Victory Day, and other victories.

Dear Friends,

the orphan seminar we organized went very well. There were several speakers, and all did an excellent job. We enjoyed the interaction as well as the quality of information that was presented. Thank you for your prayers. We hope to host an even larger seminar in the fall.

Earlier this month we asked for prayer that the materials for an anti-drug, anti-smoking program be released from customs. The materials were released, but it cost us much more than we expected. We rejoice that this resource is now available here, and will continue to pray for government officials in Russia.

This weekend we traveled to Novi Orgal. We've been there before to assist with the construction of a church building. This time we were able to hold services there. While the building still isn't finished (still needs a heating system, proper windows, etc.), we're glad to see the progress, and to use it as a place of Worship. This was the first time Leah has traveled on a Russian train, so she got to experience a 14 hour train ride and see a little part of the Trans-Siberian railway. That's her by the train with our kids.

The week before last, we had a visiting professor from Moscow over for dinner. We invited him to speak at Open Heart homeless shelter. He took up the offer, and he spoke to the residents before dinner. Here he is preaching in their summer cafeteria.

He also was given a tour of the center. Presently they are building a bathhouse and laundry facility. It will have some housing/storage on the second floor. Looks like they still need a roof put on it.

Can't forget to mention, Timothy turned 13 this month. He's a big boy now. He had some friends over for pizza, then we all went to the circus.

The 9th of May is one of the biggest holidays in Russia: Victory Day. Never heard of it? It is the date that Nazi Germany was defeated. For the Russians, the war was over. In this photo you can see some troops preparing to lay a wreath in front of this statue. Guess who the statue is of. Yes, if you said Lenin, you were right. Anyway, we joined in some of the celebrations for Victory Day.

The part of Victory Day my kids enjoyed the most was climbing on the military equipment. Here are Vera and Deanna climbing on an old Katusha rocket launcher.

Earlier we asked for prayer in regards to a lawsuit brought against a local church here in Khabarovsk. The church has appealed, and things are now working their way through the legal system. The pastor continues to shepherd his flock at this church, despite the difficulties.

We also have some information about the situation in Novokuznetsk with Tonya's home church.

Tonya's pastor writes:
At the beginning of this year, our church set a goal to pray for a spiritual breakthrough in different areas. At the time, little did we realize what was coming. One after another, we faced numerous attacks which resulted in four different court cases. We thank God for your faithfulness in prayer, and we'd like to ask if you would please pray that God would give us victory in all these situations according to Isaiah 54:17: no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.

1) We have a very good relationship with the city administration in Novokuznetsk. However, in Ossineke, the neighboring city where we have the Teen Challenge Center, there are some government officials who are still trying to close the program. We've had some victories in court, but the battle still continues. There are a few more court cases that will take place in the near future.
2) We're defending an orphan who attends our church and was robbed by a group of men in February of this year. We tried to seek help from the police, but they in turn accused the youth pastor from our church as if he were trying to steal from orphans. It's shocking to see that the police are covering up this crime and are trying to shift the attention away from the criminals and blame the church. We've learned that this type of corruption is prevalent throughout the country. Please pray for the investigation going on right now that God would expose all who are involved in this crime against orphans.

3) We're battling in court for the right to use the land around our church building. The land is owned by the government and by law is to be shared equally by the owners of the buildings. Our neighbor organized an illegal paid parking lot next to our building and is charging the congregation for parking. We're asking the court to close the paid parking lot which will allow us not only to have free parking, but also to bring in a crane to reconstruct the church's roof.

4) The former owner of our church building has illegally obtained documents stating that he is the owner of two rooms within our church building. Recently, he took the church to court saying that we have to reconstruct our sanctuary so that he has easier access to his rooms. In the hearing process, by mistake their lawyer submitted to the judge the false documents which can now be used against them. Please pray that the judge will revoke their falsified ownership papers, and that the church will gain ownership of the two rooms.

We thank you for your ongoing prayers for these things.

Kerby Rials, who served with AGWM in Russia, has created a great new resource for us. It is a book explaining the differences between Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. The Title is "Three Great Churches." He has made an audio book from it (in Russian), that is available for free from his web site. If you know a Russian or plan to visit Russia, feel free to give away copies of the audio book.

http://web.me.com/kerbyrials1/The_Three_Great_Churches/RUSSIAN.html [If that doesn't work, go to www.rials.org, click on the "ORDER BOOK" link next to the picture of the book (lower left hand corner) and then at the next page, click on RUSSIAN at the top.]

You can also order the book itself (English or Russian). If you can't read Russian on the web site, click on the "English" link.

One more prayer request:

A group a pastors recently approached me about what they feel God has instructed them to do this summer. Between Komsomolsk-Na-Amure and Nikolyevesk-Na-Amure there are over eighty population points (most are very small, and some can only be reached by boat in summer). They feel led to do evangelism in every point. This region is called the Lower Amur; along the Amur River from Komsomolsk to where it flows into the Sea of Okhotsk (near the Sea of Japan). Here's a map. Most of the people that live here belong to minority groups, many of which are listed as unreached people groups. This whole outreach is a vision given to the local churches, I am honored to be invited to participate. We will start in June, and I hope to go with one of the teams.

We've previously mentioned the Hosanna plan for Russia. It now has it's own place on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/HosannaPlanRussia

In His Grip,

Cecil,Tonya, Timothy, Vera, and Deanna

Darkness and Light

Dear Friends,

last weekend the Baptist churches in our area were having a conference, and we had a few extra folks stay in our home while they attended. On Sunday evening, one of the ladies - who we didn't know very well - was chatting with Tonya in our kitchen. She suddenly asked, "what is repentance?" Tonya answered, "that's when you make peace with God; would you like to do that?" The lady wanted to do that, so they prayed right there. You just never know when the Lord might use you.

Today is Thursday, and that means Movie Night. Every Thursday we show a good, spiritual movie at Hope Center. After showing a movie we have snacks and tea time. There was a newcomer there tonight, and after tea he asked for prayer. I asked him what he wanted prayer for, and he said, "cleansing from my sins." Since I didn't have a translator with me tonight (Tonya was home with the girls), I asked one of the older ladies at the table to lead him in prayer. With her help he repented of his sins right there. You just never know when the Lord might use you.

A lawsuit was brought against a church in Khabarovsk, accusing them of "psychological manipulation." They were found guilty, the church charter has been dissolved, and the church property is being confiscated by the government, and the pastor ordered not to pastor any more. It is one of the largest churches in the city, and the property is of some value, so someone in the government will be profiting from this. The basis for the decision seems rigged, since it cited examples such as sometimes the lights would be turned low during services, sometimes people would cry, people would "hear from God" (interpreted as the church caused people imagine that they hear voices), and such. This is the first time in Russia that a church has been dissolved for such a reason. Since the definition of "psychological manipulation" seems to be very broad, almost any church could be accused on those grounds. If this case stands, we expect a flood of lawsuits. The decision has been appealed, and the local churches have declared a fast for Friday (tomorrow) to pray for this issue. Your prayers for this would be appreciated.

In partnership with a local church, we have ordered a case of materials for doing an anti-drug, anti-smoking program for schools. The materials have become held up in customs. They are demanding fees that will more than double the cost of materials, as well as proof of why the materials have been ordered and what they will be used for. The entire situation has become quite confusing. Please pray that the the Lord will give us wisdom, and the materials will be released.

On Saturday we will be hosting and presenting a half day seminar on how to minister to kids in the orphanages. It will include sessions on forming foster families (a new concept here in Russia), and taking kids for week-ends or day visits. One of the speakers is being provided by a local government center for helping families. We've had contact with them several times, and they do wonderful work. We have speakers from a number of other organizations as well. Please pray that it is well attended, very helpful to the attendees, and that all the many details come together.

The government center that is providing a speaker for our seminar asked us to go on TV as a family. They are trying to promote adoptions, and since we adopted Deanna, they wanted to do an interview. So we've done a family interview, and the show is scheduled to be aired in a week. We just pray that the Lord is able to use it for His sake.

We continue to do monthly birthday parties Hope Center for the orphans. Here's Tim holding the cake for the last party we had.

We sure appreciate your prayers and support for the Lord's work here. God bless you.

I'd like to end with a quote:

Mark Batterson writes: “When did we start believing that God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things? God wants to send us to dangerous places to do difficult things. He will lead you into the shadowlands where light and darkness clash.”

Because of Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera, and Deanna