Dear Friends,
a few weeks ago in my Russian language lessons at the University the textbook used the words "eternal book" in one of the texts. The professor explained that in Russian literature this refers to the Bible. The two Chinese students still looked confused so we explained in Russian what the Bible is. They still looked confused and since they speak some English I tried to explain in English what the Bible is (Christian book, etc.). Eventually I just told them maybe I could buy them one. After a lot of looking Tonya finally found where to get some Chinese Bibles here (from the Bible League). On Thursday I gave each of them a Chinese Bible. They had never seen a Bible before. After leafing through his new book one of them suddenly had a look of recognition and in Russian said, "in America this is a famous and important book!" I assured him it is. He had only heard about it before. The other student still wasn't sure I meant the books as gifts and asked if he could take his to China. I assured him that that he could keep the book.
We have found a "home church" here where we really do feel at home and we have been attending regularly. We have also been attending other services to get to meet people and make connections. Sunday a week ago we went to a new church (about 80 or 90 people that morning). It was started by a hairdresser, the wife of an army general. She was witnessing to her clients and some got saved, so she started a home group. Her daughter in college lead some students to the Lord and they joined the group. Soon it was too big to meet in a house so they started renting a classroom. I watched three people come forward to pray for salvation after she preached. You never know when God may put a call on your life.
The churches here are growing, but there is so much still to do. When I ask pastors what percentage of the population in this area are saved they give me estimates from 1% to 3%. I think that is about the same as India. Praise that Lord that many are gaining eternal life through Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for the Russian Far East.
Talk about gains and losses. Timothy lost his two top front teeth last week, but he is gaining two new adult teeth already. The tooth fairy here pays in rubles. On Saturday Vera was having so much fun cutting paper in her room that she decided to give herself a hair cut (has anyone else's daughter ever done that?). After taking her to the hairdressers for damage control, it doesn't look too bad (just a whole new style). Ahhh, life is filled with adventure.
Tonya has been ministering at an orphanage once a week. She has joined forces with a single lady missionary from the Ukraine who has been doing orphanage outreach here for a long time. They have formed a team from the older saved orphan students who help them minister to the younger ones. This team has done very well and on Saturday afternoon we treated the team to a sightseeing ride on a boat on the Amur river. A guitarist from the Baptist church joined us and we sang some songs, fellowshipped and had a good time. Afterward they watched a Christian movie together.
This coming Saturday we will be going to Thailand for a conference with our organization. We'll be gone for over a week and I don't know what kind of internet connection we will have there, so if you email me during that time it might seem like I'm ignoring you.
We sincerely thank you all for your prayers and your support. May the Lord truly bless you and enrich your lives.
In His Wonderful Name,
Cecil
