Thursday, May 30, 2013

Russia - we'll see you again this Fall.

Dear Friends,


we're working to head back to the States.  We've tickets to fly out at 8:45 am on the 16th of June, spend 28 hours in transit, and arrive in North Carolina at 9:44 pm the same day.  Ahh, the wonders of time travel, or, err, traveling across time zones.

We're trying to get everything ready for departure.  Packing up bags, turning over the ministry to our Russian co-workers, staying in touch with churches where we will be speaking, arranging for someone to live in-and take care of-our apartment here.  So many details.  Please keep us in prayer.

One of our praise reports is for Diana's visa.  Since her adoption, we still haven't been able to get her U.S. citizenship (the application is still processing).  So we applied for her to get a six-month visa for this trip to the States.  The U.S. consulate issued her a three-year visa for no extra cost!  We had to go to the consulate in Vladivostok for the interview.  So we spent two nights on the train, and most of one day sight-seeing.



We thank the Lord for putting together a good ministry team to work with.  Life Skills classes will continue (after a summer break).  They really are a blast.


Never used an electric mixer?  Hey, it's easy.


But spreading the batter might get a little bit messy, especially if your cooking teacher is a little bit silly.


What is this?  Eating lessons?  A lesson in manners?  Maybe an illustrated sermon?


And this one?  Well, you'll just have to guess.

But, occasionally, when we have a guest speaker, a little seriousness breaks out.



Please pray for the ministry team, especially while we are away.

We also participated in the annual "March for the Family" event that churches here put on.  It went well.  Tonya and I are holding a banner that says, "preserve the family, preserve Russia."
Tim was there too, running around with his own banner.

Diana graduated from the 4th grade this week.

Can't forget, Tim had a birthday.  He's 15 now, the big boy.


Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  God bless you!

Your missionaries to Russia,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Diana