Eshelman Family

Lost and Found, Upside Down, Turn Around

2012-02-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

well, some rather unusual and interesting events have taken place, and we're still getting back on balance.

LOST AND FOUND

On Tuesday last week (eight days ago), I went to the airport to pick up Nicole. She is a young lady who plans to study Russian at a local university and help us in her spare time. She was to fly from Chicago to Beijing, change planes, and then on to Khabarovsk. Well, the plane arrived, but no Nicole. I've had luggage not arrive, but never a missing person. Where could she be? I called her mom and was told that Nicole was on the plane to Beijing from Chicago, the the plane had departed late. The airline wouldn't give us information since we weren't family and would need a police order. The next flight from China would be in two days. Our best guess was that she was at the airport in China, but how to know? This was not the same as a missing piece of luggage.

I sent her an email saying that if she could get on-line, to let me know what's happening. I've never been to China, but I figured they should have internet there somewhere. What else to do? Well, we prayed.

That afternoon we get a phone call from a lady taxi driver in Novosibirsk. She was trying to help a lost American girl at the airport. Keep in mind that Novosibirsk is 2,000 miles away. Nicole had missed the flight to Khabarovsk (due to the delay of her first flight), and had been routed from Beijing to Khabarovsk via Novosibirsk. Kinda like someone (who doesn't speak English) being routed from Atlanta to New York through Los Angeles (with a day long layover in L.A.).

Well, praise God, we have a family with AGWM serving in Novosibirsk. So we made arrangements for this very helpful (God bless her) taxi driver to take Nicole to them.

Nicole is now safe and sound here in Khabarovsk. She spent the first few nights with us, but is now moved into her dormitory room, and has started classes. I try to warn folks who want to serve with us that once you launch out into an adventure with God, life is never boring. Usually, though, they don't have such a big adventure until after they arrive.

Her she is with next to an ice sculpture in a park near our house.

UPSIDE DOWN

In previous updates we've told about starting a Life Skills training for orphans. The orphanage we work with the most gave us permission to take the graduating class once a week for lessons (which includes cooking, general life training, and a movie). The first two lessons went well, but then suddenly - for three weeks - none of the young people came. Other events were being scheduled at the same time (going to the doctor, required attendance at a celebration, etc.). Slowly, we began to piece together what was happening. An orthodox priest and his wife have started doing ministry at this orphanage. He was putting pressure on the workers to get rid of us. The Christians there were quietly supporting his attempts to put us out. However, many of the staff there are atheists. The atheists on the staff like what we do and see that it is good for the kids.

As the low-grade conflict at the orphanage ensued, it put me in the most Upside-Down situation I've faced in ministry here. The atheists were pushing our ministry forward as the Christians were opposing it.

The director was getting it from the priest on one side and the atheist staff on the other. We decided we could not win by being the most clever, the most assertive, or the most right. The only way we could win was to be the most loving. This was the Lord's battle. So we just prayed and fasted.

We did, however, decided we needed to widen our net. So we checked with other orphanages to see if they would like to send their graduating orphans for the Life Skills training.

TURN AROUND

I never in my life thought I'd say this, but praise God, the atheists won. The kids we had been working with were able to come last week.

But, oh no, a new crisis. Two other orphanages decided send youth to us as well. Our program had to triple in one week. It was like when Jesus told the disciples to let down the nets one more time. The boat was so full it threatened to sink. However, this did not surprise our Lord. Our volunteer helpers were energized by this new challenge. We planned a new training station for haircuts in an office, had one person teaching how to make salads in the classroom while another was teaching how to cook in the kitchen. So last week we hosted 21 "students" for the training.

Please pray for us that they keep coming (lessons again tomorrow), and that we have enough volunteers for the task, and that the right atmosphere is created to touch the lives of these young people.

Deanna celebrated her 11th birthday (January 28) with a sleep-over. Cake, friends, dress-up, games, girl-talk, all the party stuff. The weirdest thing they did was fall asleep before midnight. What good girls.

There's a couple of web sites about the Assembly's Russia ministry at http://russiaministrynetwork.org/ and http://www.eurasiacommunity.org/ you might enjoy perusing.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Russian Christmas

2012-01-07T22:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas!

Yes, today - January 7th - is Christmas in Russia. For those of you in the States, it's
Epiphany.

We had a white Christmas here. No surprise. This last week we had a really heavy
frost, the frost formed into large flakes on every tree branch. It was hard to photograph (white frost against a snowy background), but this might give you an idea.

During the New Year's/Christmas holiday Timothy stayed in a town south of here and took part in a Christmas play. He had two roles:

We had some girls from the orphanage stay at our place while Tim was away. I tried to get a group photo.

The Life Skills classes are off to a good start. I didn't get any photos of the lessons, but I'll try to do that soon. Please pray for this outreach to continue well, we expect it to put a powerful touch on the lives of those who are coming.

Tonya's arm is healing well. Should be back to normal soon. The girls were a great help while she was a partial invalid (brush her hair, fix food, clean house, etc.).

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Which Christmas

2011-12-31T03:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we thought about having Christmas on the 25th, but despite plenty of white snow, it didn't really feel like Christmas. After all, there was school the day before and the day after. Christmas in Russia is January 7th. Since schools have classes six days a week, it was nice that our Christmas was on a Sunday, so that we didn't have school on Christmas day. Anyway, we've decided to celebrate Christmas every day from Dec. 25th until Jan. 7th (I guess that's kinda like the 12 days of Christmas).

In Russia, the big holiday is New Year's, which is celebrated for about a week or more. Christmas is a minor, one-day kind of holiday. Many people here don't really know what Christmas is, or what it celebrates. Vera's music teacher asked her to bring a poem about New Year's, and when Tonya asked if Vera could bring a poem about Christmas instead, the lady asked, "What's the difference?"

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR'S and a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

The ice sculptures are in the parks again. That's Deanna and a friend.

Number one son, Timothy.

And Vera, who turned 12 today. Happy Birthday!

My Permanent Resident Permit was not issued in December as we had hoped. When I went to the office to check on the progress of the application, they said it will probably be ready in April. Nothing I can do about it. We'll just wait and pray.

The Bible School was in session this fall. We didn't teach, but did interact with students since my office is in Hope Center where the classes are held.

I was invited to the consecration of a new church building in Komsomolsk, the next city north of Khabarovsk. It is about a seven hour drive. There was also an ordination ceremony, and four couples received ordination. Here are the bishops praying with one of the couples.

I was invited to give one of the sermons. It was indeed an honor to speak at the event.

We continue to have birthday parties for orphans at Hope Center. Here's a photo from the December party.

The BIG news from our orphanage ministry is that we have started ongoing Life Skills classes on Thursday afternoons. The Lord has enabled us to put together a small team, and we are presenting the Life Skills materials from the conference we hosted in November. We also give a cooking lesson. We and our team will be doing this for the next five months. We thank the Lord that He has given us favor with the new director at the orphanage near our house. Please pray for these classes that the young people attend and are able to apply the lessons to their lives.

Tonya recently fell outside on an icy patch. Her elbow was injured (praise God it was NOT a broken bone). She is wearing a a cast for two weeks.

The pastor at our church asked Tonya to help lead a women's Bible study. Tonya asks you to please pray for her to have wisdom and balance with ministry and family.

I recently came across a very interesting piece of investigative reporting. The video does a good job of showing a Russian train, as well as countryside, and some insight into things here. It is a seven part series, and in part two the journalist's tongue seems to get lubricated by vodka in the dinning car and some of the language is a bit impure, so be forewarned and skip that part if it would offend you. Otherwise, I found the article fascinating. You can see that article about North Koreans in Siberia and the Russian Far East at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/15/world/asia/north-korean-labor-camps-in-siberia/index.html or

http://www.vice.com/vice-news/north-korean-labor-camps-part-1

The Lord be with you!

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Filled with Thanks!

2011-11-30T03:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

winter has arrived, which means it's time for thanksgiving. We had had a
great thanksgiving, with lots of friends over for a feast. After the feast the
kids put on a play while I read the thanksgiving story from a children's history
book.

On Sunday evening we put on a Thanksgiving feast at Open Heart Homeless
Shelter. My area director and his wife, Rick and Dianna, were in Khabarovsk to
have Thanksgiving with us. So we asked Rick to speak before the meal (Tonya
translated). It was a powerful sermon. And then we served the homeless beef,
rice, gravy, pumpkin pie, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, oranges, bread, tea, and
cookies. What a blast.

The week before Thanksgiving we hosted a Life Skills teacher training
seminar. This is a key part of what we feel God has directed us to do with
orphans in Russia. Three teachers came from the Ukraine (one Mexican, one
American, and one Ukrainian) to train us in how to teach life skills to youth
and orphans. The Russian orphanage system sends children to school, so they
learn book knowledge, but usually no one trains them about the basics of how to
live. So after graduation most of them fall into destructive life styles. This
Life Skills training is a Christian answer to this need. So the group that
attended are now equipped to minister in this area. Please pray for doors to be
open and opportunities to arise. Here is a after-training photo:
Talking about training, the Moscow Theological Institute has graduated 17
students in Khabarovsk. Each of them is receiving a government recognized
four-year degree.

Oh, yes, about those parasites. It seems that, after further testing, that
two of us who they thought had parasites in the gall bladder have some other
minor problem that can be fixed by drinking mineral water and resting on a hot
pad. I can handle that. So, only one of us needs to have any further
treatment. I guess we can call that progress of the strangest kind, but we are
thankful!

We're in the process of sending out our November newsletter. Have a sneak
preview at http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsletter/Newsletter%202011%20November.pdf

Because of Christ,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

From inwards to onwards

2011-10-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Parasites. Hate 'em. We've also got 'em. This month two of us have been diagnosed with a parasites in the gall bladder, one of us with something in the intestines, and one of us had lice. Well, the lice has been taken care of, that was easy. Treatment of the other issues is about to begin (now that we've passed the diagnostic phase of stool samples, blood testing, ultrasounds, and swallowing a tube to have the insides looked at). I don't plan on giving a detailed account of all that, and I'll try to refrain from comments about the Russian system of socialized medicine.

I also want to thank those of you who prayed for the lawsuit that went before the Russian supreme court. The court ruled in favor of the church. This is wonderful news. We don't expect all the problems to go away, but we can see that the Lord is at work. I've been wanting to use some materials from the resource center that the church was hosting (this resource center was established by Karla Ford, one of our co-workers that teaches youth ministry). The resource center was confiscated two years ago, during the investigation. Please pray that these materials will be returned.

Talking about resources, we now have a functioning Christian library at Hope Center. True, it's fairly small, but it is about the biggest Russian language theological libraries in our area. It is also one of the most available, located downtown, and with a part-time librarian. We plan for it to grow. Most of what we do here is a step-by-step process, and we've been gathering books for five years. Now, it is available.

Movie nights and game nights are going great! Attendance has been running 20-30, with a mix of students, orphans, single moms with their kids, young and old, believers and unbelievers. On Movie nights we have a tea-time with snacks after the movie, and very interesting discussions will follow. We carefully choose the movies so as to have a spiritual launch pad to start the discussions. Game nights are pretty much just good fellowship, but the table talk can sometimes get pretty deep, and sometimes someone will want to step aside into our office for prayer. It has taken some time to lay the foundations for these ministries, so to watch them bear fruit is delightful.

Here's a few photos from game nights.

Hope Center also facilitated a conference for outreach to Shamanistic people groups. Several various ethnic groups were represented. The information was very helpful for those wanting to work among Shamanistic people.

The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God visited Perm, Russia. He wrote an interesting article you can read at:

http://ag.org/top/General_Superintendent/Ministers_Letter/2011_Issue_04.pdf

We are hosting a Life Skills conference, November 16-19, to equip people for ministry. People will be trained in how to teach life skills to youth, especially orphans. Often churchgoers here have said they would like to help orphans, but don't know how. This will provide at least one very good way to do that. This training will be done in cooperation with the Central Baptist Church, and we are very excited to be working with them. The trainers will be coming from the Ukraine, and there are many details to be taken care of. Please pray that all will go well, and that this conference will expand the Kingdom of God.

As an ongoing prayer request, please pray that my (Cecil's) application for a Permanent Russian Resident Permit would be approved and issued. If all goes well, it should be ready in December.

Well, gotta go. We've got another birthday party for orphans in a couple hours.

The Grace of the Lord be with you,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Bad News Good News

2011-09-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

First, the bad news:

Deanna had to have a top front tooth pulled. It was an adult tooth, but she's taking it rather well. Later we'll get a fake tooth put in it's place.

