Baby Vika's surgery

I haven't been updating here, but we have a chance to use the Beaird's computer, so here's one urgent prayer request:
Baby Vika will be having surgery on Monday.

September 4
As you probably saw on our blog, Vika made it through surgery. Please keep praying for her and her family.

No new news

While we're without our good computer, I won't be updating here. Please continue to pray for us and for our computer to be fixed. You can check our blog for updates and new prayer requests.

Computer

Our computer is completely dead. Praise the Lord that I've been able to get our old one up to where we can limp along. (I"m still not sure about email, but I should get that figured out before too long.) We're planning to send the computer to Dad and see if he can get the information off of it. Please pray very specifically for our photos! I can't stand the thought of losing them. Also, this is a really hard time to be without our address book and phone numbers.

September 5
We lost bunches of photos. But we have a brand new computer now! And I had backed up our address book; it's very nice to have that again.

Visa registration

Ivan (the camp director) just called to say that they're having some problems with the visas that he registered in Vladimir. So far, none of the Americans are in trouble, but the hotel where they registered is being investigated for not registering their visas correctly. Also, Ivan is worried that they'll be checking us (Will and me) out next, because they were interested in who registered Abby here. Please pray!

June 21
Anna said that they spent five hours at the passport office yesterday, and it doesn't sound like they made any progress. They were threatened with deportation, but she said, "we won't know about that until next week." They're hopeful, though, because one of the ladies was very nice to them. You can also be praying for the two Moldavian girls who are in the same situation with Anna and Abby.

June 25
No update, but I do have a correction. Abby's visa is fine. It's Anna, the other Americans, and the two Moldavians who are having trouble.

Anna

Anna (Will's sister who is helping in the Vladimir church camp right now) sent us a message saying that she has a sinus infection.

June 25
She's doing much better. Thank you for praying!

Busyness

Please pray for us as we head into the busy summer time! I posted an outline of our schedule here.

Dad

Please be praying for my father.

Camp!

Plans are in the works to have one of the day camps in Kovrov! Please pray for Will and Pavel as they work on details like where to have it and for Yulia and Ira as they prepare lessons.

Please continue to pray for the overall camp plans, too. Ivan is very busy. The Ukrainian helpers are coming soon, the local workers are getting ready, and the small American team will be traveling before too long.

June 12
Camps start today in Teikovo and Shuya. The traveling teams are getting ready to go. As Ivan said, the important part right now is getting the system running, so please pray for everything to go smoothly from the start.

Pray for Ivan as he's driving around and coordinating. He brought us home at 12:30 last night, and we were just the first stop on his route.

Also, please pray about the idea of having a camp here. Yulia and Ira would have been heading it up, but Yulia's time off from work just changed, so now plans are up in the air.

June 26
Will, Anna, and Abby are at a camp in Sudogda. There's a three-day session starting today, and then another one after that. Please pray for the weather! (They're camping in tents.)

There is also a camp this week in Karabanovo. I think Linda and Elizabeth are there?

Camp here has been canceled.

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!"