Photo of the Week - 3/13/2016

This week I am sharing two photos of two missionary families who have been serving here in Krasnoyarsk for a time while preparing ultimately to move their families further north to serve in the village of Vanavara. We are grateful that late last evening the husbands, along with a Russian man who is a friend to all of us here in Krasnoyarsk, arrived safely by vehicle. During the winter months a "winter road" is passable. Over the coarse of the winter months, the men have made several trips on this winter road,  followed closely by a heavy duty truck carrying building supplies, food, and their belongings. 

Tomorrow morning, the wives along with their children (five total) will fly up to join their husbands. Please pray for their safe flight and arrival. Also for their adjustment in this new ministry.

The Matt Northcutt family

The James Dean family

Photo of the Week - December 20, 2015

I just love this photo which we took last Sunday afternoon as we gathered to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday. This is most of our youth group when rarely photographed together. I say that because with the six day school schedule here in Russia, Sunday is the only day the kids have free to sleep in. This also means that often sports competitions are scheduled on Sundays. As a result, it is difficult for teens especially to be faithful to come to church on Sundays, much less special meetings. 

In the midst of all the activities and schedules, we have one young man (pictured on the far left) who has been attending Sunday school faithfully since he was four years old. He is now fifteen. 

Please pray with us for these teens. Not all of them have accepted Christ. But, thankfully, that number is down to four of the ones pictured here. Secondly, please pray for those who are saved to understand the importance of faithfulness to God's house and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The potential in this group is incredible! What God could do with a group of young people like these who are committed to Christ!

Photo of the Week

Today, November 29th, we celebrated Mother's Day in Russia. It is odd for us as Americans to celebrate Mother's Day on the last Sunday in November. 

We bought the kids in Sunday school each a pair of pretty wool socks to make into the shape of cupcakes to present to their Moms. They also made these "cupcake" cards. It was a fun day!  The kids were thrilled to make a craft for their Moms. We pray that through our Sunday School ministry we can reach the parents and other siblings for Christ.

Photo of the Week - 11/15/15

This week's photo is a recent photo I took one afternoon as our days have become shorter here in Siberia. Snowy skies are upon us and, unusually for this time of the year, the cold temperatures are also upon us. -30 Celsius is in the forecast this week. Today, Sunday, we had -20 C. The weather man had said that we could expect-30 by the first of November so, we are thankful that he was wrong and that we were able to enjoy a few more weeks of "warmer" temps. 

As you can imagine, these temperatures make life and ministry more challenging. We covet your prayers as winter time is a perfect opportunity for the devil to fight God's work here even more. Please pray for our safety and for God's people to be faithful during these cold months ahead.

Photo of the Week - 11/8/2015

I really love this photo. It was taken several years ago when myself and another missionary who so kindly offered to help me plan a Ladies' Tea for the 8th of March, Woman's Day, here in Russia. The goal was to invite mothers of our Sunday school children, as well as, ladies in our village in order to introduce myself to them and help them feel more comfortable with what we are trying to do here in the ministry. 

I won't go into the details of the party but, I share this photo to ask for your prayers for us as we head into the holiday season. Christmas is such a wonderful opportunity to invite our neighbors into our home and get to know them better. Building relationships is very important here. We must gain their trust before ever being able to share Christ with them. 

Now that our house is a little more done, we are looking forward to opening our home in the coming weeks to precious friends and families. Join us in praying that we may reach them for Christ.

She's Home!

I am still working without my laptop since it has been in the shop now for a month, therefore, I have very limited amounts of photos to share right now on Sundays for our Photo of the Week post.

We are reposting this stock photo of a Ssang Yong truck as our Photo of the Week to let everyone know that our truck is home! The new engine was installed with an added blessing of labor costs being less than we expected. We are so thankful for those of you who prayed for God to provide for this need. As we mentioned in the last update, a gift was sent to our family and we were able to use that money to pay for the service and purchase of an engine for our truck. The giver had no idea ofour need. :) This past week we were able to get a new windshield installed as well.  Roads which are often dirty with pebbles and debris and the lack of mud flaps on trucks make for seriously abused windshields!

