We have been traveling around quite a bit, but have settled into a home in Greensboro, North Carolina. A church - Calvary Assembly - has a house for missionaries to stay at for free. We still have a little settling in to do (just got the phone and internet set up) but we're are starting to set up a routine. We really appreciated having a home waiting for us when we arrived, fully furnished and everything.
Before arriving in North Carolina we visited Cecil's folks in Colorado. Seeing family was our first priority upon returning to the States. Deanna has now met all her family except a few cousins. One our way to Colorado we stopped at the St. Louis arch.
Last week school started. Timothy in fourth grade, Vera in second and Deanna started first grade. They are all excited about it, and we hope they stay excited as long as possible. Deanna's English language skills are advancing quickly. Here is a photo of them getting on the bus. 
We have watched the news about the conflict in the Republic of Georgia with great concern. We lived in Georgia for two years - 2001 to 2003 - and have been to several of the cities that were bombed, such as Gori and Poti. Cecil even preached in a church in a village on the edge of South Ossetia. We never would have though Ossetia would be headline news. So we know people in the Georgian military. Having lived in Russia we also know people in the Russian military. It was grievous to think that they would be shooting at each other. At this point we don't know if anyone we know has been killed. We thank the Lord that the shooting has stopped, and pray that all the armed forces would return home.The conflict there is nothing new, but it was quiet while we lived in Georgia. We did some relief work among the refuges from the Abkhaz conflict. The Abkhaz conflict was in '92-'93 and there were still refuges in '01-'03 living in very depressing conditions. After doing work among refuges you come to see war in a different light. There is no glory in war.
We've begun to itinerate among churches and give missions presentations. Here is a photo of us at Vineyard Assembly dressed up in our traditional Russian outfits.
This coming year we are available for missions presentations for churches, schools or whoever would like us to come. Please pray for us to have a full calendar and lots of ministry until we return to Russia (next August, Lord willing). Also, that the Lord would speak through us and bless the people who hear us speak.
Our new mailing address is:
1673 Pleasant Ridge Road
Greensboro, NC 27409
And if anyone needs it, our home phone is 336-617-8144.
Jason, our co-worker, is at this moment aboard a plane on his way to Russia. He will be keeping the ministry going while we are State-side. He is returning on a student visa and will continue to study the Russian language. Please pray for him and his reentry to Russian culture and language.
We have a special prayer request from Sergei and the Christian Homeless Shelter. There was a court hearing that ruled that he hadn't received the proper permits to construct the building for the shelter and was told to remove the building. They have appealed to another court. Please pray that they would be given permission to keep the building.
We also need to get a newsletter out. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to inspire us with the right words while we write.
We've had some problems with transferring information over to our new computer, so if you know of someone who seems to have dropped off our emailing list, please let me know.
In His Service,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna
