Thanksgiving trip

Tomorrow we're leaving for Odessa!  We'll be away for almost a week, visiting Will's sister and celebrating Thanksgiving with her.  Please pray for safe travels and a good visit.  Please pray especially that our children will sleep on the train (16-17 hours each way!).  We'll be back on Tuesday.

Anatolii

Please pray for Anatolii, a homeless man who lived around our building.  We used to feed him often and talk to him almost every day.  Then, a while back (last time I wrote), he told Will that he wanted to go to a rehab center.  He said that he would go the next day to get the papers he needed from the police. . . and then we never saw him again.  Please pray for him.  We have no idea where he is, but we're thinking that the police sent him off somewhere else.

Lena's mother

My friend Lena's mother just called me and asked me to pray, because she's really struggling with depression.  (I don't mean that Lena's depressed; her mother is.)  Lena is out of town for several weeks, and that's especially hard for her mother.  Their home life is pretty bleak, so Mama really relies on Lena.  She also asked me to have our churches pray.  Please do!

Rehab

Please continue to pray for Volodya.  He is still at the center.  They say that he's had some second thoughts, but seems to have decided to stay.  He said that he can feel the prayer support and is thankful for it.  Keep it up!

Also, the homeless man who lives in our area wants to go to the rehab center.  Please pray that it would work out, if that would be a good thing.  It's a little more complicated for him, because he doesn't have any documents at all.  He's officially listed as homeless here, though, and he has to report to the police periodically.  So, he'd have to get permission to travel and. . . well, it's just complicated.  Also, we don't know how motivated he really is.  Please pray for wisdom for us and for God's will to be done.

Updates

Sorry that I forgot to say that the electricity at church is back on.  It came back just before our guests (Will's parents) arrived.  However, it's just a temporary fix.  Sometime in the near future it will go off again, and there's going to have to be whole lot of digging done to fix it permanently.  So, you can keep praying.

Will's parents have come and gone, and they stayed healthy the whole time they were here!  We just a wonderful visit with them.  Praise God that they were able to come!

Weddings: I had mentioned two weddings.  Both are behind us now, and they went well.  Please continue to pray for the new couples as they start out their lives together.

Volodya is going!

Our friend decided that he wants to go to a rehab center now.  Will's taking him tomorrow; he actually had to talk Volodya out of leaving today.  Please pray for them as they travel, that Volodya will actually stay there (he's a little nervous), and that it will be a good thing for him.

Electricity at church

Almost a week ago, the electricity at church was cut off because of nearby construction.  The church leaders have been digging and trying to figure out a solution.  Please pray that they would be able to finish the trench they need and decide how to fix the problem!

Volodya again

Our friend Volodya keeps saying that he does want to go to the Christian rehab center that we had suggested.  Please pray that he really would agree to do it, though.  He's supposed to come over tonight to discuss the details with Will. . . .

Jaan's tongue

Thank you for all your prayers for Jaan!  His tongue seems to be healing beautifully.

Volodya

I was so encouraged to see how God answered prayers for Volodya last time I asked. He urgently needs prayer again tonight, though. Please pray for his physical safety especially, but also for everything else.

Update

• I don't want to give details, but Volodya needs prayer now more than ever.
• BIG EXCITING NEWS: Will's parents are coming to visit at the end of the month.  Please pray for their travels and a good visit.  Please pray especially that they would be able to stay healthy!  So far, they have gotten sick every time they have visited us, and we would really like to avoid that this time.
• Youth: This month Will is taking a break from the regular Wednesday night Bible study with the youth.  They're still getting together on those nights to plan for the upcoming weddings, though.  Yes, we have two weddings coming up soon!  And Will is still leading the regular Saturday night youth fellowship times.
• Thank you for praying for the camping trip.  Not many of the younger kids came, because of cooler weather, but the church youth, our guests, and the few kids had a great time.
• We had a great visit with Julie and Co., and they were able to get their visas renewed without any problems.
• We've enjoyed two great Zhatva celebrations so far, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are more  coming.
• School: I've started officially homeschooling Jaan.  We're having a great time with that so far!  Please pray for strength and energy and good attitudes for this new part of life.

Thank you so much for all your prayers!

Upcoming events

Please keep these in your prayers:

• Camping trip with oldest group from camp, August 21-23
  
• Julie's visit, probably arriving August 20 (Julie and two of her coworkers are coming to renew their visas.)
  
• Zhatva, August 30 (That's at our church. We'll probably visit other churches for this over the month of September, too.)
  

Volodya

We have a friend who recently got out of jail, and because of that, can't find work. This week Will hired him to do some work around our dacha, so we've been spending a lot of time with him. Please pray for Volodya as he seeks God and tries to live an honest life. We don't know exactly where he is spiritually, but he's pretty frustrated overall, and feels like God is letting him down, too. Please pray that he would be able to find permanent work, but even more importantly that he would find salvation and peace.

Vasya is home

He seems to be doing well, as he continues to recover at home.

Update on Vasya

I'm sorry I haven't had time to update those of you who are praying for Vasya.  More than a week ago he went into the hospital and had surgery to remove a tumor from his liver.  Please pray for him as he recovers.  He's still in the hospital.  Also, keep praying for his family!

Praise for camp

Thank you so much for praying for camp!  Every day there were 50-60 kids, as many as we could possible handle.  The staff worked together really well, and we just had a wonderful week.  We could see God's hand in so many ways.

Now please pray for follow-up.  There were 30 children in Sunday school this morning!  If that keeps up (which would be wonderful), they'll need more Sunday school teachers and classes.  Will also started a group after Sunday school for those who want to learn to play guitar.  There were 6 or 7 children who came for that.  And they're planning a camping trip for the very oldest group from camp; that will be August 21-23.

1st day of camp. . .

was great!

Anna's visa. . .

arrived!!!

Camp prep

Please keep praying! It's pretty busy around here. Camp starts Monday morning!

Anna

Please be praying for Will's sister, Anna. For those of you who don't know, she's headed to Odessa.  This is from the most recent email that she sent out:

The invitation for the visa arrived today and I overnighted it, along with my passport and paperwork, to the Ukrainian Embassy in DC. I am paying for three day processing, but with them closed on Wednesdays and weekends, I won't receive it back until next Tuesday or Wednesday. I am scheduled to fly out next Friday, July 31st, and would appreciate your prayers that all will go well and that the visa will be granted in time.

Camp!

Today was the last day of a great VBS program, put on by a visiting group.  Praise the Lord for how well it went!

Now we have a week to rest and finish preparations, and then the church here will be doing our own day camp.  Please pray especially for unity among the youth during this next week as they get everything ready.

Vasya and Maksim

I asked for prayer for Vasya, the man who leads the church here, when he was sick before.  He's been very sick again lately, so much that he is taking a break from church work, as much as he can.  Please pray for him and his doctors.  They still haven't figured out what is wrong with him.

Also, his son, Maksim, who was an active member of the church and youth group, went away to university and is now going through a real crisis of faith.

"The Council of Brothers"

Will has just become an official member of the "Council of Brothers" at church.  (I don't know exactly how that translates.  Elders?  Board of deacons?  Whatever you want to call it, it's the group of men who lead the church.)  He has attended their meetings since we arrived here, but not officially.  He asks that you pray specifically for wisdom and grace for him in this new role.

Praying for various people

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written anything here!  We've had some wonderful visits with friends and other good, busy times.

I've asked for prayer for a girl I called O. before.  She's back from an extended absence, so once again I need love and wisdom for spending time with her.

Today on the way home from church we bumped into a man that Will had met on a hospital visit: Aleksandr.  Please pray for him!  He's having a hard time physically (just got seriously beaten up and is almost starving, too), mentally, emotionally, spiritually.  He has tried praying and has visited a church, but doesn't think God is listening.  He's also facing a possible jail sentence.

Registration

We got our passports back, and now we're registered for another year!  Please thank the Lord for that with us.  You can also be praying that the laws don't change any more.

Picnic answers

Thank you for praying!  The picnic went well.  You can read about it here.

Weather for picnic

We're planning a picnic at our dacha for the youth tomorrow.  Please pray for good weather!  We're really enjoying some rain, after a dry spell, but it would be really nice if the rain stopped for a while tomorrow. 

News from Kovrov

I just talked to Pavel and Tanya.  They're working on selling the church apartment and buying a house or other bigger place to meet.  Pavel asked us to pray for wisdom and for everything to go well, if this is what they should be doing.

Visiting

On Sunday afternoons Will and several others from church have been visiting sick babushki at home and/or anyone who is interested at the hospital. Please pray for those visits!

Re-registration

It's almost time for us to re-register our visas. Will is (or all of us are?) going to Zaporozhye on Thursday to at least get started. Please pray for us to be able to do this right and without any problems. No one is very sure about what the law actually says about this.

Easter

Easter is coming! (April 19 here.) It's the biggest religious holiday of the year, so please pray for all that will be happening at church. Also, pray for our family as we prepare for Easter and then celebrate the Resurrection at home.

Colds

After a long time of good health (praise for that!), we've succumbed to colds and they seem to be dragging on. It's nothing serious; we're just tired and want to be well again!

Prayer for E.

The church here is right next to the hospital, and one of the ladies from church works there.  Tonight she sent one of her patients over for Bible study, since he's so interested.  He asked for prayer, since he's having an operation tomorrow or the next day, but also because he's really searching for God.

Also, please pray for Lyuba, who works in the hospital and is constantly witnessing, and for Will and others who visit there.

G. and Y.

A few nights ago Leetra babysat, and Will and I went to visit G. and Y..  I was so happy to see their new baby!  I thought we would probably sit around talking about him, but instead they jumped right in with all kinds of questions about the Bible and church.  It was really good to get to talk to them!

O. is gone

Please keep praying for the girl I asked for prayer for before.  She is gone, so I'm not spending time with her anymore for a while, but I don't think she's in a very good situation now.

Answered prayer

I should have asked you all to pray for Leetra sooner!  She felt better almost right away after I posted that.  Thank you, Lord, and thank you for praying!

Now she'll be heading back on Tuesday, so you can pray for safe travels in that direction.

Leetra's stomach

We're having a great visit with my sister, but she hasn't felt well this whole time.  Please pray for her stomach!

Another person

Please be praying for another girl (O.), who I'm spending a whole lot of time with. She's very needy, so pray for strength for me. There are also a whole lot of things I'm praying about for her that I can't really share. Just pray!

Leetra is coming!

My sister is coming soon! Please pray for her travels and a good visit. We always like to "use" guests as a good excuse to get together with people, too, so please pray that we would be able to introduce her to lots of people here.

Youth conference

Will and some of the youth will be going to a youth conference in Kiev Feb. 23. Please pray for safe travels and a really good time there.

New people

We have been encouraged to see new faces in the group of young people that come to the church. I don't think there have been more since I last wrote, but I'd like to update on the ones I mentioned before.

(I'm going back and adding initials to the last post, if you want to look back there.) N. is a regular at youth meetings now; she can't come on Sunday mornings, because of her work schedule, but she would like to. I haven't seen Z. around for a while. G. and Y. are adjusting to life with a new baby. We gave them The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, and they're reading it. Please keep praying for these new believers/seekers!

It's been too long

I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've updated here.  Thank you for praying for us anyway.  We survived the holidays, and thoroughly enjoyed them, too!  We're also finally feeling settled back into normal life now.

Please be praying for some new people who have been coming to youth meetings and Bible studies.  There's a girl (N.) who's been quite faithful and interested in the evenings, a guy (Z.) who really wants to get his life together, and a young couple (G. and Y.) trying to read and understand the Bible on their own.  The couple are expecting a baby soon and also need prayers for health!