CHURCH PICNIC IN THE FOREST

We had a great time at our church picnic a few weeks back! It was a little chilly, but it was nice to escape the noise and hustle and bustle of the big city for a few hours and spend time with our church family here.

AUGUST UPDATE

The kids had a great 5 weeks in America. They enjoyed seeing family and friends! These are some pictures of the first few days we were back. As you can see, there are 2 from the first day of school. Ella is now in Kindergarten and Kellan in 5th. They love their school! We are blessed to have an International Christian School they can attend.

Ella received makeup and nail-polish for her birthday while in America. As you can see, she LOVED it!

AUGUST UPDATE

I can't believe that summer is over! Time has just flown by. I want to begin by thanking all of our family and friends who helped my kids have a very special summer in America! They are spoiled, but it was well worth it for them. They made lasting memories with all of you! Also, thanks to everyone who was so kind to me during my short time there! It was great to see so many faces, even if it was only for a few minutes! We are blessed to have such caring and supporting family, friends, and prayer partners! We love all of you.

I just wanted to ask you to please pray for Kellan and Ella this week as they start school. It is hard to believe that Kellan will be starting 5th grade and Ella will be going to Kindergarten! Pray that they both have GREAT years at school and learn lots of new things! They are both looking forward to it. Kellan, however, is already whining over homework!

Some of the pictures you see above are of the Enlgish Camp that I worked at this summer. God blessed that in a mighty way and we are continuing to try to reach out to the campers and build relationships with them. The other pictures are of a new ministry I am trying to learn about sponsored by one of the Russian Baptist Churches in Northern Moscow. They have a ministry to those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. They have 16 centers where people are allowed to go for help. There they study the Bible 7 hours every day. Just over 40% of those repent during this program and many stay in the church and become leaders in various ways. Please pray for this ministry. The pictures are of 1 of the 2 adaptation centers where participants can choose to go for a few more months to live and work and continue studying the Bible. They are asking for prayers that God would provide them with the money needed to finish a needed building and buy a tractor so that they can farm the land and support all of the centers with the food grown there. I will try to share more about this ministry later. Just begin praying for them!

Baptism in the Moscow River

Today we were able to watch 27 Russians be baptized in the Moscow River. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful time there! Wanted to share a few pictures from that as well. 2 people from our church were also baptized! It was awesome seeing and hearing the emotion as they came out of the river after their turn. Praise the Lord for these people baptized today! The picture of the group is the people from our church who attended. The 2 holding flowers were the ones who were baptized!

FRIENDS ARE HERE!

Our friends arrived from North Carolina yesterday! We are excited to have them with us until July 5th. When they return to America, our kids will be going with them to visit with family until August! Just wanted to share a few pictures from today!

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE

I am so sorry that this has not been updated in almost 3 months. Life has been crazy! Lots of things have happened since we last updated here.

1) Deana spent 3 weeks in America receiving her visa to be able to live in Russia. I was with the kids during this time in Moscow.

2) Deana returned home on a Monday and we moved to a new apartment on Friday of the same week.

3) Deana has had one metal pin removed from her leg in a minor surgery about 2 weeks after we moved to this apartment.

4) Kellan has finished 4th grade and made the A average honor roll at his school.

5) Ella is spending her last 2 days with her nanny, Olga this coming week.

We appreciate your continued prayers and support! You mean so much to us! Please pray for the following requests:

1) Jeremy - Language exam on Wednesday and Thursday of this week! This is a big deal and I really need to pass this test. However, I don't feel like I will pass all of it at this time. I will do my best and we will see what happens. Would appreciate your prayers for this.

2) Deana - Continue praying for her language acquisition. She continues to study everyday for 3 hours and is beginning to get out and use her language skills more and more.

3) Kellan - Kellan LOVES playing outside at our new apartment. He goes out and plays basketball or skateboards with the Russian kids out there. Most of these kids are older, but have been very nice to him. (With the exception of one) We praise the Lord that he is comfortable going out there and playing with them. Pray for him to pick up the language quickly.

4) Ella - continues to love life everyday. She is trying to discover behavior boundaries again right now and see how far she can push the limit. She is always happy and always smiling. We praise God for that.

5) Please pray for us as we travel to a conference next Saturday-Thursday where all of the missionaries serving throughout Russia will be together.

6) Pray for our friends, Joy and Heather, who will be coming to see us for almost 3 weeks the day after our conference ends.

7) Pray for the English Club that our church sponsors in July. The dates are July 6-16. Usually they have over 200 campers come to learn English. Many of them are unbelievers and are exposed to the gospel during this time.

8) Continue praying for Greesha and Slava - I am not able to see them much now that we have moved. Pray that I will be committed to go and see them on occasion and keep this witnessing relationship open.

9) Pray for our kids to have a great trip to America from July 5- August 14th. They will be spending this time with grandparents, family, and friends there. Pray for safe travel as Joy and Heather take them back to America in July.

THANKS THANKS THANKS! I will try to update again soon.