First, the big news: our guinea pigs have had babies. All four are in good health and will be sold to the pet store for others to enjoy as soon as they are old enough.
We are also in good health, although a bit tired from all the action that that has been going in.
Usually we have a couple of foreign guests every four months or so. In the five weeks we've hosted eight foreigners. They've all come from a restricted access country to help us out here in Russia, so I can't include any of their photos. The first group was a family team who spent a week in a Nanian village north of us. The Nanian are a mostly unreached people group that live in the Russian Far East and in North-Eastern China along the rivers.
The other guests are teaching at the Theological Institutes in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (about six hours north of us) and in Khabarovsk. These extension centers are one of our best tools for training pastors and other ministers here. It is difficult to get good teachers to come this way, so we are very glad to have these visiting professors. 
One week ago we had an adventure. I was to meet arriving professors at 5:30 am, however, the flight was late. We had already purchased bus tickets for them to go to Komsomolsk, leaving at 9:20 am. At 9:05 I called their translator - who was at the bus station - and told her to return the tickets since it takes 15 minutes for me to drive to the bus station. At 9:10 our guests came out of customs. Shortly after that the translator called me back with some news: the bus goes from the station to the airport before leaving town, so I told her to get on the bus. I quickly helped our guests to use an ATM, buy some bottled water, and carry their luggage to the bus stop. We were just walking up to the bus stop as the bus pulled up. I introduced them to the translator and sent them all on their way. Whewh.
We had received a box of Chinese language Fire Bibles, and there is a Chinese language church in Khabarovsk (Fire Bibles are Bibles with commentary, know as "Life in the Spirit Study Bibles" in English). The church in China is growing rapidly, and there are few materials to explain doctrinal issues in China. So I asked a Chinese speaking guest to help me deliver the Bibles. We didn't know if they would know what a study Bible is, and if they would accept them, so we went in with only two Bibles. After greeting their leader, my translator held out a Fire Bible. When the leader saw the Fire Bible she got big eyes, held it to her forehead, made a half bow, and talked in Chinese. I had no idea what was going on. My translator explained that she had said, "I've seen this Bible before and some of my friends have them. Will you please give it go me as a gift?" What fun it was to bring in a box with twelve of them. When we told her this was for the church here, she said, "Oh no, not just for us, there are seventy churches just across the border in China, they need them too."
Please pray for us to get more Fire Bibles to the places they are needed.
Three weeks ago we had the dedication and grand opening for the Far East Ministry Center. Locally it has come to be called Hope Center. So that's what I'll be calling it myself. The dedication went well: we worshipped, we heard sermons, we listened to testimonies, we prayed, and we had dinner. We even had a TV reporter come and interview the Bishop.
The center is now busy petty constantly. Here's some photos of a Bible School that is meeting there.
In parts of Russia the rate of HIV infection has risen by 700 percent since 2006. There is a general lack of good information about AIDS here, and so we hosted an AIDS conference at Hope Center in October. Local rehab centers, the homeless shelter and some churches sent representatives. One of the many things I learned was that HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis often run together. On Monday after the conference was over we took our keynote speaker to Open Heart Homeless Shelter to speak. Afterwards one of the new men there asked to talk with me, he admitted that he had HIV, Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis. Please pray that the church here become prepared to minister out of God's compassion to those who are suffering during this rising epidemic.
As renovations at Hope Center are winding down, time has come to use it for ministry. I've started showing Christ-centered movies for young people every Thursday evening. We're targeting older orphans who have graduated from the Russian orphanage system. We have some workers already helping us, but please pray for more good helpers to join the team. Also, pray that we can get our own projector system and movie screen.
About twenty years ago I read the book "Celebration of Discipline" which profoundly impacted me. I still clearly remember a quote from the book, "Busyness is not of the Devil, it is the Devil." While that may not be a theological truth, it certainly is a lifestyle truth. Personally, we have found ourselves doing more running around and doing busyness than is healthy. Just like Jesus told Martha, "thou are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful..." We have decided to try to do more by doing less. Please pray for us as we strive to increase our prayer time and keep our personal lives more in order.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We couldn't do much here if it wasn't for those back home who are sending us. God bless you.
Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna
