bureaucratic miracle

Dear Friends,

yesterday we experienced a miracle. In the morning the passport office asked us to come by in the evening. On Thursday we had submitted an application for Deanna's passport, so we assumed there was a problem with the application . Tonya ran in while I parked the van. When Tonya came out with Deanna's passport I almost fell out of the car door. Deanna's passport had been completed in five days.

When I renewed my Russian driver's license it took me three days to submit the application (three visits to the police office) and then after it was submitted it took eight days of processing it before it was ready. Ten days just to renew a driver's license. Passports usually take a month, and this one was issued in five days (only three business days). Tonya and I are still in awe of what God has done.

So what if they came up with a new way to spell her name?

Now we are ready to apply for her American visa. Thank you for your prayers.

To God be the Glory,
Cecil

Quick Praise Report

Dear Friends,

sometimes God answers prayer so quickly it makes your head spin. On Wednesday we sent out a prayer request regarding Deanna's documents. We need two things for her to return to the States with us for home service starting this summer: her passport (from the Russian government) and her visa (from the American government). And we need them soon since Cecil's Russian visa expires June 20th and we need to buy tickets.

The process of receiving a Russian passport takes a month. Tonya went to the passport office yesterday (Thursday) and the line was very short (in Russia that alone is amazing). Tonya needed to speak with different officers. The first was to pick up a document we needed to prove Deanna's citizenship. This lady had been very helpful by processing the document faster than usual. Tonya was able to give her a copy of the book "Son of Man" by Alexander Menn, a Russian Orthodox priest who was killed for preaching the Gospel (sorry, but it hasn't been translated into English yet). The second was to submit the documents to get the passport. This lady also was very polite and helpful. But the response of the director of the office that was most amazing. She was very interested and touched by the story of Deanna's adoption, and mentioned that Deanna is lucky to be adopted into a good family, and agreed to process the passport in one week (and didn't even hint at wanting a gift).

We contacted the American Consulate in Vladivostok about getting a 2-year visa to the States for Deanna (not an immigrant visa, that is a whole different matter). They first stated that Deanna we not eligible for a non-immigrant visa to the United States since she might become an illegal immigrant, and the tone was quite negative. After sending our last prayer request out, Cecil asked if we were able to show that the whole family was returning to Russia, would she then be eligible? Their response was yes, if we could provide documents proving our ties to Russia and showing we would return, and this time the tone was quite positive. So now Cecil is gathering documents showing we own property here, own a vehicle here, have Russian driver's licenses, have Russian bank accounts, and getting a letter from AGWM that after a year of home service we will be returning to Russia as part of our jobs.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. It is true that we don't yet have the documents in our hands, but we sense that the Lord as given us favor on all sides.

Praise the Lord.

In His Blessed Name,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

God is in Control (It's all about Him, anyway)

Dear Friends,



This is Holy Week in Russia, since Orthodox Easter falls on April 27 this year.



We want to share with you some wonderful things that have been happening, a story from Cecil's trip to Mongolia, and then a situation of uncertainty where we need prayer.



In our previous email update we mentioned a family that lives in our apartment building. While the mother is still gone, the father and two girls have continued to attend church (the father goes with Cecil to the men's meeting). The father has continued to not drink or smoke. It is neat to watch as the whole atmosphere in the home changes. The older girl was telling us about waking up in the morning hearing her younger sister explaining to her father what Easter is about since had to work on Palm Sunday and the girls had attended with us and heard the story at church. In the past she usually was awoken by sounds of scolding and cursing when her dad would return from the night shift. They are coming from a situation of absolutely no spiritual knowledge and God is now laying a totally new foundation. They had never heard such common stories as the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, what happened on Palm Sunday or even what happened on Easter. They still have a long way to go, so please pray for them, especially for them to get firmly connected with a church so they continue after we leave this summer.



We want to thank the Lord for how he is in control of our orphanage ministry. We've had people from three different churches join with us. It looks like they will be able to continue the weekly lessons while we are gone. Tonya feels we have planted a lot of seed, but we haven't seen much fruit in the children yet. However, we've been talking with the teachers there about spiritual subjects for a long time. A month ago two teachers gave their hearts to the Lord, and on a day we weren't even there. We feel much more peace knowing that we aren't needed to keep the ministry going. Hey, it's not about us.



Here is one of the orphanage ministry guys witnessing to a teacher last December.


Cecil thought of another story he wanted to share from his trip to Mongolia. He arrived by train to Ulan Bataar on a Sunday morning and was able to get to a Church service. He attended Hope Church, which he worked with 12 years ago when he was teaching at the Bible School. One of his former students is now the pastor. The next Sunday Cecil had already turned in his paperwork with the Russian Consulate, and having two weeks to wait, went to the countryside to help his old buddy, Chris. Chris has a ministry to the nomads and is in the process of moving his family from Moron (a town in Western Mongolia) to Tetsentsingl (a small village way out there). So he attended church in Tetsentsingl. It was the first time there had ever been a church service in that village. You could call it a house church, except that it met in a ger (round white tent) where a family of believers live. Including Cecil there were seven adults. Chris says they have nine adults attending now. The next Sunday Cecil attended a church in Moron since he needed to catch a plane back to Ulan Bataar that afternoon. It is a young church, but they have already built their own building and it is pastured by a Mongol. What a special experience to get to worship in three healthy, but very different, churches all in one short trip.



As an update on our Khabarovsk mission team. Aaron and Beth are in the Republic of Georgia, staying busy and doing well. Due to the Russian visa situation they do not plan to return to Russia, but will finish their term in Georgia and go straight back to the States. Jason is in the States and has raised the funds he needs to return to Khabarovsk as a Missionary Associate, but is waiting on his visa. Please pray that Jason's visa will be issued soon. He is eager to return. Elf continues to learn Russian and is active in ministering to the students in her dormitory. She plans to return to the States after her semester is over, but is still seeking the Lord as to what her next step should be.



We are facing a situation of uncertainly created by a clash of documents. Cecil's visa will expire on June 20th and he must be out of the country when that happens. Deanna's documents have been very slow in processing. We still have one more document to receive before we can apply for her to get a passport. That document should be ready tomorrow morning. If it is, then we should be able to start the application process for getting her passport tomorrow afternoon. That process takes about a month. After that we will need to apply for Deanna to receive a visa to the United States, which takes a week or two (assuming there are no problems with the U.S. Consulate). Then we need to buy tickets for Deanna. But Cecil needs to buy tickets soon to insure their availability. It is possible we may need to split the family up, but we'd rather not. We will continue to have a lot of documents to deal with until we are able to get Deanna U.S. citizenship. Please pray for the Lord to work out all the details.




A little political news from Russia:
Russia is soon to change presidents. Mr. Putin leaves office May 7, when he will be succeeded by his protégé, Dmitry Medvedev. Mr. Putin will stay on as prime minister, putting him in a position to influence future policy.



We thank you all for your faithful support, prayers and love.



Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Back and Forth

Dear Friends,

Cecil has returned from Mongolia with a new visa for Russia. He was only issued a 90 day visa, but that's O.K. since we plan to return to the States at the end of June. He was gone for just over three weeks. While he was there he not only went to the Russian Consulate to do business, but he headed out to the countryside to visit an old friend of his named Chris. Seventeen years ago they lived together in a tent while working at a Boys' Camp in North Carolina, and now they went camping in Mongolia. Chris has lived in Mongolia about thirteen years now, and is moving further out into the countryside as he tries to reach the nomads with the Good News. Since Cecil had to wait two weeks for his visa to be issued, he went out and helped Chris build a new house for his family. They are living in a ger (round white felt tent) and had Cecil stay with them. That's a photo of Cecil and Chris in front of the ger, which is in front of the wooden house Chris is building.

They did a little traveling around together. Did you know that there are ten times as many sheep as people in Mongolia? And lots of cows, goats and horses too. Cecil got to see some of them.

Cecil also had his birthday (March 23rd) while he was there. Here he is in Chris's ger with a cake they cooked for him.

While Cecil was gone the rest of the family had some adventures too. There is a family in our apartment building that has been torn with divorce several years ago. The parents continue to live in the same apartment because they can't afford to buy another and split up. So finally the mother of the family went to a city on the opposite side of Russia expecting to inherit some property. She left the two girls (10 and 15 years old) with their father here. The youngest has been attending Sunday School with our kids for several months, made a decision for Christ and has been praying for her family. The father began drinking and it became unsafe for the girls to stay at home so they moved in with Tonya and the kids. The first night they stayed at our house the older girl gave her heart to the Lord. Two weeks later a minister from a local church went with Tonya to talk with the father and he decided to repent and follow Jesus. He stopped drinking. Next Sunday he accompanied his youngest daughter to church while the older one attended a different church with Elf. Since then he has not been drinking or smoking and has been reading his Bible and attending church. Cecil returned from Mongolia on Sunday evening and they went together to a Christian men's meeting on Thursday. This has been an amazing change in his life and the family is undergoing a complete transformation. Please pray for this family, and particularly their mother who is not saved yet.

Also while Cecil was gone two wonderful professors, Everett and Evelyn McKinney, stayed at our house. Tonya translated for Evelyn at the Bible Institute in the mornings. They were a blessing to have around and helped with the kids and even cooked pancakes. We thank God that he has given us a big enough home to house our family, two troubled sisters and two teachers all at the same time.

On Tuesday Elf had her birthday. She turned the big 19. We are very proud of this young lady who came all the way from the States to help us. She was certainly a big help to Tonya and the kids while Cecil was gone.

When asked what kind of birthday cake she wanted, she flipently said she wanted one like a map of Russia. So that's what Tonya made.

Pretty close, huh?

Just before he left to get his new Russian visa, Cecil finished our latest newsletter. It took a while for the rest of the family to get all the stamps on the envelopes and the letters in the mail, but they are all mailed out now. You can take a look at the web version at http://hqmail.agmd.org/~tonya.eshelman/NL2008-1/NL2008-1.html if you want to.

We plan to return to the States at the end of June to spend one year of home service. We will be itinerating among churches to raise missions awareness and financial support for our ministry. We have a lot to do to be ready to go back, packing up and scheduling services. We are still waiting on some documents to process so that we can get Deanna a passport, and then we'll need to get her a visa to come to the States. Please pray for as we schedule services that our time will be fruitful and that this will be a powerful time of ministry. Please also pray for us to bring everything to a close and tie up all the loose ends here so that the transition will be smooth and not too stressful.

Because of Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna