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.