yes, we've had snow here in Russia. The Amur River is frozen over. Here's a picture of the kids standing on the river. No danger, the ice must be at least ten inches thick and we were unable to brake a hole in it even when we tried.
We've had some important meetings here. We're in the process of purchasing a property to use as a ministry center. It will be able to host the Bible Institute, church offices, meetings and various ministries. Several local churches are working together to support this project. So we hosted a series of meetings in our home to gain vision, form unity and work out the details. On the last Saturday in November we had a meeting where we chose the property we think the Lord would have us to purchase. Here's a photo of me with the pastors at the meeting.
The negotiations for the purchase are going well. Since the property will be in the name of the Russian Evangelical Church, the Russian leaders are taking over most of the project at this point. We hope to send you some photos of the property soon. Please pray that everything continues to go well, and that participation of the local churches continues to grow.
Thanksgiving! Yes, we had a great Thanksgiving with some friends. We even found some frozen turkeys. They were only five pounds each, so we bought three of them. After the meal we were treated to a play that was completely created and directed and acted in by the children. Here is an Indian teaching the Pilgrims how to plant food.
We also went to the Open Heart homeless shelter and put on a Thanksgiving meal. Folks from three different local churches gave us a hand in preparing the food and with the presentation. The homeless shelter now has two locations, with 85 residents in one place and 35 at their new location. We went to the larger center, and it takes a lot of cooking to make beef stew for 85 people, along with hard boiled eggs, oranges, dessert, bread and tea (in Russia, you gotta have bread and tea to make it a meal). Before we ate our team led some songs and I told the tale of the first Thanksgiving.
This homeless shelter is more than just a shelter. Every morning starts with a prayer meeting, and every evening there is a church service in the dinning hall. It is a truly Christian community. It is also overcrowded. Right now some people are sleeping on the floor between the tables in the dinning hall. They also need to build a bath house. Some funds for construction are coming in from an appeal that was published last summer. We hope to find more ways to help with this need.
One thing that I noticed that bothered me was the shortage of winter shoes. Some of the residents only had sandals, which are totally inadequate in the snow. One of the ladies from a local church who came with us to help noticed this also and mentioned it to me. Her church and our ministry partnered together to provide 20 new winter shoes. Yesterday we visited the second shelter. We weren't able to prepare an entire meal, but we took oranges. After the evening service we gave the shoes to the director of this center. He methodically passed out some shoes to those who needed them, and will pass the rest on to the other shelter.
Here you can compare new shoes and an old shoe that was being used.
Our biggest prayer request right now is for my resident permit. It has not yet been approved, although it is in process in the government migration office. Tonya has contacted several government officials and they say they would like to help, but can't do much for us. There is one more official she has not spoken with yet who might be able to assist us. He is the chief of the central migration office for our Krai (like a State). His office hours are 4:00 to 5:00 pm on Mondays. Please pray that she would be able to meet with him this Monday and that he would expedite the processing of this document.
Since time on my visa is running out, I have purchased tickets to leave Russia on Dec. 16 and return on January 7th. I won't miss Christmas with my family because Christmas in Russia is on January 7th. My arrangements are to go to Moldova for three weeks and help with some ministry there. I'm hoping a miracle happens and I'll be able to just stay here. Thank you for your prayers in this matter.
Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna
