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!

A Reason to Celebrate

Today, November 2nd, 2014 is a special day for our family as it marks 15 years of serving the Lord on the mission field of Siberia, Russia. It is truly hard to believe we have been here for that long!

I put together this slide show to share with you many of the blessings we have witnessed over the years. 

God is GOOD!

We would like to express our sincere appreciate to those of you who have prayed, given, encouraged, and loved us along the way. 

We truly could not have stayed here this long without you holding the ropes for us!

We look forward to many more years and many more blessings. 

We have so many dreams, hopes, and wishes that we beg God to allow us to see come to fruition here in Siberia. 

Please pray for us as we continue on in His name.

A Ministry Need

Dear praying friends and family,

As many of you may know there is still much work to be done on our new house. One of the biggest blessings of being able to move into it as of December 2011, in regards to our ministry, is that is has freed up the old house to be used as a much needed room for our Sunday school ministry. 

Back-to-School Sunday, 2014

However, we still have not been able to install a heating system into the old house. As of this year, we have a stove ready for installation but there are more items needed to complete this project. It is our prayer that we can complete this project before winter comes to stay in November. We have begun the process and have explained all the details on our building blog.

Would you please pray about the need to complete this project? 

If you have any questions about how you can help with this need, please feel free to contact us by e-mail or in the comments of this post.

Sunday School Caroling 2012

Each year since we first arrived in Russia we have been involved in special Christmas cantatas and plays during the long holiday season. The only problem is that with us serving in Siberia, the time when most of these activities are scheduled to take place is usually during the coldest time of the winter. Often that means that people are not physically able to attend or have no desire to leave their houses or warm apartment buildings in -30 degrees Celsius temperatures! 

So, in an effort to teach my Sunday school kids to show kindness to others and be a blessing to the elderly and physically handicapped, we went caroling from house to house through the village! 

Honestly, I had been wanting to do this for several years but, when the temperatures drop often the kids also stay at home snuggled in their beds and only the most faithful ones come out to Sunday school. This year we had a good group of faithful kids and they were excited about doing something new.

First of all, we decided to go caroling on a Sunday afternoon just after our Sunday morning service. Most of the kids went home for lunch and we fed a couple at our house before gathering them all up in our truck. Going caroling on a Sunday worked out to be the best way to ensure that the kids would all be there as they promised. 

Cramming into the truck was just part of the fun!

Yes, it was a little "crowded"!

Here are a few photos from several of our stops.

We sang to this precious lady, Nina. She is Angelina's (the little girl in the photo) great grandmother.

We visited families of some of our SS kids and elderly ladies who are no longer able to walk and get out of their apartments without assistance. But, our last stop, in my opinion, was the most memorable for all of the children. 

The young lady seated on the right in the photo below has been a friend of our family's since we first moved to the village. We were introduced to her through the English teacher at the village school. She suffered a seizure when she was about six years old and the damage left her handicapped. Her family moved out to the village with the hope that it would help her. She has improved tremendously since that time. 

What a blessing to hear her mother, grandmother, and grandfather thank us over and over again for taking the time to come to "cheer them up" with our visit and singing. It was GOOD for the kids to see this eighteen year old girl in such physical condition yet she studies in school and wants to be just like them. 

I couldn't have been happier with the responses we received from these dear people we visited. What a blessing it was to me and what memories were made for the kids.

Traditionally, if you do something nice for someone or visit them around Christmas time you WILL walk away with more than you can imagine. Today was no different for us!

Here is our loot after all of our visits! We also gave away some candy bars before this photo was taken. The children divided up the candy among themselves.

I pray this was the beginning of a new tradition and that many look forward to it each year from now on!

First Youth Meeting in the Village

One of the highlights of this month has been the recent survey trip made by James and Amber Pranger to Krasnoyarsk. James came to Russia as a six year old missionary kid years ago along with his parents, Jim and Laura Pranger, and his four siblings. In the winter months of 2004, James, his parents and younger sister moved to Krasnoyarsk to continue their mission work. James left the field when it was time for him to attend college, returning to Russia a few times during his summer breaks. Now that he is married, he and his wife came to Krasnoyarsk on a survey trip before beginning deputation to return as missionaries.

James and his wife, Amber.

They were able to stay for almost two weeks in Krasnoyarsk. We, having already known James, were very excited to meet his wife and have the opportunity to get to know her. They are a very sweet couple and we very much enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them. One day, we took them around sight-seeing and souvenir shopping. Amber is a photographer so she was able to take some pictures around the city as well. 

Amber and I on the pedestrian bridge - downtown Krasnoyarsk

Another day we were able to spend with them, David and James worked in the new house to get some drywall hung up in the church meeting room. While they were busy, I took Amber to visit some of the teen girls so that we could invite them to the upcoming Sunday services when we planned on having our first young people's meeting with James preaching to the teens. Before moving to prepare for deputation, James and Amber had worked in their church where James was the youth pastor. He will be working in what will be their sending church as well upon their return to the States. I also wanted to take Amber around the village to meet some of the wonderful people who we are trying to reach with the gospel. There is nothing better than visiting them in their homes and seeing how they live with your own eyes. Below are a few of the wonderful moments Amber was able to capture during our visits.

On Saturday David and I spent more time inviting teens to the youth meeting. Sunday morning we woke up to some chilly weather but thankfully our prayers were answered and the Lord gave us a beautiful day with pleasant temperatures for services outside.

James, Amber and the whole group of children present for Sunday School.

Once we opened in prayer, we divided the teens from the younger children. James is fluent in Russian so he can jump right in and work in any area needed.

James taught the teens,

while I taught the younger children.

Most of the younger children's class.

Our neighbor's children coming to Sunday school.

Teen girls in attendance

Our daughter, Rebekah, was excited to be able to have a class with girls her age.

After the lesson, the younger children played a favorite game called, 'Eleven." And the older boys enjoyed wearing James out in a game of soccer!

Love this photo of this little guy running behind tall James.

After the services, we enjoyed lunch and fellowship together. We pray they will be able to raise their support quickly and return to the mission field which God has for them. Thank you James and Amber for your visit!