, they're actually working with several unsaved guys from a nearby village, so continue to pray for good conversation (and language skills. They all speak Ukrainian, so Will does a lot of guessing. )

Praise!

We're found a pacifier before bedtime! And the nap that Asya had to take before that wasn't too bad. God is very merciful.

Pacifier

Maybe this is a funny request, but Asya's beloved pacifiers are all missing right now. Please pray that we'll either find them, or that it will be easy to wean her off of them.

Church work

Today Will started working full time on the church work projects. They decided that after several weeks of doing just a few hours each evening--after work for most of the men--it would be better to hire some men who can work all day. Will will be working with two others, one from the church and one not, for a little while to try and finish up the projects that they have materials for. Pray for good work and good conversations while working. I think this will actually be better for our family, because the children and I have a routine for our days that works with or without Papa. In the evenings, when we're tired, he'll be here to help.

Team coming

There's a Russian-American team coming here in about a week to do some children's programs here. I don't really know too many details, but please to be praying for them and everyone who will be involved.

Catching up

We have had internet at home for a little while now, and it's time for me to get caught up here. God has answered so many prayers and blessed us so richly, that there's no way I can mention everything. Here are a few specific answers, though:

• Internet! - Getting it installed was a long process, but it sure is nice to be back in touch now!
• Apartment - The one I mentioned before has worked out beautifully. We've moved in and settled in, and we're enjoying our new home.
• Registration - It has taken a while, but now we're officially registered.
• Anna - Will's sister has come and gone. We had a great visit with her! So far, she's had safe travels all over Ukraine. Please keep praying for her. She'll be in this country until the end of July.

Now for some new prayer requests:

• We had to be registered before we could have our boxes brought in from Russia. Now that we have registration out of the way, Will and the driver will get together to get the documents we need to do that. Please pray especially for getting everything through customs. The Ukrainian border is notoriously bad and expensive. There are unofficial set prices for every single step of the way. (Did you know that for $1200 you can go around customs completely?) It could be complicated without us--the owners--there at the border.
• This is the second week of daily construction work for the men at church. Please pray for safety, endurance and good progress. (Pray for me at home, as I put our children to bed alone every night. That's the hardest part for me.)
• The youth meet Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. They're very active, but they want leadership and direction. They often ask Will to lead meetings. Please pray for him as he prepares and does that.
• Day camp will probably be in August.
  

I'll probably come up with more soon, but there are some specific praises and prayers for now. Thank you for joining us in prayer!

Sweet babies

Remember, way back when I asked prayer for Lena? She had a safe birth in March. I finally got to see pictures of the babies. (That's a huge praise, too! It's such a treat for me.) Aren't they cute?

Yana (or should I say Jaana? ) and Ulyana and family