Youth conference

Will just left for a youth conference in Kiev. He's taking a pretty big group with him: 12 people, I think. This could be a little interesting, because most of them are the ones who show up once a year or so, not the regular church crowd. Also, pray for us while we're home without Papa. He'll be back on Tuesday (after staying an extra day to renew my passport).

Hello again!

These are the prayer requests that I gave in our recent update:

1. For Will as he leads the church youth, and for everyone in that group. Pray that they would really show God’s love to each other and to new people.
2. For my (Phyllis’) new little Sunday school class.
3. For our trip to Poland to renew visas. We’re leaving March 22.
4. For us to find another apartment to rent. We have to be out of this one by May.
5. And praise God with us for His goodness in everything!

#3 is already answered. Praise God for a good trip!

#4 isn't quite so urgent; our landlady said to take our time, but we still need to find something. There's really not much available for rent, so please do pray!

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.

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.)
  

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.

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. 

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!

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!

The outreach

Thank you for praying! Everything went smoothly. I haven't really heard many details yet, but I know your prayers were answered.

Youth outreach night

The youth here are hosting an outreach night on Saturday.  Youth from another city and a music group will also be participating.  Please pray especially for the preparations.  This is a first for the youth here. There has been a lot of disagreement about how things should go.  Pray for unity!  Please also pray for the people who will be coming and all the other details.

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 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.

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.

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!