My application for a permanent resident permit was denied. They said I needed one more document from the States. It was something that wasn't on the original list of required things when I submitted the application six month ago. I was given three days to provide it. Of course, that didn't happen. So I've decided to re-start my application process. I plan to submit my application on Thursday (the office that receives applications is open once a week on Thursdays from 3:00 to 6:00 pm). Trying to get everything ready.

It seems summer has come to an end and fall is flying past. We had snow flurries today. Last week was an Indian summer, and we went to the park. The long, dark winter arrives soon.

Now for the good news:

To catch up for the summer while the kids were at camp, we had two birthday parties with the orphanage kids this month (one for the summer and one for September).

Both went well.

The churches in Khabarovsk joined in the annual "March for Families." It is one of the government events that the churches are able to enthusiastically support.

Earlier this year we put a lot of work into getting materials for an anti-drug presentation. It is now ready to take into schools and orphanages. We had the first presentation in our apartment, and invited kids from the neighborhood. With 14 kids sitting in our living room, the program went well. Please pray that officials are open to it, and that the those who listen will take the message to heart.

Neither Good Nor Bad:

Mr. Putin is making plans to become the president of Russia (again). Last week a public announcement was made.

Khabarovsk is in for tourists-

http://indrus.in/articles/2011/09/14/khabarovsk_a_mediterranean_dream_in_russia_12995.html

The Russian economy has been hard on the poor.

http://russiaprofile.org/business/46337.html

And a prayer request -

We are trying to put together a training conference for those who want to minister in orphanages and teach life skills. The logistics have become rather complicated. Please pray for the details of this conference to come together, and that many people will be able to attend.

Bye for now~

The Eshelman Family

Summer and Camp

2011-08-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we will start with a personal prayer request. Deanna's top front tooth was hit during a basketball game a while back. It has continued to be loose, so we took her to the dentist today. This dentist took an X-ray and told us it needed to be pulled. We plan to take Deanna to another dentist at a private clinic tomorrow and get a second opinion. We are praying that the tooth can be saved.

The start of this month the kids and Tonya were at a church camp on an Island in the Amur River (close to China). Tonya worked in the kitchen. Yum, yum.

Here's the tent where they ate.

They also when swimming and boating in the river.

I came to the camp the last evening by special invitation. They wanted me speak the final evening, and teach about baptism. Two of the adult workers had never been baptized, and were expressing an interest but the pastor was not able to attend the camp. So the pastor had me come and I preached from the book of Acts (when Paul and Silas were released from prison by an earthquake, and the jailor was baptized in the middle of the night. So at camp I spoke, three people wanted to be baptized. By the time we got to the river it was quite dark, so we had a night baptism. The photos are rather grainy, but here they are:

After camp we took a week of vacation by the Sea of Japan. We joined with a family who pastor a church in a village south of Khabarovsk. It was a good week of relaxation and family time. Somehow I ended up preaching at two churches that Sunday (friends of the pastor we were with).

We all got sunburn, but had a great time.

Well, were all back home now, and starting into the fall schedule. School starts September 1st. On Friday we'll host another birthday party for the orphanage.

Game nights and Movie nights at Hope Center have gone well through the summer. Please pray that word will get out and even more people would start to attend as we move into the fall.

We have at least two different young people who plan to work with us next year in the StudyRussianDoMissions program. Please pray that everything they need would be provided, and that the Lord would fully equip them for the work at hand. As always, we pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send workers into this harvest field.

One last photo. We were invited to come and speak at Open Heart Homeless Shelter this weekend. They are one of our favorite places to go. They've also been busy building a new shower house/laundry facility with some housing on the second floor. You can see in the background on the left a building we (and a team from Texas) helped them build several years ago ( http://eshelman.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html ). Things there just keep getting better. God is so good!

Remember when the coup happened in the Soviet Union, just before the Soviet Union fell apart? This is the 20th anniversary of that event.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14589691

Here is some information about the situation with Grace Church in Khabarovsk, the court case against them, and the ongoing problems they face with the authorities.

http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1596

Cecil has been invited to speak at one of their congregations this coming Sunday.

May the Lord be with you!

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Baptism, Islands and News

2011-07-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

finished our latest News Letter. I'm printing them and getting hard copies in snail mail, but you can have an electronic version now. Check it out on our web site at http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsl etter/NL%202011%20July.pdf

We just got back from AGWM's Eurasia retreat. It is once every three years. Workers from all over the Eurasia area attended. The teaching was very applicable, the worship wonderful, and the fellowship very refreshing.

At the retreat our older daughter, Vera, received baptism in water. She was baptized by Omar Beiler, our Regional Director, who has been like a pastor to our family for a long time.

While the conference was for professional training, we added a couple days onto the trip for family. Here we are standing in the middle of the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world.

Without even trying, we've managed to move closer to the Chinese border. Actually, the border moved closer to us. China and Russia (and the USSR before that) have had a long-standing border dispute over the islands in the Amur River. Russia has given some portions of the islands to China. Our home was only 21 miles from China before, now I'm not sure exactly how close we are.

Talking about Islands in the Amur River, the rest of the family are at a church camp this week. Tonya is serving as a cook while Tim, Vera and Deanna are participating in the kids program. I'm staying home to work on some needed projects.

Leah has returned to the States. We're very pleased and proud of the work she did here in Khabarovsk. We hope she comes back some time, but are praying the Lord's will for her future, wherever He may lead.

If you're not already planning to come to Russia, but feel a desire to serve the Lord here, just let us know! The opportunities are endless and the needs are great.

The Lord be with you,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera, and Deanna

Adventure along the Amur River

2011-06-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

our trip to the Lower Amur region was seven full - very full - days of activity. Despite encounters with bad roads, storms, ticks, insects and poisonous snakes, we completed the trip without injury. Our team of six (three Russians, Leah, Timothy and myself) was well balanced. Our STL van, which we named Rapture Buggy, performed excellently. The Lord brought us a number of very good encounters, and we learned a great deal about the area that will aid in future outreaches. This trip was dedicated to building the Kingdom of God, not photography, but we did manage to take a few photos along the way.

We visited several villages that exist only on the map. Quite a few villages in Russia are becoming ghost towns. However, some other towns continue to thrive. Our hope was to rent town halls for evening services to do evangelistic events, and spend the mornings and afternoons walking the town and inviting people; but the local administration always said that they need approval from higher authorities before renting out the hall, and that would take several days. We encountered this kind of response in every town. So we ended up doing a lot of personal evangelism rather than events.

The little girl is holding a book we gave as a gift. We passed out quite a but of literature, especially Children's Bibles.

The highway is gravel & dirt. We never got stuck, but some trucks got bogged down when it rained. And it rained several times while we were there, making things pretty muddy. This truck was sunk to the axels. And yes, that is the main highway.

We discovered a small house church that is very new. We worshipped with them on Sunday. Here I am doing a children's presentation while Timothy helped me with the Russian Language.

Here's Leah helping to prepare some materials.

Of course, prayer was vital to the trip. We daily spent time in personal and group prayer.

We staying in tents (sometimes on sand, sometimes on rock, sometimes on straw... yes, straw). No room in the van for mattresses, so this camp (which we named "rock camp") was a little hard on the bones, but somehow we seemed to sleep soundly anyway.

As an interesting note, you never know when God can use something old to do something new. Many years ago when I worked at Cameron Boys' Camp in North Carolina, I learned to strip bark off of pine poles that we cut to make tent posts from. Some men in one of the villages were stripping poles that they had cut, and I jumped in and stripped some poles. They were surprised that an American would know such a skill, and it enabled the team to get a good conversation going while I provided the "entertainment." You just never know how God might use you.

Along with ministry and work, there was no lack of adventure. We had encounters with two poisonous snakes (one in our campsite), numerous ticks (but none actually bit us), rough roads (with no flat tires), poorly marked routes (but we never got seriously lost), and difficult weather (serious thunderstorms alternating with brilliant sunlight, but the tents stood firm and only minor sunburn resulted). The Heavenly Father was with us, and took care of us all along the way.

In many ways this trip became a survey trip, gathering information and making contacts to prepare for future work in this area.

We praise God that:

1. People were mostly friendly and helpful, and many were receptive.

2. We had safety, health and good travel.

3. There was good unity on the team, and our spirits and energy stayed high.

Please pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers into this harvest field to follow up on what has been done.

It is on our hearts to return sometime, especially to a village that is inhabited by the Nanian people.They had heard the name of Jesus but had no knowledge of who he is. That village has no cell phone connection, limited electricity, and we had to take a boat across the river to get there. The people were very open.

Please also pray for Leah, who returns to the States on Saturday.

Because He Lives,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Toward the ends of the Earth

2011-06-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

for about ten days I will be out of touch with the internet. On early Wednesday morning (Tuesday afternoon in the USA), we'll be starting evangelistic outreach in the Lower Amur region. I'll be taking our Speed-The-Light vehicle. My team of six (including me, my son Timothy, Leah Close, and three Russian believers) will be doing outreach in the villages just north of Komsomolsk. Much of the time we will also be out of cell phone connection as well.

There are no known churches in the villages we will be visiting, so we are taking tents along for the nights. The census data (which might or might not be accurate) indicates that many of the people are from minority groups, some of which are unreached people groups. Please be aware that this is not a vacation or photo op. We're not sure how we will be received as we have no contacts in these towns. The roads are poor, and I will be taking along three spare tires and extra canisters of fuel. The mosquitoes are only annoying, but the ticks can carry diseases. All in all, the only reason we are going is because we believe the Lord is telling us to go.

Please pray:

1. That the Word of the Lord will be heard and received.

2. For health, safety and travelling mercies for the team.

3. Our our spirits and our energy levels to be high.

4. That spiritual fruit will remain after we leave.

The pastors of Khabarovsk region are working on plans for follow-up in places where the message of our Lord Jesus Christ is received. I hope to tell you more about this in the future.

Now, I must admit to a mistake I made in my previous update. Standing behind a statue where a wreath was being laid, I confused that statue with a different one of Lenin elsewhere in the park. The statue where the wreath was being laid was actually of Marshal of the Soviet Union Radion Yakovlevich Malinovskyi. Here is a photo from his front.

From the front, he doesn't look at all like Lenin.

I was asked by a young couple to perform their wedding. In Russia a church wedding is not a legal wedding, so they first had a legal wedding at a government office and then had the church wedding. Here we are with them.

Tonya thought it would be a good experience for some of the orphans to see a wedding. Since most of the young women who graduate from the orphanages get pregnant out of wedlock, we've been trying to teach the concept of getting married before having children. So we brought along three young gals from a local orphanage as guests. Afterward we asked the girls what they enjoyed most, and with great excitement they said, "everything!" It was the first wedding they had ever attended.

The boy in the photo attends that church, and wanted in the photo too.

We're still doing monthly birthday parties at an orphanage. Here's a photo from the latest. We're acting out (with some help) the story of the three Israelite children who got thrown into the fiery furnace.

I'll write again after we return from the outreach trip. Until then, if you want to contact us, you'll have to give Tonya a phone call (she doesn't do email).

Because of Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Victory Day, and other victories.

2011-05-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

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

Khristos Voskres

2011-04-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Throughout yesterday we said and heard the saying, "Khristos Voskres" and the response, "V Estenu On Voskres." That is, "Christ is risen," and "He is risen, indeed." These are the traditional Easter greetings in Russia.

It also snowed all yesterday. Even without any Easter lilies in bloom here, Christ is still risen.

This last week Tonya was given open doors at a nearby orphanage to tell the Easter Story. She chose to go class to class using a carton of plastic eggs - each with a symbol inside representing something that happened during Holy Week - to tell the children. It was very well received by both children and staff, some of whom had never heard a clear presentation of the Easter story before.

One of the ladies who works at this orphanage struck up a conversation with Tonya about her son. He has an open form of tuberculosis, and is in the TB ward of a hospital. Tonya offered to pray for him. There happens to be a man, in the church we attend here, who was miraculously healed of TB. So we asked him to visit this lady's son in the hospital. The next morning he went for the visit and witnessed to him and prayed with the young man. This young man was not expecting a visitor, but was so impressed by the visit that he called his mother and said, "someone came and talked with and prayed for me, and I feel so much better." The lady was deeply touched that someone would risk going into a TB ward to help her son. There is nothing more exciting than seeing God at work in people's lives.

We continue to have monthly birthday parties for the kids from that orphanage.

We praise God that he opens doors for ministry for us here. While another Christian group that ministered here has not been permitted to restart their Sunday School, we continue to pray that the doors for their work will open again for them as well.

We've also begun having a 14 year old girl from a different orphanage to our house on week-ends. Her name is Nastia. This is a new step for us, and we're learning a lot. Please pray for us and Nastia as this relationship develops. Here is a photo of her with Tonya.

Our hope is that others will begin to take children from orphanages for weekends, or even just Saturday afternoons, and and show them God's love. It's a good way for children in orphanages to see what a family is like and how they function.

On the 7th of May we will be hosting a half day conference encouraging folks to become involved in the lives of children in the orphanage system, and teach practical things than can be done. We are arranging speakers from the government as well as parents who have done this and from non-government agencies. This is the first time we've done this kind of thing, so please pray for us and the conference.

One of the Bible Schools that uses Hope Center has finished another session. Hope Center sure is an active place.

We've mentioned the Hosanna Plan for Russia. They've started a Facebook group. You can check it out at "Hosanna Plan on Facebook"

http://www.facebook.com/HosannaPlanRussia

"Life ebbs away from Russian villages" is a presentation of how villages in Russia are disappearing as young people migrate to the cities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3984951.stm

One last prayer request. Cecil has submitted his application for Permanent Residency in Russia. The application process takes a while, but we should get an answer in September. Please pray that all is approved and he receive Permanent Residency Status.

Christ is Risen Indeed,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Developments

2011-03-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

many of those who pray for our ministry have expressed concern about the situation in Novokuznetsk (where Tonya was born, and where her parents live). There have been some developments I would like to let you know about. Thank you for praying for the Source of Life, Teen Challenge Siberia. In less than two months this ministry has had approximately 20 various inspections with the intent to close the program. It started with the fire safety inspection, followed by the sanitation department. After that came inspections from the FSB (formerly KGB), criminal police, economical fraud investigation, center of extremism, etc. All of these inspections were initiated by the local prosecutor’s office because they received complaints from a person who hates the Teen Challenge program.

However, none of these inspections, except for the sanitation department, found any reason to close the program. The most serious offense that the sanitation department found was that there were no written instructions on the wall by the washing machine on how to do laundry and in the kitchen on how to wash dishes. The inspection from the sanitation department took place on Feb. 7. On Feb. 15, they came up with a protocol and rushed it to court. On Feb. 18, the judge ruled to close the program for 90 days. The decision was made with such major legal mistakes that the law enforcement unit could not start the process of closure. They actually had to change the decision twice because of mistakes. Last week, on March 16, the law enforcement officers came to the Teen Challenge center with the written order to close the program. On that same day, the sanitation inspector came for the second time and documented that all the regulation "offenses" were corrected.

Consequently, the law enforcement officers could not close the program, and they put the decision on hold.

On March 26th, the Teen Challenge program won in court, cancelling the original ruling to close the program. The decision of this court case is crucial because it is legal proof that the prosecutor's office is abusing its authority and applying pressure illegally.

In regards to the seven young men came into the church and threatened to kill the youth pastor, the police have not officially found any of them. The situation of the orphan who had his bank book taken by this gang is still not resolved.

Despite these disruptions to this church, they continue to minister. The church hosted a "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames" drama three weeks ago, where 80 people repented. The Teen Challenge program has not stopped ministering to the drug addicts, and many are finding new life there. Thank you for your ongoing prayers.

The 8th of March is International Women's Day. Never heard of it? It is one of the bigger holidays in Russia. Tonya hosted a "Woman's Tea" at Hope Center and the ladies had a wonderful time. Timothy and Vera are home-schooled, and they invited their Russian language tutor and their German language tutor, both of whom attended.

They had several activities.

Leah, who has come to help us and is an American student in a nearby University, has been keeping a web log of her adventure. Take a glimpse of her adventure at http://leahclose.blogspot.com

Movie nights are Hope Center are catching on. We are now often having about twenty people in attendance, with new people every week. The Lord continues to provide us with new wholesome and spiritual films in Russian. Popcorn anyone?

Steve and Amanda, who are presently studying Russian in preparation for long term work in Russia, were music pastors and worship leaders in the States. They are doing some teaching for pastors and worship teams. It's been really helpful to the churches here in Khabarovsk, and pastors and worship leaders are excited about what they are learning. Here is Steve teaching while Tonya translates.

We have a special prayer request. We have been doing monthly birthday parties for the orphans in one of the local orphanages. A group from the local Baptist Church have been doing weekly Sunday School lessons in the same orphanage. Recently an Orthodox Priest put pressure on that orphanage, and the Baptists are no longer permitted to minister there. We are hoping to appeal to the Director to allow them to start the Sunday School again, but are not sure the best approach. Please pray for us to have wisdom, and favor with the director and staff.

We are in the process of mailing out our latest newsletter, we've also posted it on the web at- http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsletter/news2011March%20.pdf

As a human interest story, when we returned to Russia from furlough this last time we brought a peanut butter maker with us (peanut butter is a rare commodity here). By trial and error we have discovered that if you roast the peanuts before putting them into the machine the peanut butter has a much better flavor. However, the last time I roasted the peanuts I forgot to set a timer, and the peanuts were, well, not quite ashes. I went ahead and put them into the machine and the resulting peanut butter has the pleasing aroma of campfire smoke. I have labeled my new batch as "fireside blend." Our peanut butter sandwiches have never tasted the same. Its actually not too bad if you have some hot chocolate with it, and you pretend to be camping.

Oh, yesterday was so WARM! It got up to about 40 degrees F. The snow is melting off and little streams are flowing down the streets. Muddy, but delightful. Maybe I'll really go camping.

May the joy of the Lord be your strength today!

In Christ,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

special prayer request

2011-02-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

as many of you know, Tonya was born in Novokuznetsk (in Siberia), Russia. She lived there until we were married, and has maintained close ties with her church there. This church and the Teen Challenge program that they operate are experiencing dangerous situations. Please read the following report that Tonya's pastor sent us:

The situations that have recently happened with the church and Teen Challenge center have not been resolved yet, so we greatly appreciate if you would continue to pray. Here is what happened:

1) Attack against the church

On Feb. 9, seven young men came into the church looking for the youth pastor, Andrei. When they found him, they demanded that he give them the bank book which belongs to Artyom, an orphan who attends our church. Artyom had previously asked Pastor Andrei to keep his bank book in a safe place. Over the years while he was in the orphanage, the government deposited a pension in his account which came to $6,000 USD until he turned 18. For Artyom this was an incredible amount of money, and he was afraid that someone might take advantage of him and steal his money, which had happened to many orphans in the past. On the afternoon of Feb. 9, those seven young men threatened Pastor Andrei by saying that if he didn't give them the bank book on the count of three, they will kill him right there in the church. Pastor Andrei gave the bank book to them, and they left. This incident was all taken on the security video system that is installed in the church. Here is the link where you can watch it on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Qdd7KFwjY (If you look closely, you will see the weapon that the one man is holding behind his back wrapped in a paper bag.)

We went to the police with the video recording and requested an investigation because Artyom had disappeared. A few days later when Artyom came to church on Sunday, he said that he was held captive for several days, and they had stolen half of his money. They said they will return for the other half. To our amazement, the most shocking twist in this story came a week later when the police announced at the mayor's office that the church kept the bank book of an orphan purposely to keep his money. At that point we asked you for prayer. Since then, we found a lawyer that will take this case to the Federal police. He believes the local police are involved in this corruption and are trying to accuse the church in order to take the focus off of themselves. As it stands today, we still need your prayers even more, because we are up against a corrupt system the same as is quoted in Isaiah 10:1,2.

2) Attack against Teen Challenge

At the same time Teen Challenge was under a series of inspections which started after a lesbian wrote a number of complaints with false accusations to the prosecutor's office against our TC program. They couldn't find anything that the program was accused of in the complaints, but someone in the prosecutor's office hates the work of the church and Teen Challenge. On Feb. 15, the person who hates Teen Challenge sent inspectors from the sanitation department with a clear order to close the program. They wrote a 10 page report with minor regulation offenses, such as a spot of mildew in the corner of the hallway, no written instructions on how to use a washing machine, no written instructions on how to keep clean sheets, etc. These regulations are ones that the hospitals are required to follow. In just three days (!) they took the matter to court without letting us know, and the court ruled to close the program for three months. We have 10 days to appeal to reverse the ruling. The lawyers are working now on submitting an appeal. The Lord is doing a great work in saving people through the Teen Challenge program, and the devil clearly wants to stop it.

We really appreciate your prayers at this time for these two needs. We are praying that God will bind the lies of the enemy in the name of Jesus, and that the truth will prevail. We're praying that God will give the victory to the church and Teen Challenge center, and that souls who normally wouldn't come to Christ would be reached with the Gospel through these situations. We thank God for you and for standing with us in prayer!

With much love in Christ,

Ilya and Janet

Laborers in the Harvest Field

2011-02-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we've been praying for the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the harvest field. Leah is an American who has just arrived in Khabarovsk as a student for a semester. In addition to learning the Russian language, she will be helping us on weekends and evenings. Please pray for Leah as she lives and witnesses in the dormitories and on campus.

Our team is also growing as several Russians have become interested in working with our orphan ministry. What a great answer to prayer! Please pray for us to have wisdom and leadership skills and that the team will keep growing.

We continue to host birthday parties at Hope Center for orphans. Here's some of the kids playing a game with some of our Russian team.

And then, of course, the birthday cake.

The Hosanna Plan is a massive mobilization by the Russian national church to bring in the harvest. It consists of two parts: "Year for Jesus", and "Every Church Plants a Church." Russia has about 129,000 population points; cities, towns & villages. Our vision is to take the Word of God to every person in Russia, no matter where they live. Many of the small villages are disappearing as young people move to the cities, and yet the people there need to hear the gospel before the opportunity disappears. "Year for Jesus" is a plan to take a ministry team to every population point. This is no small plan, the shear numbers require incredible amounts of travel.

We plan to build 15 mobile ministry teams, reaching all regions of Russia (and Russia is BIG). The members of the team must commit to give one year of his/her life to Jesus in this ministry. Each team will be made up of 25 people. Each team will be trained to preach and share the Word of God, daily going to the next town and city. We estimate that every team should be able to go to 25 population points within a week, plus 4 weeks of training and 4 weeks of vacation within a year. Each team should be able to take the gospel to 1,100 points in one year. When taking this number and multiplying by 15 teams, the Word will be taken to approximately 16,500 cities, towns, and villages in one year. About eight years are needed to fulfill this plan.

Recently one of the members of the church that we attend here committed to spend a year of her life with a Hosanna Team. We also know her as our family physician here in Khabarovsk. Olga worked as a surgeon as well as attended the Bible Institute. Feeling the call of God, she resigned her job, sold her car, bought tickets and has joined the team in the Volgograd region. She did not do this lightly, but carefully weighed the cost of giving up her doctor's salary to live by faith. She's been on the team for a month now, and reports that the work is hard, but worthwhile. Since some of the villages are remote, the team rises early in the day. Sometimes they must walk several miles from the road to reach the villages, which has been a challenge in the Russian winter. Here a a couple of photos of her. Can you tell that we are proud of her?

And here are a few photos of her team at work.

Presently There are teams in Perm, Volgograd, Kaluga, Angarsk, Novosibirsk, and Chita. Please pray for these teams, as well as our personal friend Olga as she brings the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to the people of the Volgograd region.

The other part of the plan, "Every Church plants a Church" is just as great a challenge as bringing an evangelistic team to every hamlet of Russia. New pastors and church planting teams will need to be raised up all across the country. Churches will be planted in cities that you have heard of, such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as smaller and less famous places.

AGWM workers across Russia are preparing to support these plans in various ways. Huge amounts of resources will be required to accomplish the task (vehicles, literature, diesel fuel, winter clothing, food, tents, etc.), not to mention huge amounts of prayer. If you feel the Lord leading you to become involved or to give to this endeavor, please let us know and we'll send you more information. And everyone can expect occasional reports and photos to be given in the future.

After reporting in our November email update about the need for more Chinese Fire Bibles ( http://eshelman.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html ), some people mentioned their concern to us about making sure that would happen. I am delighted to announce that we have made another delivery of 30 Bibles this last month, and have another box in our back room waiting for when the time is right. Please understand that we can not provide any photos of this part of our ministry.

Hope Center's ministry continues to expand in various ways. There is a city-wide interdenominational pastor's meeting every month. In January it was held at Hope Center. Some pastors have been there many times, but for others it was their first time. They were excited to find such a nice place was available for meetings.We had asked for prayer about our kitchen drain, since we were unable to get it open with chemicals, snakes, plungers, plumbers, etc. It seems your prayers were the right thing, one night while Tonya was up late praying it suddenly began to work. Thank you for your petitions on our behalf. God really does answer prayer, even for the strange stuff.

The time has come for us to write up another hard copy newsletter to mail out. Please pray for us to be creative and clear as we compose the next report.

A very big baby was born in Khabarovsk recently. http://www.eitb.com/news/life/detail/585121/giant-16lb-baby-born-russia-67-centimetres-long/

To God be the Glory,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Both our Christmases were white. Russia celebrates Christmas on January 7th, and we had our family Christmas on December 25th. So we get two Christmases every winter (don't you wish you could have Christmas twice a year?).

The ice sculptures in the parks are beautiful. http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/12/31/38439959.html

http://feic.ru/feiceng/index.html

Cold, but beautiful. Actually, the camera can hardly capture the real beauty. We tried to decorate this ice wall with some Eshelmans.

The Hinson family had a late Christmas present. Michael Lee Hinson was born January 10, 9:10 pm Khabarovsk Russia time. He was 8 lbs. 14 oz. Mom and baby are doing awesome, and the delivery went absolutely perfectly. Tonya had the privilege of translating for Amanda and Steve during the delivery.

David is a children's pastor who came from Australia to teach a session on counseling and children's ministry. What a change from the Australian summer to Russian winter! The seminar was great. Five days of some of the best teaching on the subject that we've ever heard.

Hope Center is being used quite a bit for various things. One of the things we are personally doing is starting an outreach to young people in the evenings. Every Tuesday is game night and every Thursday is movie night. Please pray that more and more people would attend, enjoy and become involved with these actives. Pray that through the fellowship and fun that we have these young folks would discover a true walk with Jesus.

We've been showing movies for a while, but our first game night was last week. So far so good.

The Russian church has begun an outreach program to bring a Gospel witness to every town, village and Hamlet of Russia. This is a huge undertaking. They call it the Hosanna plan. One of our personal friends here in Khabarovsk has decided to commit one year of her life to serving the Lord with this project. So she has left her job as a surgeon, sold her car, and joined the team in Volgograd. Wow. I'll tell you more about the Hosanna plan in the future, so that you'll know how to pray for it.

We love our kitchen, but it looks like it will need a total remake. Recently the kitchen drain become clogged to the point where we must now do dishes in the bathroom. Since the original pipes are encased in poured concrete, the job is quite complicated. Chemicals and other equipment have been ineffective (anybody have some extra dynamite?). And in a completely unrelated failure, the electrical outlet for our refrigerator has gone out (yes, the wires are buried in poured concrete too). So it seems the time has come for a major operation in the kitchen. This, of course, is not the fun side of missions.

The Amur river is a mighty river, but here in Russia the winter is even stronger. So we went for a walk on the river last week.

That's down town Khabarovsk in the background.

We have young folks in the States interested in coming to join in the Lord's work here in Khabarovsk. Please pray the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the harvest field of Russia, that they would be equiped, and powerfully used of the Lord.

This video from Ellerslie Mission Society offers a fresh new perspective into God's heart for the orphan, and His call on believers to care for the orphan:

http://www.comission.org/resources/?id=1722

Because of Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Birthdays and Thanksgiving

2010-12-10T04:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

The high today was about zero F.

We've been doing birthday parties once a month at a nearby orphanage. In November we only had three kids with their birthday that month. So we took them, a staff member, and some of our helpers to Hope Center for the party. This orphanage has some older kids who were under the tutelage of an Orthodox Priest who trained them to hate Protestants. So the kids coming to the birthday party had a secret concern that they would be persecuted by others for going to a Protestant Church. When we walked into Hope Center for the party, the girl said, "Praise God it's not a church." We continue to laugh about that comment here at home.

Anyhow, it was a great time and we now plan to do our future birthday parties at Hope Center as well.

We had a Thanksgiving Day feast for the our family and a few other Americans who we know here in Khabarovsk. We also put on a Thanksgiving celebration at Open Heart Homeless Shelter. Before serving the meal I gave a short history of Thanksgiving since most of them have heard of it but don't know about it. I love to give a thanksgiving message, because if you are thankful for something you are thankful too someone, so it is only fitting to be thankful to God, who is that source of all our blessings. And they were indeed thankful for a hearty meal. Their gratitude made it worth every potato peeled, egg boiled, beef stewed, baked pie, etc. Cooking for 85 is a challenge for my kitchen, but the most worthwhile meal ever cooked there.

Ready to Preach (above) Ready to eat (below)

We're so glad the Hinson Family is here in Khabarovsk. They are a real answer to prayer. Here's a photo of my kids teaching their kids some bad manners.

We've just finished printing our latest newsletter and will be mailing them out shortly. You can get a sneak preview at

http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsletter/Newsletter%202010%20December.pdf

A few other things in the News:

The Siberian Tiger has some issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/24/tiger.summit.goals/

The border island between Russia and China here at Khabarovsk has been making some changes.

http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2010/11/26/heixiazi-island-to-become-major-joint-china-russian-tourist-resort.html

The Peace of the Lord be with you,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Active Lifestyle

2010-11-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

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

Ministry Begins at Hope Center

2010-09-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

things have become so busy that I'm thinking about hiring a ghost writer to make my emails and newsletters. We're doing well (except that Tonya has a cold). One big happening for us is that most of the renovations of Hope Center have been completed. Ministry there has already begun. Prayer meetings start the morning five days a week at 6:00 AM. I've been asked to bring a short devotional each morning this coming week (please pray that I'm awake and able to speak Russian clearly).

Here are two pastors and a child looking over the newly finished classroom.

Three churches that do not have their own buildings are using space for their offices. This not only covers the cost of utilities, but has brought three pastors into one place and I hear they have great fellowship together. The classroom is already rather scheduled, with one church meeting there on Sundays, various meetings in the evenings, seminars and other sessions scheduled for the next several months, and two Bible School sessions scheduled as well.

We are delighted that the Hinson Family has joined us. Steve and Amanda have begun study of the Russian language. We introduced them to a park by the Amur River shortly after they arrived. Our kids are getting along great! Those are their oldest two with our youngest two.

This is our oldest with their youngest.

Please pray for the Hinson family as they make adjustments to life in Russia. Pray for language study, cultural adjustment, and health for Amanda who is pregnant with their fourth child.

While the construction at Hope Center was winding down, the paperwork wasn't. Since the work isn't over until the paperwork is done, a young lady named Amy came for two weeks to help make sure the accounting was straight. She was a great blessing, and our kids loved having her around. We're praying she comes back for a longer stay. Maybe God will give her a sign. No, not the one in the picture, she found that one herself. But a sign that will send her back our way.

In the midst of all this, we were able to take a bit of vacation and visit Tonya's folks in Siberia. We enjoyed spending time at their dacha, and had a meal outside when her brother fixed us a special Russian form of Sish-Ka-Bob called Sashleik. A great time was had by all.

Since renovation of Hope Center is ending, the real work is beginning, the work of ministry. Please pray that the Lord will give us the right team and the right anointing to launch the work among the graduating orphans that we have been hoping for.

On the first of October we have a family who coming to stay for a week in a Nanian village several hours north of here. The Nanian are a minority group that are mostly unreached with the Gospel. This family hopes to help and encourage the believers that we know of. I would join them but I've been asked to attend a special conference in Turkey at that time. Please pray for this outreach among the Nanian people to be effective in building the Kingdom of God.

There is a most amazing presentation of color photos of Russia and Georgia from 100 years ago. Absolutely stunning.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/08/russia_in_color_a_century_ago.html

On a more bizarre note, Russian cafeterias are no longer permitted to serve cockroaches with lunches.

http://mn.ru/russia/20100826/188005785.html

In His Service,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Newsletter and More

2010-07-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

work continues on renovating the ministry center. The windows and walls are in, next will be the ceiling. Later the floor, the doors and such. The workmen tell me they'll be done by the end of August. We're really looking forward to being able to use this facility for ministry.

One of the ongoing prayers that we have is for the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers into the harvest field of Eastern Russia. Whether the Lord raises them up in Russia or sends them from other lands, our greatest need is for those who will come and spend time among the people here. So we are delighted that another family will joining us in Khabarovsk. This is the Hinson family.

I've asked them to introduce themselves to you, and here is what they wrote:

Priviet from Minnesota! We are Steve and Amanda Hinson, soon to be joining the Eshelman family in Khabarovsk. We have three kids: Aurora (7), Riles (5), and Iva (1). All of us have been looking forward to this adventure for more than two years. Our call to Russia goes back to 1991, when we were only kids. Through the years, God has given us many confirmations and equipped us along the way as we found ourselves working among Russian immigrants in MN. Since marrying in 2001, we have been serving together in youth and music ministries and more recently children's ministry. Our family took a faith journey in 2006 to Moscow and St. Petersburg, where God sealed the call on all of our hearts, including our children's. We hope to bring our experience and skills as youth and children's pastors alongside our gifts in music and drama to reach Khabarovsk with Christ's love! We cannot wait to see what He has in store for all of us there!

We're looking forward to seeing them soon, as they already have tickets to arrive on August 22nd. Please pray that they experience no problems, and that God enables them to wrap up all the many details that need to be taken care of before their departure.

We mailed out our latest newsletter. http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsletter/Newsletter%202010%20July.pdf

In early July our kids went on a service trip with a church youth group. They traveled by train to another city and worked with the elderly for ten days. Tim was assigned to a man who had memory problems, and repeatedly asked, "did you know that I worked in a mine for 15 years?" and would launch into a story about the mines. However, Tim did find some of the stories he told about blowing things up with dynamite rather entertaining. Vera had the experience of explaining the way of salvation in Jesus to an elderly person who decided not to pray. Vera was upset about it and said, "She was old and about to die, and still she didn't want to follow God." All three of our kids want to go again next year.

Here we are in front of the railway station getting ready for the kids to head off on the service trip.

On a very different note, two weeks ago the Bishop of the Pentecostal Union in Dagestan was assassinated two weeks ago. Dagestan is in Russia next to Chechnya, on the opposite side of Russia from us. It is very politically unstable. Please pray for the peace of Dagestan and for that family of the murdered Bishop.

If you'd like to write to us, our mailing address is:

Central Post Office

Box 2/36

Khabarovsk, 680000

Russia

Or just send us an email.

We've started a family vacation, and will be hiding out in a village in Siberia near where Tonya was born. No better way to get away from it all. But we'll check our email occasionally, and we'll be back in Khabarovsk in mid August.

Staying in Touch,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna Eshelman

Steps of Progress

2010-06-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

the progress of the ministry center continues to take much of our time and energy. So many materials, so many interested people, so much accounting and red tape! Much of the work has been waiting until new windows could be installed. This week they are going in.

Walls have been started. We pray that there won't be any high winds and rain at the same time before the windows are finished.

Once the center is ready, several churches and ministries will be using the facilities. We personally have plans for some outreach projects here. One of them involves day activities for young people graduating from the orphanage system. Please pray for God to build up a team to minister to orphans and young people once the Ministry Center is opened.

We've been going to a nearby orphanage to do a birthday party once a month. Please pray that everything will go smoothly and it will have a lasting impact. The kids enjoyed looking over our Speed-The-Light van and getting their photos taken.

Here's one of our helpers (on the right) with a girl from the orphanage.

"Take my photo too."

We've also been showing Christian movies in our home every Saturday night for youth groups at attend. It's been a barrel of laughs as well as stimulating some meaningful thought. Last week we watched The Hiding Place about Corrie Ten Boom who lived through a concentration camp during WW II for hiding Jews in her home. Not sure what we'll watch tomorrow.

Tonya wants to mention that her Mother's Group is has grown, both in numbers and in depth of meaning. Now four mothers and eleven children are showing up for the meetings once a week. They've started calling each other for prayer and such. Please pray that these good things will continue.

"Following the controversy over the American woman who sent her adopted son back to Russia, the Washington Post ran a compelling op-ed on the plight of orphans in Russia. The author, chief of pediatric cardiology at the University of Massachusetts, Darshak Sanghavi, does an excellent job explaining why debates that focus narrowly on potential problems with international adoption miss an issue of far greater importance to most Russian orphans: the reality faced by children in Russian orphanages every day." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042302223.html

Very insightful article about the Russian economy can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2010/06/06/06venturebeat-investing-in-russia-better-hire-body-guards-41250.html?pagewanted=1&dbk

I've been trying to put together a newsletter to mail out for several weeks now. So many distractions, interruptions, and other things to do. Please pray that I can get it put together, printed and mailed in short order.

God bless you.

Your Missionaries to Russia,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

So little time, so much to do.

2010-05-27T03:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I've gone far too long without sending an update, and God has opened many doors for us. Actually, it's been a bit too busy, and we're hoping things slow down a bit.

The biggest project on our plate is the Far East Ministry Center. Renovations have begun, and due to the new and rather stringent fire codes we need to strip all the old paneling and coverings and wooden framing out. So we're underway with that, and the old materials will be used in other buildings belonging to other ministries where it is still O.K.

I just couldn't stand by and watch other people use their tools without taking mine out. Here I am removing one of the doors. We will be able to re-use the doors once we put in new walls.

Something completely new has developed, and that is possibilities for cross boarder ministry with AGWM workers in China. We hosted a couple of our folks from China and visited Blogaveshensk, a city on the Russian side of the Amur river that is a overnight train ride from Khabarovsk. I won't post any photos of our team from China, but here from Blogaveshensk you can see China just on the other side. Some ideas for cooperation are under development.

We also went to a Nanian village, and visited with the only known Nanian church in the world. The Nanian are a small people group that is mostly unreached with the Gospel. There are about 120 believers in Russia and 30 in China, most of whom attend a Russian language church or have no church to attend. Despite this one church only having a couple dozen members, they already have plans to reach out on both sides of the border. We hope to come alongside them and help them out. It was neat getting to listen to them sing a worship song in the Nanian language.

The Lord has opened doors for us to reach out at a local orphanage. We invited a local Christian music group to perform and share with the kids. They did a great job.

We have plans to go back tomorrow and put on a party for the kids. God has given us great favor with the leadership here. Please pray that this door would remain open and that the Holy Spirit would guide us in how to minister to the kids and staff. Here's a photo of Tonya mixing with the kids after the concert.

Jason has been with us for a total of three and a half years in Khabarovsk. It's been a blessing having him around, but he feels lead to return to the States and advance his ministry by study in a Seminary. He left in early May, and here's a photo of our kids and Jason playing around on a local monument just before he left.

We continue to pray that the Lord of the Harvest send workers into the harvest field. God is faithful and is sending. The Hinson family plan to come to Khabarovsk in late August or early September. They plan to stay long term and will start with language study. They have three children, but we'll introduce them another time.

After Easter, Deanna asked her first grade teacher if she could give an Easter presentation. Her teacher agreed, and so Tonya and Vera went to the class to help Deanna explain what Easter is. They used a dozen plastic eggs (colored eggs for Easter is a Russian tradition) with different items that symbolize things about the passion and burial of Christ, with the last egg being empty as a symbol of the empty tomb. While Tonya was speaking about it, she glanced at the teacher and saw the teacher was crying. Afterward, the teacher invited Tonya and girls to come back, which they did several times.

Tim's birthday was on May 3rd. A great time was had by all. He is now 12 years old and taller than the average adult.

Adoptions from Russia by Americans was in the news when an American lady who had adopted a Russian boy returned her son to Russia. That, of course, was not the right thing to do. I worked for over three years with the Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina (an excellent organization) before I became a missionary, and I know that there is help available for those kinds of situations. One of the results of this situation is that Russia has temporarily suspended adoptions by Americans. There are more than 740,000 children without parental custody in Russia, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. And placing children inside Russia remains difficult. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8684093.stm

Human trafficking within and from Russia continues to be a problem. If this is of interest to you, we were shown some information about this at the following web site: http://www.demokratizatsiya.org/issues/winter%202010/mccarthy.html

Also, it is fascinating what is hidden in the historical archives of Russia. We have personal friends here who have found some amazing things. Even Mikhail Gorbachev may have some interesting things there. Check out http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_2_soviet-archives.html

Every once in a while we get to see some very interesting translations into English of various things. This web site has become one of our favorites with some very interesting international funny signs. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/11/travel/funny-signs.html

I'm not only behind on my email updates, I'm behind on my newsletters as well. Please pray that I can get a newsletter written and mailed in the near future.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Sincerely,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

One Big Praise Report

2010-04-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

the documents for the Ministry Center have been finalized and we took possession of the property this week. This is very exciting for us. It is a great answer to prayer. It also means that it is time for the real work to begin. The purpose of the center is to reach the people of Russia with the love of God. The building won't do that by itself, it is merely a tool. Soon we will start the remodeling and then begin doing ministry.

Here is the first gathering we had, the day we got the keys. We started out with a prayer meeting.

Unfortunately all the beautiful plastic paneling no longer meets fire codes, so we'll need to strip it all out. We'll also need to move some walls to create a classroom for the Bible Institute. The windows are old but mostly in usable condition. It's not a bad view from the sixth floor.

Thank you so much for your prayers for the purchase of this property. It is centrally located and will be greatly used by the local churches.

The month of March has been a good month: we attended an excellent training retreat in Egypt, we got back home and into routine, I received my resident permit for Russia, the kids basketball teams are doing well, Tonya has been able to start some outreach in a nearby orphanage, I had my birthday, and we received possession of the property for the ministry center. So all of March has been one praise report after another.

Tomorrow, Timothy and I will be participating in an evangelistic outreach with our church. It is tied with the Easter theme (this year Easter is the same day in both Russia and the States). Please pray that many are drawn to the love of Christ.

Amazed by His goodness,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

There And Back Again

2010-03-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

another title of this update would be "One and a Half Praise Reports." But before I tell you what that means, let me first say, "Praise the Lord, we're home." Yes, we're back in Khabarovsk and glad to be here. We've been doing a lot of travelling, and while we enjoy it, we'd rather take a rest from travel for a while.

In Moldova we continued in the ministry of preaching until the end of February. Since most Moldovans understand Russian, Tonya was able to translate for me. On the pulpit in the photo it is written in Russian, "We Preach Christ."

At the end of February we left Moldova. Here we are saying good-bye at the international airport in Chisinau, Moldova. Our kids enjoyed getting the know the other MKs there.

After leaving Moldova we went to Egypt for the annual conference and training for AGWM workers in Russia. Russia is so big that this is really the only chance we have to get to know the rest of the team that works in Russia. The time was very helpful in coordinating our work, getting some teaching, making plans and evaluating things. It was also refreshing, and we had a chance to visit Cairo and see the ancient pyramids.

Timothy and I were even able to go inside the Great Pyramid. It was amazing to me that Moses would have seen this structure as he lead the Israelites out of Egypt so many years ago. But from Egypt we headed back home, spending half a day in Moscow. This was the first time our kids walked on Red Square. That's the Kremlin behind us.

And then on home to Khabarovsk. We are so glad to take a break from travel. And our first Praise report has to do with that. I have received my Resident Permit for Russia. That means I can now live in Russia. I no longer need a visa. This is a major thing for us, a big answer to prayer, and will save us a lot of time and money.

The half a praise report is also a prayer request. The ownership documents for the minstry center continue to process with the government real estate registration office, but there has been a delay. They requested that some additonal documents be submitted, so the process has been held up. Right now we expect that the national church in Khabarovsk will be able to take possession of the property on March 29th. Please pray that there will be no more delays. The property will host several ministries.

Our plans for the next several weeks include lots of meetings with our ministry partners, that is the Russian churches and minstries that we work with here. It is so delightful to be able to make plans with the expectation that I won't have to leave the country again any time soon. Please pray that all our plans will line up with God's plans, and that the Lord would give us wisdom as we move forward.

Oh, after we got home we took a walk and visited a playground here where there are some ice carvings. The sign behind us says Welcome!

From Our Hearts to Yours,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Leaving Moldova

2010-02-26T05:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

our time in Moldova is coming to a close. The end of this month we'll be going to Egypt for the annual retreat/training for AGWM personnel serving in Russia. We'll be in Egypt for one week and then on our way back home to Khabarovsk. Yes, home sweet home.

Today we received some good news about the purchase of the property in Khabarovsk for the ministry center. Payment has been made and the pastors have submitted the documents to the real estate registration department. We are to get them back on the 16th of March. Then the property will belong to the national church of Khabarovsk Krai. Renovations will begin as soon as we take possession of it.

This property is in downtown Khabarovsk, which is the capital of Khabarovsk Krai (a Krai is like a province). Khabarovsk Krai is about twice the size of France. This will be a wonderful resource for churches both in the city and all across Khabarovsk Krai. We praise the Lord that this center is becoming a reality. We thank you for your prayers.

We haven't heard anything yet about my resident permit in Russia. We're continuing to pray that it will be ready when we get back to Khabarovsk in March. I have another 90 days on my Russian visa, so it is important that the permit be ready before that time runs out.

We continue to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers into the harvest field of the Russian Far East. One possible way the people can come and serve with us is the StudyRussianDoMission program. Come to Russia, study the language, and work alongside a missionary. If you are interested, our StudyRussianDoMission team put together a website to help you get started: http://sites.google.com/site/studyrussiandomission/ and another at StudyRussianDoMission http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Study%20Russian.pdf

A new bill has been submitted to the Russian Duma (parliament) by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation to regulate religious freedom and religious organizations. It deals with three issues:

1. People under age being involved with religious groups. 2. Control of religious groups. 3. Regulation of missionary activity. It would make it illegal for a church to allow a child under the age of 18 to attend a service or activity without parental permission, require the name of every person attending a service to be recorded, require any person doing evangelism to have a permit, and things like that. Please pray that this would not become legislation.

An interesting talent that we saw on the internet was a sand drawing done in the Ukraine. As we watched this video it touched us deeply, because Russia continues to be effected by the repercussions of World War II, when a large portion of the population was lost. It uses popular music from that time period, and the lyrics draw on strong emotions. Take a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3O vRXKg&feature=player_embedded

We've heard that you folks back in the States have gotten some snow in the last few weeks. If you wonder what Russians think about this news, check out the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/weekinreview/14levy.html

While we've been here in Moldova we've continued to be invited by churches to preach.

We also have gotten out and made friends. In one village they took us for a sleigh ride.

Jingle Bells!

God bless you, every one,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

More Adventures in Moldova

2010-02-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we are doing well here in Moldova. Deanna had her birthday and is now nine years old. They don't have a McDonald's in Khabarovsk, but they sure do here in Moldova. So Deanna was delighted to have her birthday party at McDonald's.

How did she make so many new friends in just one week? At church!

Tonya has been delighted to discover that most Moldavians speak Russian as well as Romanian. So she's been able to talk with people. Actually, the local pastors have kept us rather busy with invitations to preach (seven times in the last week). Here we are at a small village church where we spoke, they have an amazing painting on their wall:

I was even invited to speak at a funeral for a man I'd never met in a village I'd never been to in a language I don't know (Romanian). Beforehand, I asked a local pastor about funeral traditions here in Moldova. It turns out that you aren't expected to talk about the deceased. The sermon should be of an evangelistic nature, usually something about the afterlife. So I spoke from Revelation 20:11 to Rev. 21:4 (He will wipe away every tear.... ). A young lady (high school student) translated for me into Romanian. The funeral was outdoors at the person's home. After I preached, the the funeral procession left his house and we walked all the way to the cemetery (about a mile). A man with a large cross lead the procession. A choir from the Pentecostal church walked and sang Psalms. There were several pastors there, so several times along the way we stopped and one of them would preach a short sermon for the villagers to hear. When we reached the cemetery there was another sermon, the casket was nailed closed (they actually used nails) and lowered into the hole. Then we walked back to the house and had a meal.

The whole experience was like something I read in a book about peasant life long ago. There are wells in the villages here where people gather. As we would pass by the wells everyone would stop and be quiet, the men would often doff their hats. Some folks joined us. The family felt very honored that an American pastor would come and speak at the funeral. So I was very excepted.

During the church services the kids had my camera and took a bunch of photos. Some of them turned out pretty well (if you take a hundred photos...). Let me show a few to you:

Even while we are not in Russia, things are going on in Russia. The national church is waiting on a document from the Russian government to allow them to make a bank transfer to buy the building in Khabarovsk. The Seller is unhappy about the delay, but there isn't much we can do about it. We're praying that things will move forward quickly, and the purchase will soon be completed.

Our plan at this time is to continue whatever kind of ministry we can do in Moldova until the missions retreat at the end of February. We'll attend the missions retreat (the training will be in Egypt this year) and then return to Khabarovsk. We pray that my resident permit will be approved by then.

Everything is in the Lord's hands, and we're learning to be content in all circumstances.

The Lord richly bless you.

In Christ,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Guidence in the Midst of Chaos

2010-01-19T00:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

right now I'm on a jet flying over the Ukraine from Moscow, Russia, to Chisinau, Moldova. This is my second trip to Moldova, but this time I am travelling with my family.

I arrived back in Khabarovsk on January 7th in time for Christmas (in Russia Christmas is January 7th!). It was a wonderful reunion, and I brought presents from my trip to Moldova. We also opened some gifts that had been mailed to us.

Our hope was that my resident permit would be approved by this time, but it was not. Since visas to Russia (other than student visas and work visas) require you to be out of the country for 90 out of every 180 days, I've needed to leave Russia again. Once I receive my resident permit, that will no longer be a problem.

The annual training for the AGWM Russia team will be held in Egypt this year, February 28 to March 7th. So we've decided to stay in Moldova and go straight to the training before we go back to Khabarovsk. This will be more cost effective. We'll be involved in ministry in Moldova mostly in the same way I was doing ministry my previous trip, by preaching and doing a bit of handy-man help around the Home of Hope. Russian is commonly spoken in Moldova, and we're ready to help out however we can.

During the last few days I was able to work out some of the last details in the purchase of the property for the Far East Ministry Center. The legal details have been rather complicated, making sure everything is done right by both Russian and American law, and learning the Russian side of the law has been an education to me.

God has really amazed me with how sovereign his guidance is even when I have felt clueless and ignorant. We scoured real estate listings and looked at over thirty properties, but the one we settled on we found through a "chance" encounter with a pastor who has just "heard" about a property that was going to be listed. I have no control over the visa situation, but the Lord is able to use it. When I purchased tickets for my first trip to Moldova, I had a long lay-over scheduled in Moscow. Just before the trip I discovered that some legal documents would need to be taken care of in Moscow, and so during the lay-over I was able to take care of those. Actually, it took longer than expected and I would have missed my flight but the departure was delayed, and so I was O.K. Then after returning to Khabarovsk I found out that I needed to have the local church union make an official vote on the matter (since it is being put in their name). Their official business meeting just happened to be scheduled during my short stay in Khabarovsk, but I didn't know that when I arranged my schedule. The Lord really is Lord, even of all our human doings. Proverbs 3:5-6 is so true.

A few days ago we sent the kids - Tim, Vera and Deanna - to go buy themselves a treat at the store. The weather was kinda cool, about minus 10 degrees F, but not unusual for January in Khabarovsk. They ate their treat as they walked back from the store, so we asked them what they had gotten. When they replied that it was ice cream, I asked why they didn't wait until they were home to eat it. "Well," said Tim, "we were afraid it would melt." Tonya and I laughed so hard it hurt. It was a good break from the tension of packing.

We also took a family day and had a picnic and went skating and cross country skiing with some friends at an outdoor rink. And yes, Tim is taller than his mother (he's not standing on anything).

Yum, yum. There's nothing like a winter Russian bar-bee-que.

Another thing we did while I was home was print our latest newsletter. A friend is to drop in the mail for us, so if you get our snail mail newsletters, you should get yours soon. I've posted a copy of it in pdf format.

The girls want me to share this picture that Deanna took of Vera and one of their Christmas gifts: a guinea pig. They named him Teddy.

Today is January 16th. I don't have any internet connection right now, and I'm not sure exactly when I'll get one. I'll post this entry as soon as I'm able.

Peace to All of You,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

In Moldova

2009-12-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I am in Moldova right now. I was invited by some missionaries to come for a little. The folks here are friendly and the pastors I've been getting to know are wonderful. For those who don't know, Moldova is a part of the former Soviet Union, located between the Ukraine and Romania. You can find out more about it at http://www.moldova.md/en/start/ if you want to.

I'm in Moldova because my Russian resident permit has not yet been approved, and I have limited time on my Russian visa. I have a one year religious worker visa for Russia, but Russian visas (other than student and worker visas) require that you be outside of Russia for 90 out of 180 days. I've used up most of my legal time in Russia for this 180 days. I have tickets to return to Russia on January 6th. If my resident permit is ready, then I can just stay there, if not, I will need to leave the country again within the week. In mid-February a new 180 day period starts, and then I get a new 90 days to be in Russia. However, if my resident permit is approved, I can just stay there and live. As you can see, this is a big prayer concern for us.

On Sunday just before I came to Moldova, I received a call from the FSB (they used to be called the KGB) on my cell phone. I was invited to come to their office in Khabarovsk and answer some questions. So the next day I went and met with a polite young man who had many questions for me. He mentioned that this was part of the process for me to get my resident permit.

Later that day (Monday) Tonya went to meet with the Director of Migration for Khabarovsk Krai (a Krai is like a State, and Khabarovsk Krai is about twice the size of France). When greeting his secretary, Tonya said she had some questions about the application for a resident permit for her husband who is American. The lady, who didn't even look away, said, "Eshelman?" I guess I'm the only American applying for a resident permit there right now. The lady explained that everything was ready except for approval from the FSB, and there was nothing they could do about that. So please pray that the FSB would make quick process of my permit's approval.

Things are going smoothly in regards to the purchase of a place for the ministry center. Without me there, the local church leaders are moving the project forward pretty much on their own. They are buying some space in a commercial building downtown. Here you can see the front entrance of that building and some windows to what we are acquiring (on the 6th floor).

This is a really good thing for the Bible Institute and the churches here. This building is in an excellent location next to a bus stop with routes all over the city. Please pray that everything continues to go smoothly.

One of the greatest needs we have is for more workers to bring in the harvest. Our master has told to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the harvest field. Please pray that more people would come an join us. More people are needed to spread the good news. One of our missionaries has put together an excellent video to give a taste of ministry in Russia. All the photos were taken by workers in Russia. Here is a link to the presentation http://animoto.com/play/HqQ2IbmqddcHdB0YrWNaMw?utm_campaign=share_email&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_email Please take a look, I think you'll find it fascinating to see the diversity of Russia and the people we minister to here.

One last prayer request. Please uphold my family in prayer as I am in Moldova and they are still in Khabarovsk. While the ministry here is good, I'd rather be with them, and they would rather be with me.

In His Service,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Meetings, Thanksgiving and Snow!

2009-12-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

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

Feeling At Home

2009-11-22T03:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

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

On the Ground in Russia

2009-10-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

on Saturday we landed in Khabarovsk. After 36 hours in transit (about 20 hours on 4 planes and 16 hours in the airports) we finally arrived. A group from the church here had a surprise party waiting for us in our apartment. It is good to be back home. We're going through jet lag, disengaged from American life but not fully reentered the Russian one.

We're really grateful for the help we received from church friends in Greensboro to help us pack our things, clean the house and get to the airport. God has his people everywhere. Your prayers continue to carry us along.

The schools here are closed due to flu epidemic. But Tonya took Deanna by her old kindergarten to see her previous teacher, who was very glad to see her. We plan to enroll Deanna in the public school here for a couple years, and home school the children from third grade on up. Timothy's friends from our apartment building came to see him shortly after our arrival, and with the schools closed he's been playing outside a lot. We've all been taking walks, adjusting to the Russian weather.

Our first ministry project is find a building to purchase for the Far East Ministry Center. We believe that the Lord has a place ready, and we just need to seek. We've already started looking, but have only just started. Please pray for the Lord's guidance as we seek out what would be the best place.

I'll try to get the camera out and take some photos to send back to you with the next update.

From Russia with Love,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

In the Whirlwind of Things

2009-10-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

my short trip to Khabarovsk was successful. The biggest success was submitting the application for the resident permit, but a number of other things were accomplished as well. I had several good meetings with various folks, renewed my Russian driver's license, preached several times, put weather-stripping in some of our windows (Russian winter is coming), and started setting up my office space. Another success was getting back to the North Carolina to be with my family. For a bit I thought I might spend more time in Korea than I wanted, since my flight out of Khabarovsk was late. As I was running down a corridor in the airport in Seoul, a uniformed lady asked me where I was going. I said, "gate 47, to Chicago." She said, "please hurry" and then talked into a walkie-talkie in Korean. They held the entire Boeing 777 full of people waiting for their trans-Pacific flight just for me. I felt important, and out of breath. I hope next time I'm less important and breathing easier.

Tonya has managed the home front well, and even packed some suitcases while we were apart. Now we're already in countdown mode, with tickets purchased for the 22nd of October. So the whole family is in the midst of packing. Please pray that we are able to take care of every detail be for departure.

Deanna's broken chin is healing well, but we're not going to let her ride it a bike again until we're in Russia. I told her, "no more broken bones until we're home in Russia!" But we're also grateful that she is recovering quickly and our family's departure was only delayed two months. A couple days ago Timothy took this photo of Vera, Deana, and me while we were sitting on our front porch here in North Carolina. The weather here is warmer than in Russia.

Timothy recently received some awards with Royal Rangers (kinda like a Christian Boy Scouts).

We have a special prayer request. There is an individual who wants to help establish Bible Schools for the training of pastors by purchasing buildings for them. He has made some funds available to us to buy a building for the Bible School in Khabarovsk, but has stipulated that we make the purchase before Dec. 15th of this year. So we need to find an appropriate facility and negotiate for it by the deadline. Some workers with the national church in Khabarovsk have started looking for available properties. Please pray that the Lord would show us the place that He has in mind, and make the purchase process go smoothly.

We also have a general prayer request: that we finish up everything here that we need to so and that we would all arrive safely in the Russian Far East (with all our luggage).

From all of us,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

In Russia, I Am One

2009-09-29T03:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

In Russian, you can use the word "one" to mean alone. So, to say "I am alone" you say "I am one." Right now, alas, I am one. Everyone else stayed with Deanna to help her heal up from the bicycle accident.

I've managed to submit an application and all the supporting documents for a resident permit to live in Russia. They said I should hear back in six months or less. Please pray that it gets approved in lot less time. A resident permit (much like the American "green card") would allow me to live here without leaving the country. The present visa regime in Russia requires that I leave every three months out of six. Going through the application process was much easier than I expected, it only took about ten days of visiting government offices, having documents translated, seeing doctors, etc.

The first Sunday I was here the pastor asked me to preach a short sermon (many evangelical churches here have two sermons in a service, a short one and a long one). There was no translator there that morning, so I told him it would be only five or ten minutes. I spoke from the first three verses of the first psalm. Everyone kindly looked like they understood what I was saying in Russian. I hope it really did make sense.

We have a good report for Deanna. She is healing quickly, and the doctor is even letting her eat soft foods like macaroni. Please pray that she will be allowed to travel soon, so that we can all be in Russia by the end of October.

Fall is definitely here, and you can feel that winter is just around the corner. After the rush of getting everything done for my resident permit, I had some free time to take some walks around the city. Here is Lenin square. Most cities in Russia have a place downtown called Lenin square.

I actually enjoyed riding on the city busses and streetcars. Probably after a year I won't be enjoying them anymore. I guess I missed them while I was in the States.

I have tickets to return to the States on the 7th of October. Lord willing, I'll soon be on my way back to Khabarovsk - with my family this time!

Because of Him,
Cecil

In Russia Alone

2009-09-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I am writing this email while sitting in our apartment in Russia. I arrived on the 14th and my luggage arrived on the 16th of September. The rest of the family is staying in North Carolina until Deanna is able to travel. I plan to return to North Carolina in four weeks to be with them again (I'm already looking forward to it). We hope to all be in Russia before the end of October.

Deanna continues to heal well, and is in great spirits. Thank you so much for your prayers.

One thing that we did during my last week in the States is write another newsletter. It is posted in pdf format at http://hqmail.agmd.org/~cecil.eshelman/NL2009September.pdf

Please pray for Tonya as she stays with Timothy, Vera and Deanna. She'll be leading home schooling (which we expected to start in Russia, but, well, it's time for school to start even if they're still in the States).

I'll try to stay in touch while I get our household set up and tend to some other tasks in Khabarovsk. One goal is to get everything ready to submit an application for a Russian resident permit (like an American "green card"). If I can get a resident permit, I won't need to keep applying for new Russian visas.

Blessings,
Cecil

Bumps in the Road

2009-09-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we had tickets to fly to Russia today. Now we have a new plan. Deanna's bike accident rearranged our schedule. For a while it seemed we were going two directions at once, now we actually are. Deanna won't be able to travel for another five to seven weeks. So Tonya will stay in the States with the kids while Cecil goes and takes care of some things in Russia. He will leave in one week, on Saturday, and be in Khabarovsk for four weeks. Then he will return and the whole family will go to Russia together. We don't like being apart, but it looks like this will be the best under the circumstances.

There has been an outpouring of concern and sympathy for Deanna. Thank you so much for your prayers, they are being answered. Deanna is healing very well. She's only able to eat mush, but some mush isn't bad, especially the milkshakes and smoothies. She's not in pain any more. She's sleeping a lot at night, active during the day, and less worried about her chin than we are.

We really have sensed the presence of the Lord through all of this, and He has been good to us. Our schedule got thrown to the wind, so we just started living day by day, and everything has worked out. There are many bumps in the road of life, and this was just one of them.

We've been doing a repacking of suitcases: get out the homeschooling stuff since we need that now, put other books in Cecil's for him to leave in Russia, etc. But all of that is just details. Deanna's chin will heal, we will all get back to Khabarovsk, our ministry will continue, and our family will be stronger because of it.

One of the main goals for Cecil's trip to Russia is to submit an application for him to get a resident permit for Russia (much like our American "Green Card"). There is a lot involved with this, and it will take much of his four weeks to get everything ready. The complete medical examination will be a special nightmare of it's own. Other documents must be prepared, translated, and finally submitted. When everything is submitted it will take the Russian government a while to look it over (maybe six months or more). When issued, the resident permit will allow him to stay in Russia without need for a visa. Please pray for this whole process, which Cecil will start as right after arriving in Khabarovsk.

Please pray for Tonya as she leads homeschool and watches the family while Cecil is gone (September 12 until October 7).

Thank you so much for your prayers and your support.

Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Deanna's Injury and New Plans

2009-08-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we have tickets to Russia for September 5th, but those plans will need to change.

Two days ago Deanna had a bicycle accident and broke her jaw (both joints and a fracture in the front). At the emergency room she was given some stitches on her chin. Yesterday she had surgery that installed a plate and bars in her mouth. She lost some baby teeth in the accident and during surgery they removed an adult tooth that had been broken (a molar). She was able to come home today. The bars will be removed in six to eight weeks. She won't be travelling much until they are removed. After the bars are removed she will need to wear a brace-type thing for a year to keep her jaws lined up so the hinges can heal properly.

Deanna is recovering well. She is drinking a lot and is walking around. She will be eating only apple sauce, mashed potatoes, broth, ice cream and other forms of mush until the bars are removed. She can't talk with her jaws wired shut, but somehow manages to get what she wants. Tim and Vera are doing their best to help.

At this point we don't have clear plan. We'll be communicating with AGWM headquarters and working things out. We know God was not caught off guard by this. So things will come together.

Most likely we will delay our departure until Deanna is able to travel, and then go to Russia.

Please pray for Deanna's recovery. We will need to find a good orthopedic dentist in Khabarovsk to care for her jaw hinges (or, of course, God could heal them directly). Please also pray for the Lord to give us wisdom and a new plan for our return to Russia.

We've had a lot of good people help us through all this, and we are very grateful for that. Thankfully the mission house we are in is unscheduled for the time being, so we can stay as long as we need to. We were just days from selling the car, but still have it. Cecil has received a one-year visa to Russia, a few months delay won't effect that. So we are taken care of, even if we feel a little scatter-brained right now.

In His Hands,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

We Have Tickets

2009-08-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

it was a delight this past Sunday morning to attend church and not speak. We got to just be normal worshippers. This is the first Sunday this year that Cecil hasn't been speaking somewhere. Over the Summer the whole family has been on the road together speaking at about 10 churches a month. But this change is just a prelude to the BIG change. We bought one-way tickets to Russia. The tickets are for September 5th (across the Pacific, via South Korea). We're eager to get back to where the Lord has for us to do ministry. The next two weeks will be the time of a thousand details as we pack our bags, put stuff in storage, get our documents ready, make sure every bill is paid, sell our van, turn off our phones, say good-byes and all the rest.

On a related note, Cecil received his official Letter of Invitation to receive a one-year religious worker visa. He has submitted that letter - along with this passport, an application, and the proper fee - to the Russian Embassy. We expect to recieve his passport back with a visa inside it about a week before we depart to Russia. Since our plan is for him to apply for a Russian resident permit (like a "green card") once we get to Khabarovsk, the real paperwork will begin after we arrive. The rest of the family have Russian citizenship, so they don't need any visa.

Please pray that all the details will come together and all will go smoothly.

One special, extra-ordinary speaking event for us was getting to lead the "missions moments" at a family reunion two weeks ago. Over sixty family members were there, and since the last reunion (three years ago) about a dozen had been on an outreach somewhere, or was active on the field in ministry. Cecil was Master of Ceremonies, and everyone who had been on a trip got to share about their experience.
In the churches, Tonya, Tim, Vera and Deanna often lead children's church presentations. The kids were often fascinated with the Russian dolls.
Whenever we could, we'd stop to take in the scenery.
Please pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send laborers into the harvest field of Russia. We have a few individuals who are communicating with us about coming to Khabarovsk and serving with us there. Pray that God would direct them and equip them.

If you have any questions about or interest in coming to Khabarovsk sometime, please send us an email. We'd love to talk with you about it.

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Ending and Beginning

2009-07-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we have just received notice that the necessary pledges have been received for us to return to Russia. Praise the Lord. Now that we have final approval from headquarters we have jumped the main hurdle. We still need to buy tickets, pack suitcases, pack the home into storage, say good-byes to lots of folks, and we'll speak in a few more churches that or on our schedule. So we'll end things here and begin things again over there.

Cecil needs to receive a visa from the Russian government. We have started the visa process. Please pray that he would receive what we've asked for, which is a one-year religious worker visa. The government office that issues the letters for that kind of visa often does not give you what you request, and has caused us problems before, so this is a real prayer request. They have already delayed our application this time by asking for a document that they've never required before.

But we're excited as we get ready to start a four year assignment in Khabarovsk. Our target date is the very end of August (but early September would still be O.K.).

We've been in the States for about a year now, speaking in churches and raising our support. For the last six months we've averaged speaking in ten churches a month and been doing a lot of travelling with that. While we've been successful, it has left us all - especially Cecil - a bit disoriented. He feels like he's packing for his next trip before he's even opened up his suitcase from the last one. Please pray that we can become reoriented and get everything done that we need to accomplish before we leave.

Here's a photo of Cecil speaking at a church in Alabama. While passing through Georgia, we had a 4th of July picnic with some friends who are missionaries to Mongolia.

We did a little camping in the mountains of North Carolina, near where we're living. We spent some time saying good-bye to some cousins, while passing through Pennsylvania, by going to Hershey Park.
We saw some cousins on the other side of the family by going to a baseball game together in Virginia.
The girls got their baseball signed by Uncle Slam.
We've built a lot of good memories to take with us back to Russia. Our children are truly a product of two cultures. All American and all Russian. I have learned that God is a God for all the peoples.

Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ to you,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Writing and Speaking

2009-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we're in the endgame of raising our support to be able to return to Russia, with about 93% of our budget raised. We're not done, however, so please continue to pray for us to receive the remainder or our required support quickly, so that we can return to Russia by the end of August. Also, we'll be travelling quite a bit in July, speaking in churches to broaden our support base. In July we'll be speaking in Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina (both in the Mountains and the Outer Banks). Please pray that we'll be able to minister to those we speak to, that our travels will be safe, and that we would remain refreshed rather than exhausted.

We've been trying to do a bit of writing in addition to speaking. An article about the Open Heart homeless shelter has been published in Faces of Eurasia. You can see it by clicking on http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/FacesofEurasia_June_09.pdf where we've posted it on our web site. Also, we're mailing out our latest newsletter. We've put a copy on our web site and the link is http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsletter/NL2009June.pdf or you can go to our home page at http://eshelman.info and find them there along with copies of other articles and newsletters (if you have problems with the web site, let us know and we'll email you the materials). Please pray that these mailings would generate increased support for both us and the homeless shelter.

Deanna, Vera and Timothy have finished their school year well. We're very proud of them. They've also done a good job of putting up with their parents and going to all kinds of places and churches. Lately they've even been speaking in children's churches. Here they are at a scenic overlook.

We are hoping to Return to Russia by the end of August. Three main things need to happen before we are able to depart. First, we must raise sufficient financial support to meet our budget. Second, Cecil need to receive a Russian Visa. Third, we need to buy our tickets. We really can't buy the tickets until the first two things happen. Since flights into Khabarovsk are often booked several weeks in advance, everything will need to fall into place just right for us to be in Khabarovsk before September.

This year of itineration we've been staying in a "mission house" provided by Calvary Church in Greensboro, NC. They purchased the house (which is right next to the church) for missionaries to stay in when they are State-side. It has been a real blessing to us. So Tonya cooked a Russian meal for the staff, with a variety of Russian foods just like you might get in Russia. If you'd like the recipes, just let us know.
This month several of the young people we worked with in Russia will be leaving the orphanage system. We've been unable to stay in touch with them over the last year so we don't know if they have any plans for the future or any place to stay (we're quite certain most of them will be homeless). We're not sure how we could find them once we return to Russia. Please pray that the Lord would shelter them under the shadow of His wing.

Faith and Blessings to You All,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

More Good News

2009-05-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we have some good news and some good news.

The first good news is that our cash budget has been raised. You see, we need a certain level of commitments for ongoing support and a certain level of money actually received into our account at headquarters before we are approved to go back to Russia. Now all we need to do (financially speaking) is raise pledges for ongoing support.

The second good news is that we are at right about 90% of our pledge budget. We were able to get headquarters to remove certain items we didn't really need and adjust others to a lower but more accurate level. This, along with a slow but steady growth of commitments, has brought us within sight of the goal. We still need to keep working to raise the rest, but we're excited about how things are going, and continue to plan on returning to Russia by the end of August.

And some more good news. The extension for Deanna's I-94 has been approved. That means she may remain legally in the United States. We really look forward to when she gets U.S. citizenship, but that will be a new pile of paperwork we'll start working on in 2010.

Cecil spoke at a Chi Alpha chapter in Raleigh, NC. He really enjoyed hanging out with the students. We are praying for young people to be excited about foreign missions.

Please pray for laborers to join the work on the mission field, especially in Russia. It is a big territory that is in great need.
The kids have passed their end-of-grade tests and enjoying the warmth of spring. We went hiking up Hanging Rock while taking a break during a trip to speak at a church.

A few freaky facts about Russia:

· There are presently 32 Russian billionaires, down from 110 a year ago.
· Russia’s lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.
· Moscow is the most expensive city in the world to live in.
· Over a quarter of the world's scientific literature is published in Russian.
· There are 76 unreached people groups in Russia.

In His Name,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Stateside Stuff

2009-05-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

The last month seems to be a blur of travel and speaking. In April Cecil spoke at seven places in Pennsylvania, one in West Virginia and two in North Carolina. Easter break was nice, we all went to visit family. When Cecil was visiting with his grandmother he had a chance encounter with a doctor in the cafeteria and during the conversation he discovered that this was the doctor that delivered him at birth. A most interesting encounter. The kids also had a great time with their great-grandmother (96 years old!).
We were also able to do a little sight-seeing and history lessons while passing through the D.C. area.
We had a special treat when we spoke in Siler City in late March. The church there is bi-lingual, and the entire service was done with translation. Cecil felt right at home having his sermon translated. Here is a photo with the translator and his wife.
We have submitted an application to have Deanna's I-94 extended, so that she will remain legal until we return to Russia. There are three possibilities: 1. it is approved, that would solve the problem with her I-94. 2. it is denied, and she would have 30 days to leave the country. 3. They don't make a decision, which is fine because she would remain legal. So that situation is taken care of for now, but you can pray that they just don't deny the extension (until we're about to leave anyway). Once Deanna has been in our legal and physical custody for more than two years, we can apply for her to get an immigrant visa and receive U.S. citizenship. So we expect to start jumping through those legal hoops in 2010.

Do to the economic downturn, our headquarters has been working to lower missionary's budgets. This should work to our advantage, so we may be closer to meeting our budget than we thought. We haven't gotten hard figures yet on how exactly our budget has been effected, but we'll soon sharpen our pencils and find out. We are praying that we be fully funded when we return to Russia (hopefully in August).

Please also pray that our time in the States be true ministry as we travel and speak. That the messages would be from the Lord and would be a blessing to those who hear.

We would like to bring a slide show to your attention. It is about a monument in honor of the terrorism victims in the World Trade Center that was erected by Russians here in the States. A gift from the people of Russia to the people of American, hoping for peace. I didn't hear about this in the news, and maybe you didn't either. We pray that peace between Russia and the United States would be firmly established. The slide show is in powerpoint and posted on our web site at http://101649.agwebservices2.org/?TargetPage=56A045DF-A15D-412F-9427-378208341E96 and if you have problems viewing it, please let us know.

May the Lord richly bless you,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Things Keep Rolling Along

2009-03-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we continue to be busy speaking in churches. In February we gave eight presentations, in March we are presently scheduled to do nine. We enjoy meeting so many different folks in the various churches, but please pray for us to have endurance for the miles ahead. We average more than a hundred miles a day on our odometer, and we drive in all kinds of weather. Here's a photo from this morning (school was cancelled). Imagine that, missionaries to Russia dealing with snow.
Though we are here in the States, the Lord continues to work in Khabarovsk. We were able to talk with Sergei (the director of Open Heart homeless shelter) last week. He was invited by the governor's office for a meeting, and he ended up meeting with the chief of Khabarovsk Territory's Social Services Department. The meeting went very well, and he was given several promises of assistance. As Sergei says, "now we'll see what they do." However, the previous legal problems the shelter was experiencing have completely disappeared, and the hassles they were getting from government inspectors has ceased. That alone is wonderful development. The government is expecting the problem of homelessness to increase since Russia has entered a steep economic recession.

