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.