We are so thankful to have our truck running again. The weather changed the next week after we were able to pick it up. We now have snow on the ground and strong winds as winter is blowing in. It is a tremendous blessing to have a strong engine in the car that actually allows us to accelerate uphill!

Photo of the Week (a photo with a story behind it)

This photo of the week is going to have a bit of a story along with it. I remember years ago when I was a teenager and was praying about what the Lord would have me to do with my life, I was confident He wanted me to become a Nurse. I had expressed an interest in becoming a missionary and as soon as I began telling people that I believed God wanted me to to to college to study to be a nurse, several began to panic. The first thought that came to their minds was, money. Not money to pay for my education, but the money I would begin making once I completed my education and was given an opportunity to work as an Registered Nurse. I was quite disappointed to hear such a response from people who were important to me. But, as I continued to pray, God continued to lead in that direction and I completed my Nursing degree in 1994. While home from college during a summer break between my Sophomore and Junior years of college, I went forward in my home church and made it public that God wanted me to be a missionary. Of course, everyone was happy to hear of my willingness to go where ever the Lord would lead me.

I could bore you with all the details between then and when I met my husband, a missionary on deputation to Siberia, Russia, but the main thing is, I never forgot the "main thing" of becoming a missionary. That cautious advice given to me years before, was filed in my mind, and actually did stay with me. I was always cautious and slightly fearful of falling into working as a Nurse and never becoming a missionary. I never worked a glorious Nursing job making millions. :) Instead, I followed the advice of my pastor and went back to college to take some Missions courses. For that, I am also very thankful. It was there at that college I met my husband. 

The outstanding memory for me now, as I share my testimony with young people regarding finding the will of God for their lives, is just thankfulness for God's PERFECT leading and will. As much as I desired becoming a Nurse to help people any where I might have found myself on the globe, I would have never dreamed the Lord would use my Nursing education as He has. 

This photo is of one such opportunity. 

To the left of me in the black shirt is my friend who is a professor at the Medical University here in Krasnoyarsk. She teaches English medical terms to Russian speaking medical students. To the right of me in the white shirt is a friend of my friend, who also is a professor in the Medical University. I don't remember when I first met my friend but our friendship grew out of our common bond - a love for the medical field.

She has been a blessing to our family and others in helping us find proper medical care. She has even made phone calls to help locate doctors who will treat our friends and church members.

Several years ago now, she contacted me about a need the medical professors had for a textbook in order to make their jobs easier and assist them in teaching medical terminology in English to their Russian speaking medical students. She wanted to know if I would be willing to help her talk through terminology in Russian to properly translate it into English. I agreed and we spent hours completing the translation of the textbook. The professors of the University were so grateful that on the day this photo was taken the ladies asked me to meet them in the city so they could present me with a gift as a thank you for the work we did.

Again, how amazing it is to be in God's will and to see first hand how He can use us in ways we would have never dreamed imaginable. As we approach fifteen years in Russia, I can say that now I use my Nursing education every day. It has allowed me to meet and witness to people I may not have ever met had I not become a Nurse. Every day I am grateful that I followed His will. Can you say that young person? Are you fully surrendered to do His will and be whatever HE wants you to be?

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." I Thes. 5:24

Photo of the Week - 8/16/2015

This week's photo of the week is one very near and dear to our heart. Many people who have never met this family probably can probably easily tell you their names after this week. This is a photo of the Josh Wesson family, missionaries to the Dominican Republic. My husband and I knew both Josh and his wife, Joy, in Bible college. Josh passed away on August 7th, 2015, while saving three teens from drowning. He was able to save two and then the third drowned along with Josh despite Josh's efforts to save the young man. 

A funeral service was held in the Dominican Republic where approximately 450 people were in attendance. Josh's body was returned to the States where his funeral and final resting place took place in Louisiana, in the same church where 19 years ago, Josh and Joy were married.

Our hearts hurt for Joy and the children, for the families.We have grieved deeply this week and shed many tears. We were able to spend time with the Wesson family in January of 2014 during our last furlough. We are now so thankful for that time with these precious friends. 

