Down the tracks

Dear Friends,

CHRIST IS RISEN! Today is Easter Sunday in Russia. On Easter this is the traditional greeting in Russia. It went out of style during the communist reign, but now it is coming back. RISEN INDEED, ALLELUIA!

Cecil is really excited because his Russian Language Teacher accepted his invitation to church on Easter. She attended this morning and seemed to enjoy it. Please pray for her that she will come to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.

Two weeks ago we traveled by train to Novi Orgal and visited with a church called "Church of Christ the Savior." I found out that there is a road to Novi Orgal during the winter, but it is not passable once the rivers start to melt in the spring (no bridges). The church there has started work on a building. This will be the first church building in this town of about 10,000. This church has prayed several years for a building, and finally were able to begin. Unfortunately they reached the limits of their financial ability, but fortunately, a church in the States heard about it and have send financial assistance. Now work will resume as soon as the weather is warm enough.

The building is located on the edge of town, within walking distance of many people.

The most affordable building material is railroad ties, which are produced in this area. So that is what they are building with, you can see the pile of ties in the foreground.

Here inside the building is the bishop of this region, Cecil, and the pastor of the church. In front are two Eshelman kids trying to look cute. That is a bit of snow on the floor, but by next winter it should be warm and dry. The building will seat about sixty.

It was the first time the kids have traveled on the famed Trans-Siberian railway (think "Dr. Zhavago"). It was only a 15 hour ride each way (it is seven days to Moscow) but we had a grand time in our little room on a Pullman car. We plan to head back to Novi Orgal this summer and get another report.

We managed to have the car re-registered without any hassle. Cecil is now registered at our new address (a small hassle). Paying Russian taxes has been more difficult than we expected. After visiting six different offices, we now think we know what needs to be done, but aren't sure if it is possible to file them by the deadline, which is the end of April. Getting Vera's photo placed in Tonya's passport has turned into a problem, with two different government offices telling us that the other office is the one that should do it. Since we hope to travel outside of Russia at the end of May, we need to get this resolved. Your prayers are appreciated.

Cecil continues to test the limits of his Russian. He even went to a barber shop without a translator and came back looking better than before.

By His Grace,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy & Vera

papers & places

Dear Friends,

this afternoon we are leaving to visit a town called Novi Orgal. By car you cannot get there from here. There are no roads to that area. So we are taking a train. It sounds like an adventure, but really everything is rather safe and settled. Novi Orgal is a major producer of railroad ties. There is a church there that has been building their own building (the local authorities would deny them the ability to rent a theater or gym for their services, so this is very important to them). They started construction but finances were a problem. A church in the States heard about it and have provided the money to finish the project. So were are going there to visit, take photos and encourage them.

Tonya was very busy a week ago translating for the local Bible School. They meet for a month in the spring and an month in the fall. Most of the students are already involved in ministry and want to have a Biblical Education as well. Cecil stays busy in class studying the Russian language (so much progress has been made, but oh, so much more to learn). He also has been working on the electric system in the apartment (it's not exactly up to American standards).

We would ask you to pray for God to solve some problems we are having with documents. We've managed to keep everything legal, but the Russian red tape is amazing. Cecil wants to pay his Russian taxes, and has until the end of April to do it, but the process of just finding where to pay is not yet complete. Vera also needs her photo placed in Tonya's Russian passport, but one office will send us to another and so on. Cecil's address registration needs to be redone and the car reregistered. Maybe God's Angels can guide us through it with no more hassles.

Or, we could send Vera-crocodile to eat them all.

Also, please pray for Cecil's Russian teacher and his classmates. Some of them have shown interest in spiritual matters, and he has even had a long, meaningful discussion with his teacher.

There is always time for playing in the park.

Blessings,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy & Vera