it's been less than four weeks since we returned to Khabarovsk as a family. We marked the kids' height on a door frame before we left and after we returned. While we were in the States Timothy grew 7 inches, Vera grew 4 inches and Deanna grew 3. It's good to be back. The kids were sure glad to see their friends.
That's Tim in the middle.
One night we played Bible Charades with their friends. Can you guess which Bible scene is being acted out?
Deanna and Vera with a friend, Sasha.
We have our Speed-The-Light van out of storage. It didn't want to start at first, but with new glow plugs, fresh diesel, and an oil change, it is ready to go. We had a warm front come in and it looked like snow, so I put the snow tires on. It turns out we didn't need them yet, even after two days of blowing a 40 mph breeze, we only got a dusting of snow. Somehow in my mind when it's freezing outside there should be snow on the ground. The locals just laugh and tell me that winter hasn't gotten here yet.
Other than settling in as a family, the big activity for us is the search for a property to buy for the Far East Ministry Center. We've looked at a couple dozen places so far, and are still looking. While some places are obviously not the right place, the final decision of what to buy will be a group decision. Last week we hosted a mini-conference to hammer out the details of our agreement with the national church and to do some listening to the local leadership. On the left with the beard is the Bishop for the Russian Far East, on the right you can see the back of the head of Rick, my supervisor, and the guy in the red shirt is the director of the Bible Institute in Khabarovsk (they plan to use the Ministry Center a lot), the others are local pastors.
That's me in the yellow shirt. Glasses? Yes, I've started to need those if I want to read anything closer than the length of my arms.
The meetings were very successful in bringing unity and vision to the group. Please pray that the Lord would show us the place that He has in mind.
On Sunday we had graduation ceremonies for eight students graduating from the Bible Institute. They are receiving a government recognized four year degree. It is a serious study program, and most of the students are already involved with full time ministry. Now that they have graduated, that leaves about forty students in the program in Khabarovsk. I once heard ordination defined as empty hands laid on empty heads. Even though I may be empty-handed, (and this was not an ordination ceremony), I know these graduates are not empty-headed. God has a clear call on each of their lives. There is a shortage of trained pastors and leaders in the Russian church, and the Bible Institute is one of the best tools we have.
Deanna continues to heal nicely from her bicycle accident. The only thing that continues to need attention is broken hinges on her jaw. The Lord has provided a doctor here in Khabarovsk who is treating her. To make her jaw symmetrical again, she needs to wear a device in her mouth when sleeps and for a couple hours a day. We laugh that it's the only time we can keep her quiet.
Deanna's been enrolled in public school and her biggest problem there is that she's forgotten how to speak Russian. Amazing that a year and a half ago she didn't speak a word of English, and now that's all she speaks. Tim and Vera are being home-schooled. They've had no problem with their Russian, but all our home-school curriculum is English.
One big prayer request is for my resident permit. The local office cannot tell us when we will hear back from the regional office. If my application is approved, I'll be able to stay in Russia. If we don't hear back soon, then I'll need to leave the country before Christmas. We'd rather all stay together, so please pray that my application will be approved within the next couple of weeks.
Shalom,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna
