Thank you so much for all your prayers, and even more, thanks to God for answering!

Church camp last week was great! I really enjoyed it, and I know the children did, too. We pray that what they learned will grow in them, and that they'll come to Sunday school and other opportunities to carry on with the relationships that were started or nurtured last week.

Please pray for us and the church here, as we say goodbye and move away. Pray that we finish well, and that no one would be hurt by our departure.

Praise God with us for the home that we'll be renting in Kherson. Please continue to pray as we plan the details of moving.

Pray for our health. After the busy week of Will in Kherson and camp for the rest of us, we're not feeling great.

Will is in Kherson for a few days, looking at housing options. Please for for him to find a good place for us!

Church camp starts tomorrow. I will be teaching the preschoolers.

Camp was wonderful! Thank you so much for your prayers! It was also very challenging and exhausting, so we needed your support even more than usual. We came back sick, but we're starting to feel better now.

Next up here we have two different focuses: Will is working on finding a place for us to live in Kherson. He'll probably make a trip soon to look at different options. I (Phyllis) am getting ready for day camp with the church here. That will be August 5-9. I'll be leading the preschool group, and our own children will be taking part too, of course.

Also, one of our landlords showed this apartment to prospective buyers. Please pray that we'll be able to stay here until we're ready to move to Kherson. It's not likely that he could sell it, because the whole situation is such a mess, but please pray!

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.)
  

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!

Camp prep

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

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.

Camp teenagers

Thank you for all your prayers for the day camp here! I have photos posted on our blog.

Please pray that some of the oldest kids--from Will's group--will come tonight for the weekly church youth meeting.

Camp update

Camp is going well. I don't think I mentioned that Will has the oldest group, the teenagers. They're hard to work with, but at such an important age for building relationships! Please pray for a good finish. We're all tired, and tomorrow is the last day.

Camp!

Day camp starts tomorrow! Please be praying for everyone involved. Will is going to be teaching several Bible lessons, helping with music, and probably more.

Camp evening

Thank you for praying! Will's evening at that one youth camp went well.

Please be praying for the upcoming children's day camp here. The youth are preparing. It will be August 11-15.

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.

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!