Conference over, Christmas to come

Dear Friends,

thank you for your prayers. Aaron and Beth have been issued visas to return to Russia, but the new visa law has placed new limitations on them. Their visas are multi-entry and good for six months, but of those six months they may only spend three of them in Russia. Therefore they will need to be outside of Russia for three of the next six months. We do not yet have plans in place for them for the time they cannot be in Russia. Please pray for us to have wisdom about what to do.

Our documents for Deanna's adoption have been received and a hearing has been set for December 21. They only require one more document: proof that Tonya has income. Although Cecil's income is well above the requirement for adoption, they want Tonya to show income as well. Please pray that Tonya can find a job in the next several days.

The pastor's conference went well. Attendance was 90 people, which is about twenty more than last year. Two of our speakers were Americans and both experienced divine assistance in receiving their Russian visas. We had several wonderful Russian speakers as well. Here is a photo of Kerby speaking to the group.

In addition to teaching and preaching we had time of fellowship, good food and worship. Here is a photo of a special game time. We introduced the pastors to some games that can be used to minister.

Those who attended seemed to be refreshed, built up and encouraged to return to their ministries. A great big thank you to all of our supporters. It was by your financial assistance that we were able to do this conference.

We've put up a Christmas tree. Christmas is a minor holiday in Russia (Elf has a final scheduled on Christmas day). Most Russians refer to Christmas trees as "New Year trees." But our tree is a "Christmas tree."

2008 is an election year for the president of Russia as well as in the States. A good link about the leading candidate in the Russian presidential elections is http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb20071211_494032.htm He has a reputation for being family oriented. Please pray for the Russian political process that God would give leaders who will strive for times of peace where we can worship the Lord in freedom and godliness.

Your Family in Russia,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Trips and Trains

Dear Friends,

we had a wonderful time in Novi Orgal. Beth, Aaron and Elf have all learned to travel on Russian trains, and now can boast of having been on the Tran-Siberian railway. It was also Deanna's first trip on a train. Timothy and Vera helped show the newbies what to do.

A lady from church came along with us (shown standing between Elf and Beth). We were expecting to do outreach among some youth that we had met before, but none of them showed up. However, several other folks came to our meeting, and we felt quite successful. The entire team participated in speaking (with Tonya translating).

We also got to take a look at the new church building they are constructing for themselves. They've done a lot of work on the interior recently. Here's a photo of Cecil and Aaron in what will be their sanctuary.

They've also added a room on the back that will be a utility/furnace room. Over a year ago a church in the States gave an offering to help with the construction of this building. The Church in Novi Orgal has stretched those funds and have something to show for it. For more on this story look at our blog at http://eshelman.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html and http://eshelman.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

Please pray for this church to grow, and for them to be able to hook up to electrical power soon.

Our team had a great Thanksgiving Day feast, with turkey and all the traditional dishes. We played games, put a puzzle together, told stories, and just had a wonderful family-like time together. No pictures though, we were just too relaxed.

We've about had our fill of sending out mail. Last month we were busy sending out invitations to the pastor's conference,

right now we are stuffing envelopes with our latest newsletter. You should be getting it in the mail in about two-three weeks. Please pray for the pastor's conference. It starts on Tuesday (in two days) and there are endless details to keep track of. Right now we have 92 people registered to be there (if you include Cecil and Tonya).

We have a couple of major prayer requests. Aaron and Beth are in Mongolia right now attempting to get new visas to Russia. There was a new law passed that is creating a great deal of confusion. In the past an American could get a visa in five days (or faster for an extra fee). On Friday I received the following email from them:

Cecil,

We took our documents to the Russian Consulate on November 29th.

On December 10th at 12:20 p.m. we will have an answer to whether or not the Russian Consulate in Ulan-Bator will issue us religious worker visas.

If the answer is yes, we will be issued visas that day.

But if the answer is no.....

We asked the man who took our documents why this information was still posted at the consulate: $200 per person for visas issued within 5 days. He replied, "Things change." (We gave him $400).

The man who took our documents had many questions for us. He first asked us, "Where is Novi Orgal?"

He especially seemed concerned that in working with Royal Rangers we are not working with the Russian Orthodox church.

Oh, we must do something about our return flights from Irkutsk to Khabarovsk on December 11th...

Please pray.

Aaron & Beth

We ask you to please pray that the Russian consulate will issue them their visas, and that they have no problem rescheduling their flight. This is a difficult situation, being in a strange country and not knowing what is going to happen.

Here is a photo of them on the train during our trip to Novi Orgal.

Also, tomorrow we submit an application (with all supporting documents) to a court for Deanna's adoption. Please pray that everything will be found to be in order and that no new problems arise.

Because of Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera & Deanna