After-holiday update

Once again, I'm sorry that I haven't updated! We recently finished the busiest holiday season we've ever had. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us, even while I was silent here.

Updates on older prayer requests:

• I had asked for prayer for electricity at church. They got it turned on! It was a huge project, but God gave strength and success.
• We had a wonderful Thanksgiving trip. Our children slept on the train!
  
• We haven't seen Anatolii.
• Lena's mother is doing somewhat better, but still needs prayer.
• Vova left the rehab center, but he hasn't come back here. (That's good.) He's in Kiev and seems to be doing well. He calls us often, and is very lonely, but he's working and says that he's not drinking. Keep praying for him!
  

And new requests:

• I am going to be teaching a preschool Sunday school class! I haven't agreed to do anything like this before, because Asya takes so much of my time and attention, and I'm still a little apprehensive about how I'll keep up with her and teach. We're going to give it a try, though. Please pray for me, for my wonderful helper Alina, and for the little ones.
• Health and rest: actually, we're doing pretty well in that area, but please do pray. We were absolutely exhausted after the holiday season. We've mostly been able to catch up on now. Will and I still have colds dragging on, so please pray that we'll be all the way healthy and rested soon.
  

Thanksgiving trip

Tomorrow we're leaving for Odessa!  We'll be away for almost a week, visiting Will's sister and celebrating Thanksgiving with her.  Please pray for safe travels and a good visit.  Please pray especially that our children will sleep on the train (16-17 hours each way!).  We'll be back on Tuesday.

Anatolii

Please pray for Anatolii, a homeless man who lived around our building.  We used to feed him often and talk to him almost every day.  Then, a while back (last time I wrote), he told Will that he wanted to go to a rehab center.  He said that he would go the next day to get the papers he needed from the police. . . and then we never saw him again.  Please pray for him.  We have no idea where he is, but we're thinking that the police sent him off somewhere else.

Lena's mother

My friend Lena's mother just called me and asked me to pray, because she's really struggling with depression.  (I don't mean that Lena's depressed; her mother is.)  Lena is out of town for several weeks, and that's especially hard for her mother.  Their home life is pretty bleak, so Mama really relies on Lena.  She also asked me to have our churches pray.  Please do!

Rehab

Please continue to pray for Volodya.  He is still at the center.  They say that he's had some second thoughts, but seems to have decided to stay.  He said that he can feel the prayer support and is thankful for it.  Keep it up!

Also, the homeless man who lives in our area wants to go to the rehab center.  Please pray that it would work out, if that would be a good thing.  It's a little more complicated for him, because he doesn't have any documents at all.  He's officially listed as homeless here, though, and he has to report to the police periodically.  So, he'd have to get permission to travel and. . . well, it's just complicated.  Also, we don't know how motivated he really is.  Please pray for wisdom for us and for God's will to be done.

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.

Volodya is going!

Our friend decided that he wants to go to a rehab center now.  Will's taking him tomorrow; he actually had to talk Volodya out of leaving today.  Please pray for them as they travel, that Volodya will actually stay there (he's a little nervous), and that it will be a good thing for him.

Electricity at church

Almost a week ago, the electricity at church was cut off because of nearby construction.  The church leaders have been digging and trying to figure out a solution.  Please pray that they would be able to finish the trench they need and decide how to fix the problem!

Volodya again

Our friend Volodya keeps saying that he does want to go to the Christian rehab center that we had suggested.  Please pray that he really would agree to do it, though.  He's supposed to come over tonight to discuss the details with Will. . . .

Jaan's tongue

Thank you for all your prayers for Jaan!  His tongue seems to be healing beautifully.

Volodya

I was so encouraged to see how God answered prayers for Volodya last time I asked. He urgently needs prayer again tonight, though. Please pray for his physical safety especially, but also for everything else.

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.)
  

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!