Josh was a great example in life, as well as, in his death. It is difficult to explain the emotions, the feelings, the thoughts that we have felt this week. I, as a missionary wife, hope to share some of those thoughts in upcoming posts on my personal blog, http://www.whitherthougoest.blogspot.com 

We simply can't understand God's ways, but we know He makes no mistakes. Please pray with us for Joy and her children. We understand there will be dark days ahead for them but we know God will be near to them and hold them in His hand. 

Photo of the week

This photo of the week reflects our hearts this week as we learned of the home going of one of our college friends who was a missionary in the Dominican Republic, Josh Wesson. It has been a rough couple of days as we just can't believe another friend is in heaven. A wife and kids that we visited with and laughed with just a year ago are now left to pick up and leave the field without their husband and father. All the other fellow missionaries who worked with them in the Dominican and those brothers and sisters in Christ won to the Lord by Josh and his precious wife, Joy are also hurting.

This photo is of my husband teaching the Bible story this year during our annual VBS. This guy is my other half, my partner in life, my dearest friend. I am so thankful for our family and the life and ministry we share. I don't want to take a moment for granted. Thank you, Lord, for the days you have allowed us to serve you. May we make them count for Christ!

Photo of the Week

Okay, so this week there are two photos of the week. I had to show both. :) We have had a good week although we barely remember it. It was the first week after VBS so we were all striving to get back into the "usual busy" and try to rest off the exhaustion of the previous week as well. Before we knew it, it was Friday and none of our family could really tell you what we did on Monday. :) One day this week, our daughter and I were invited to a Tajiki (from Tajikistan) friend's house where they were preparing for a big feast the next day where they would have over 100 men in their home. This young lady in the green loves our daughter and the Momma loves to visit with me. So, they often beg us to come over for tea and to chat. They asked me to bake their favorite chocolate cake and come over, so we did. We never go home empty-handed and were given some of these "lepyoshky" and other sweets to take home to my husband and the boys. They are a sweet family and we are grateful for the relationship we can have with them. We pray they come to know the forgiveness and freedom only Christ can give. 

"Lepyoshky" in the process.

"Lepyoshky" ready to eat. :)

Photo of the Week

I am so thankful for every opportunity we have to love on people. Like this family whose children were saved this past summer along with their mother just after our summer VBS program ended. They invited us to their daughter's birthday and I offered to make her cake. I am so glad I did as the entire day was spent with them treating our kids to bowling, games, and tons of fun. The father has yet to accept Christ but we pray he will real soon. Oh the potential in this one family! In the mean time, we pray he sees Christ in us and will strive to use every opportunity we have to show him God's love.

Photo of the Week

This photo of our daughter and one of our little girls who attends SS in the younger class. All of the little girls absolutely adore our daughter. But today, this little one jumped up in Beka's lap and snuggled in saying how warm Beka was. It was so sweet. They are sure going to miss our Beka-boo when she goes off to college! Thankfully, we have one more year with her!

Photo of the Week

Remembering our very first VBS program held in the village back in 2007. We had a handful of helpers, including a few American missionary ladies, a few teen girls from the Krasnoyarsk Baptist Church in the city, and the two guys you see seated on the left side who didn't speak a word of Russian. What a great year it was! The kids loved the program and were so excited they didn't want the week to end. This year's VBS program begins July 6th. Please be in prayer as we prepare for another great VBS!

Photo of the week

"Girlfriends"

Photo of the Week

This past week we attended the 9th of May celebration here in our village which marked the 70 year anniversary of WW II. This is a photo of the statue which is located along the main road into our village. Below the statue is a marker on which are written the names of those from our village who died. 

Photo of the Week

"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 19:14 

Photo of the Week

I want to start a new page on our ministry blog to post a "Photo of the Week". Sometimes a picture says it all and it provides a window into our ministry and the people to whom God has called us. Some of these may be from previous years but are still special photos that we love and think you might enjoy as well. Hope you enjoy them!