Dear Friends,
before we even came to Khabarovsk we had hoped to build a ministry team. We are excited to announce the first new member of the team is planning to come from America in January to spend almost a year with us. His name is Jason Bicket and I've asked him to write a letter introducing himself. Here is his hello to you all:
Greetings and salutations from the windy city, my name is Jason Bicket.
I am a 2001 graduate from the University of Illinois with a degree in International Relations emphasizing Russian Politics. Since graduation I have helped the college pastor at Calvary Church of Naperville, Illinois start the college ministry, and have seen God move greatly there not only with the numbers attending, but also in spiritual depth. Also, for the last three and a half years I have been working as a website maintainer at the magazine corporation Christianity Today International. Now, I am looking forward to joining Cecil in serving God in Russia.
Other than that, I love playing and watching sports especially soccer, which I hope to use to find common ground with the guys in Russia. Speaking of which, please pray for favor with all of those I have a chance to minister to. Also pray that I will be able to communicate God’s message clearly despite the language barriers. Along those lines please pray that the Russian lessons I will be taking go well. More urgently, please pray that I will remain at peace as God works out providing the necessary funds for the trip. Lastly please pray that preparations for the trip and all the little details come together. Thank you in advance for your support. I covet your prayers greatly, and God bless you all as you journey with Jesus Christ down the road of life.
In Christ,
Jason Bicket
As you can imagine, we are very excited about this development. I've asked Jason to undertake the daunting task of bringing a gospel witness to one of the major Universities in Khabarovsk. He won't be just sticking his toe in the water, he will be living in a student dormitory among a population that is less than 5% believers (indeed, many of them have never heard a clear explanation of who Jesus is). On top of that, he will be taking language lessons as a university student. Please take his prayer requests seriously. He has raised much of his financial support, but needs a little more to put him over the top. If you feel led to give any financial assistance to Jason it would speed him on his way.
The latest piece of news from the Eshelman household is that we have purchased a mini-van. It is a Hyundai Starex, eight seater, 4 wheel drive. I'll send pictures soon (yes, I know I promised to send pictures of Vera's kindergarten and I haven't done that yet, but I will soon). The process of purchasing a vehicle in Russia is not as simple as in the States, so we appreciate all your prayers that saw us through.
Being as we plan to live here for many years, we feel it best to purchase a place to live rather than keep renting. We've been approved to purchase a home and have been looking at buying an apartment (kind of like you would buy a condo in America, only different). To make a long story short, we will soon be entering into some serious negotiations. This will be the most money we have ever spend on any one thing in our lives. Please pray for wisdom and guidance in this endeavor.
We've been putting a lot of stamps on envelopes lately as we mail out our latest newsletter. Our mailing list is 365 long and we had to put five stamps on each envelope. It was a dangerous time to visit the Eshelman home; visitors found themselves sitting at a table licking stamps if they stayed too long. We'll try to get a digital version posted on our web site soon.
May the Lord bless and keep you all.
Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy and Vera
