In Russia, I Am One

Dear Friends,

In Russian, you can use the word "one" to mean alone. So, to say "I am alone" you say "I am one." Right now, alas, I am one. Everyone else stayed with Deanna to help her heal up from the bicycle accident.

I've managed to submit an application and all the supporting documents for a resident permit to live in Russia. They said I should hear back in six months or less. Please pray that it gets approved in lot less time. A resident permit (much like the American "green card") would allow me to live here without leaving the country. The present visa regime in Russia requires that I leave every three months out of six. Going through the application process was much easier than I expected, it only took about ten days of visiting government offices, having documents translated, seeing doctors, etc.

The first Sunday I was here the pastor asked me to preach a short sermon (many evangelical churches here have two sermons in a service, a short one and a long one). There was no translator there that morning, so I told him it would be only five or ten minutes. I spoke from the first three verses of the first psalm. Everyone kindly looked like they understood what I was saying in Russian. I hope it really did make sense.

We have a good report for Deanna. She is healing quickly, and the doctor is even letting her eat soft foods like macaroni. Please pray that she will be allowed to travel soon, so that we can all be in Russia by the end of October.

Fall is definitely here, and you can feel that winter is just around the corner. After the rush of getting everything done for my resident permit, I had some free time to take some walks around the city. Here is Lenin square. Most cities in Russia have a place downtown called Lenin square.

I actually enjoyed riding on the city busses and streetcars. Probably after a year I won't be enjoying them anymore. I guess I missed them while I was in the States.

I have tickets to return to the States on the 7th of October. Lord willing, I'll soon be on my way back to Khabarovsk - with my family this time!

Because of Him,
Cecil

In Russia Alone

Dear Friends,

I am writing this email while sitting in our apartment in Russia. I arrived on the 14th and my luggage arrived on the 16th of September. The rest of the family is staying in North Carolina until Deanna is able to travel. I plan to return to North Carolina in four weeks to be with them again (I'm already looking forward to it). We hope to all be in Russia before the end of October.

Deanna continues to heal well, and is in great spirits. Thank you so much for your prayers.

One thing that we did during my last week in the States is write another newsletter. It is posted in pdf format at http://hqmail.agmd.org/~cecil.eshelman/NL2009September.pdf

Please pray for Tonya as she stays with Timothy, Vera and Deanna. She'll be leading home schooling (which we expected to start in Russia, but, well, it's time for school to start even if they're still in the States).

I'll try to stay in touch while I get our household set up and tend to some other tasks in Khabarovsk. One goal is to get everything ready to submit an application for a Russian resident permit (like an American "green card"). If I can get a resident permit, I won't need to keep applying for new Russian visas.

Blessings,
Cecil

Bumps in the Road

Dear Friends,

we had tickets to fly to Russia today. Now we have a new plan. Deanna's bike accident rearranged our schedule. For a while it seemed we were going two directions at once, now we actually are. Deanna won't be able to travel for another five to seven weeks. So Tonya will stay in the States with the kids while Cecil goes and takes care of some things in Russia. He will leave in one week, on Saturday, and be in Khabarovsk for four weeks. Then he will return and the whole family will go to Russia together. We don't like being apart, but it looks like this will be the best under the circumstances.

There has been an outpouring of concern and sympathy for Deanna. Thank you so much for your prayers, they are being answered. Deanna is healing very well. She's only able to eat mush, but some mush isn't bad, especially the milkshakes and smoothies. She's not in pain any more. She's sleeping a lot at night, active during the day, and less worried about her chin than we are.

We really have sensed the presence of the Lord through all of this, and He has been good to us. Our schedule got thrown to the wind, so we just started living day by day, and everything has worked out. There are many bumps in the road of life, and this was just one of them.

We've been doing a repacking of suitcases: get out the homeschooling stuff since we need that now, put other books in Cecil's for him to leave in Russia, etc. But all of that is just details. Deanna's chin will heal, we will all get back to Khabarovsk, our ministry will continue, and our family will be stronger because of it.

One of the main goals for Cecil's trip to Russia is to submit an application for him to get a resident permit for Russia (much like our American "Green Card"). There is a lot involved with this, and it will take much of his four weeks to get everything ready. The complete medical examination will be a special nightmare of it's own. Other documents must be prepared, translated, and finally submitted. When everything is submitted it will take the Russian government a while to look it over (maybe six months or more). When issued, the resident permit will allow him to stay in Russia without need for a visa. Please pray for this whole process, which Cecil will start as right after arriving in Khabarovsk.

Please pray for Tonya as she leads homeschool and watches the family while Cecil is gone (September 12 until October 7).

Thank you so much for your prayers and your support.

Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna