God Answers Prayer

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow we will start a week of camping on an island located between Khabarovsk and China. It is the same island we camped on last year, but the China/Russia border has moved and we will be even closer to China this time. This camp is organized by the church here and Tonya and Cecil will be counseling a group of boys (all energy). Timothy will be with a different group of boys. Vera will be camping too, but since she is too young to join a group she'll be staying in a tent with a young lady who will be watching her. The camp goes for one week. Please pray for our energy, and for every child at the camp to draw near to God.

There is a young lady named Zenia whom Tonya has been discipling. She has been coming to our home one evening a week this year. After meeting with Tonya for a while she decided to put her faith in Jesus, and later was baptized. She was doing very well until her brother died and she started drinking again. While we were in Novokuznetsk for two weeks she dropped out of church. Her home is a small house in the southern side of Khabarovsk, about an hour's drive from our home. One week we drove there, praying we would catch her at home (they don't have a phone). We found her awake and sober, she admitted that she had been drinking with her sisters constantly for the last two weeks, but now they were out of money. She came home with us. Two of the guys from a Christian rehab center happened to come to our home to help Cecil with a repair project that day, and we got them talking with Zenia. She visited their local center and talked with some folks there. She was willing to go through the program (it is like a Teen Challenge). When we went to get her things from her home her sisters tried to talk her out of it, but she remained committed (thankfully her mother was at work at that moment). On Thursday she got on a train (with one of the workers) and headed to a center in a different town that had an opening. We ask that you would pray for Zenia.and the center where she is (called "House of Life"). She has taken a big step, but the hard work is still ahead.

On the Sunday before we went to Zenia's home we were talking on the phone to a church that supports us. Well, we talked with the pastor while the congregation listened. It was 2:15 a.m. for us, but during the regular worship time for them. We mentioned Zenia's situation to them and they prayed. Afterward everything went so smoothly, I'm still amazed. Not every time that you pray for your missionaries do you see such an obvious answer, but know that your prayers for your missionaries are indeed answered.

Speaking if prayer requests, we've had several different sources ask about possible short-term missions teams coming to the Russian Far East. We are starting to explore some options, so please pray that the Lord would guide us in what kind of teams should come and how to host them so as to most effectively build the Kingdom of God here.

In addition to prayer requests, we also praise the Lord. He has been so good to us, and it is an honor to serve him.





















Tim and Vera by a village well.

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy & Vera

Novokuznetsk: vacation ministry

Dear Friends,

right now we are in the city of Novokuznetsk. It is Tonya's home city, and the place where we were married. We've been here almost two weeks now. Officially we are on vacation, but after arriving we received several ministry invitations. Cecil has preached six times and we've done a presentation at an orphanage. We tried to take photos of ourselves ministering, but the camera stopped working.

But God has blessed our "working vacation." We were able to take the train to Novosibirsk and visit with the Matthes family. They are good friends of ours and also work with AGWM. We went to the zoo together. Here is a photo of our kids.

They shipped a container of personal goods to themselves (furniture and such). After more than ten months it has finally arrived. Now they are processing the documents to get it released by the custom's department. Please pray that everything would go smoothly and they would get their stuff without any further hassles.

One of Tonya's cousins got married while we were here and we were able to visit the wedding. We skipped the after wedding activities since there is generally heavy drinking following a wedding. Many wedding parties in Russia end in fistfights. The bride's father (Tonya's uncle by marriage) has never had someone in his family die a natural death, all his relative's deaths have been alcohol related. However the wedding ceremony was quite nice. Tonya's grandfather came, wearing the medals he earned during World War II.


Before leaving for vacation we were hard at work doing summer-type repair and renovations. Summer is short in Russia, so there is no time to waste. Here is a photo of Cecil, Tim and Vera painting the metal frame around our garage door.


The vision the Lord has given us for work among the orphans as they graduate from the orphanages has become more and more clear, however, the situation is more complicated than we originally expected when coming to Khabarovsk. There is a law forbidding Bible instruction in orphanages, however, each orphanage director interprets it differently. Thus, each orphanage requires a separate approach. We need to develop relationships with orphanage personnel over time, so that they come to trust us. We write this simply to let you know how much we appreciate your support and to ask for prayer as we shift from “settling in” to reaching out, from preparing for ministry into ministering. We are so much in need of God’s wisdom and guidance at this time. May the Peace of the Lord be with you.

Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy & Vera