The shelter has grown to over a hundred residents from about seventy last summer. They have, however, received another house from another ministry. A home being operated as a Christian half-way house for men coming out of prison has been turned over to them due to their great need for housing space. Their canvas military tent continues to be used for housing, but it was already a used tent three years ago when it was erected as a temporary shelter, and it is becoming deteriorated. Every time they expand their housing capacity by building or acquiring a building they hope to take down the tent, but more new people always show up to fill it.

This summer they want to finish the interior of the second floor of the first house they built and start on another building. They really want to be able to put the tent away and house people properly. Interestingly, just last week Cecil was contacted by Russian Evangelism to write an article to help raise support for this project. Please pray for him to do a good write-up.

A little while back the city government promised to give Open Heart some land. Recently they offered him a specific plot. It does not have a building and is located by the river in the flood plain. Sergei declined to take it and asked for something useful. As Sergei has been known to say, "now we'll see what they do."

We have also heard from Alexander, the pastor who is living in our apartment while we are here in the States. He and his wife and four kids are doing well. However, his church has been renting a meeting hall and their lease was suddenly ended. They've had trouble finding a new place to meet, and have even had some Sunday church meetings out-of-doors (that takes commitment in February in Russia). Please pray that his church, House of Life, can find a new place to meet.

We had a great time this last week-end in Burlington, NC, speaking at a missions convention. Here's a photo of Tonya speaking after a meal on Saturday.
We're behind schedule in getting out a new newsletter. Please pray for inspiration for the message and perspiration to print them and get them in the mail.

Please pray for more folks to be able to come to Khabarovsk and build the Kingdom there. The needs are great and the laborers few.

Also, please pray that our budget will be fully met so that we can return to Russia fully funded in August of this year. Our budget was raised considerably from our previous term, and we need to recieve more financial support (presently we have pledges totaling about 75% of our budget as set by AGWM). Lord willing, in six months we'll be ready to go.

For Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Here and There

2009-02-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we've been enjoying ourselves travelling around and speaking at lots of churches. Big churches, little churches, city churches, country churches, at least one every week. We even got out to the Outer Banks and got to speak one more time at the church we pastored years ago. It was so good to see familiar - and new - faces. Cecil preached and gave a report of what God has been doing in our lives since we last saw them.
Fellowship after the service lasted more than two hours (with a pot luck dinner). We also got to visit the beach near where we used to live while we pastored. It was the first time for Deanna to see the Atlantic Ocean.
We celebrated two birthdays this year so far. Vera's birthday was on New Year's Eve, but since we were at a conference we delayed the party a couple weeks. We went to a place called "Art Quest" and had a very artistic time with a variety of crafts.
Deanna's birthday was January 28th. We celebrated at a "Bounce House" with lots of activity. Dad really enjoyed being a kid again.
After lots of bouncing we had pizza and cake with Deanna's friends.
Timothy has truly learned to love playing basketball. Here he is suited up for a game. The girls have been active with the cheerleading squad. Here is one of their half-time presentations. It was better than the Superbowl.
While our lives continue to concentrate on deputation work in the States, the Lord continues to work in Russia. We just received some astounding news from Khabarovsk. Sergei, the director of Open Heart Homeless Shelter, will be meeting with the Governor of Khabarovsk territory this week. Please pray that God gives Sergei favor with the Governor. This has a potential for ending some of the problems the shelter has had in dealing with documents and other issues. The economic downturn has hit Russia very hard, and the poor seem hit the hardest.

When we return to Russia we hope more people will come to the Russian Far East and join in the harvest there. Please pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest field. Some young people who attended the World Missions Summit over New Years have expressed a desire to come to Russia. Now that they've felt a call, the hard work begins. They need to prepare themselves, get a ministry plan in place, raise the financial support, get people to pray for them, receive visas, buy tickets, and actually get on the plane.

Now that the Missionary Children's school in Khabarovsk has closed, we will by home schooling once we get back. We're praying that the Lord send us someone to help set up the homeschooling and get things going. Do you know someone who would like to help teach missionary kids in Russia for a while?

And please pray for Jason, who is now in Khabarovsk without any other team members. Check it out: he is being highlighted on the MAPS recruiting site at http://goag.org/goag/maps/onassignment (at the bottom of the page).

The Peace of the Lord be with you!

Shalom,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Merry (second) Christmas

2009-01-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas! Yes, today is Christmas in Russia. They celebrate Christmas on January 7th due to the Orthodox Calendar.

We already celebrated Christmas in Canada while visiting friends there. Tonya supervised making a traditional Russian food called palmeni. Steve Pike, left, was the best man at our wedding (Oh, so long ago).
We went for walks in the outside (with plenty of snow) and also sledding. Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!
Not only did Canada provide a white Christmas for us, but we were able to get a new entry for Deanna (who doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet); so she is now legal to stay in the States until June 25th. The line at the border was long, but the officials were friendly, so it was no problem. Praise the Lord.

The World Missions Summit was a blast. We arrived early to help set up, didn't have a moment of rest once the Summit started, and helped take down afterward. One of the highlights for us was the Eurasia Experience, where Cecil played the role of an Orthodox Priest and the kids played the role of beggars in the marketplace. We were to busy to even get photos, sorry. We also got to talk with a lot of folks who were interested in missions. There were almost 4,000 attendees, plus over 400 missionaries. Another WMS highlight was meal-with-a-missionary where we got to sit down and enjoy four meals with a tables-full of young folks who were interested in hearing about missions. They asked some great questions and graciously listed to our stories.
Please pray for the folks who were there that the Lord would guide them to take their place in His Kingdom.

Our girls were fascinated with the gingerbread city put up in the front lobby of our hotel.
Vera's birthday was New Year's Eve, and so we told her we had invited 4,000 students to come to her birthday party. She decided to celebrate with her friends this coming weekend.

Before we headed out of town we were able to mail out our latest newsletter. It is now posted on the web at http://101649.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/101649/Content/Newsletter/Newsletter%202008%20Fall.pdf If you have any problems finding, just let us know and we'll email it to you.

After speaking in a December service at Christian Life Center in Gibsonville, NC, we got a family photo by the tree.
We will be travelling and giving missions services until we return to Russia. Please pray that our schedule would be full and for the services to be spirit filled.

Merry (Second) Christmas,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Holiday work and play

2008-12-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we've been on the road a lot lately (especially Cecil). Since August our car has averaged over a hundred miles a day. Mostly we've been speaking in churches, but also home groups and fellowship dinners and even a Bible College. So far we've spoken in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Missouri. Our kids seem to keep finding friends wherever they go. The goal of our itineration as missionaries is two-fold. First is to raise missions awareness. The second is to raise funds for our return to Russia. While offerings have been generous, we have received very few new commitments of ongoing support. We will need to increase our support level to return to Russia. Please pray that the Lord would open people's hearts to support us on a monthly basis. Please also pray that we would book more speaking events. Usually itineration is done for one year, and we really want to get back to Russia on schedule (in August '09).

While our itineration and deputation work has been the main focus for Cecil's energy, the family has also been busy with a number of things. Over Thanksgiving we all got together with extended family in Pennsylvania and had a great time with a family reunion. For Christmas we will be going to Canada and staying with the family of the man who was the best man at our wedding. Leaving the country will also meet the requirement that Deanna stay in the country no longer than six months (she doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet). Please pray that we don't have any problems at Passport Control.

On November 4th the kids went to observe how voting is done. Of course, the rest is history.
Timothy has joined a basketball team. They've played two games so far. They are the only two games he's ever played. His position is center, and he's gotten several rebounds. He's also scored one point (a free throw). The girls decided they wanted to do cheerleading. I'll send photos sometime.

Timothy and Vera also entered an art contest. There were several categories including photo, drawing and even video. Timothy entered a video that won, and has advanced to the county competition.

Vera and Deanna were invited to help bake holiday cookies with a friend just before Thanksgiving.
Cecil is still trying to get inspired to write a good newsletter. Please pray for the inspiration to come.

As many of you know at the end of this month World Missions in tandem with Chi Alpha will host the second World Missions Summit (www.twms.org). We're looking forward to having a great time and praying to meet people who would come to Khabarovsk and join the work there. We'd really like to have more Missionary Associates. Speaking of Missionary Associates, Jason is doing well and keeping busy with his language study. Please pray for him as he is alone in Khabarovsk during the Christmas holidays.

If you have any questions about the possibility of coming to Russia on a short term mission, feel free to write to us. If you'd like us to come to your church and speak sometime we can send you some information to give to your pastor about us.

Because of Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Steps and Missions

2008-11-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

we finally got our last newsletter posted on the internet. We think it actually looks better in the hardcopy form than when seen in a web browser. But if you'd like to see it take a look at http://hqmail.agmd.org/~cecil.eshelman/nl2008summer/NL2008summer.html

First, a praise report. We were able to get a visa to Canada for Deanna for Christmas. When we first applied they told us to send more documents. So we got the documents together and took a quick trip up to Washington D.C. We were speaking in a church in Virginia on Sunday a week and a half ago, and the kids didn't have school on Monday (teacher's work day), so we all went together. It took three hours of waiting at the Canadian Consulate, but they did issue the visa. Since Deanna needs to leave the States every six months (she doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet) this will help keep everything legal. Praise the Lord we don't need to get her airline tickets all the way back to Russia for Christmas.

We also went for a walk around the capital and visited the Air and Space Museum. At the Air and Space museum, Timothy pondered becoming a missionary to Mars.
Every time Vera would see a U.S. flag, she would stop and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Do you have any idea how many U.S. flags there are in D.C.?

From time to time we hear from Jason, who is in Khabarovsk. He's studying Russian, ministering to students, and holding things together for us while we are gone. Things seem to be going well for him. Please pray for him that the Lord would send him good friends, empower his work and give him clear direction from day to day. Jason has started keeping a blog at http://redroses4russia.blogspot.com/

Our Calendar of speaking engagements is filling up nicely, especially for Sunday morning services. We have something scheduled every Sunday from now to the middle of February (even the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the one before Christmas). This is good since the more we get around the more likely we will raise our financial support to return to Russia next summer (our target date of return is August 2009). Please pray that the schedule keeps filling up, that the services are times where the Lord moves and ministers, and that God meets all our needs.

The World Missions Summit is coming up over New Years in Ohio, and we plan to be there. The WMS is a tri-annual gathering of students and missionaries (although anyone can come). This year they expect over 5,000 students and over 400 missionaries to meet in Cincinatti. The purpose is to expose young people to the call of God and the concept of foreign missions. There will be "Meals with a Missionary" where you get to eat with a missionary and discuss subjects. There will be displays, booths and special events. Cecil will by playing the part of an Orthodox priest during the Eurasia Experience (so he's been asked to grow a beard). If you're interested and want to learn more, check out their web site at http://theworldmissionssummit.ag.org/conf_info.cfm

On a personal note, Deanna is learning to ride a bike.
And Vera got to ride a pony. Although we expect to be home schooling when we return to Russia, the kids are attending public elementary school now. Things are going well. Deanna is learning English very quickly in 1st grade. Vera is in advanced Math classes in 2nd grade. Timothy is making the "A and B" honor roll in 4th grade.

Well, it looks like it's time to start writing another newsletter. Please pray for us to have inspiration to write an exciting (or at least interesting) letter.

In His Grace,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna Eshelman

Field and Furlough

2008-10-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

travel and speaking are the main things on our agenda. We've settled into Greensboro, the kids are doing well in school, and we've found where the stores and post offices are. However, we spend a lot more time travelling while we are on "furlough" than when we're on the "field." This year of home service our opportunity to meet our supporters face-to-face and let folks know about what the Lord is doing in the Russian Far East. But we're not complaining; a full calendar is a good calendar. Please pray that it continues to fill up and that the Lord would use us as we speak to churches and other groups.

We have some praise reports to share. A lawsuit was brought against the homeless shelter and the judge ruled that the building didn't have the proper permits and must be removed or dismantled. The local news gave them quite a bit of coverage during the appeals process. This was very positive for the shelter. Somewhere someone in the government gave an order, the lawsuit was dropped (before it came to court again) and the documents are being issued for the shelter to keep both the house and be given ownership of land under it. We praise the Lord they homeless who live there will have another winter in a warm and dry home.

Also, the pastor who is living in our apartment while we are on home service tells us all is well in our Russian home. He also reports that his church has grown to the point where there are usually ten to fifteen people who must stand through the services. Are you hungry enough for God to be willing to stand through an entire church service? Please pray that they can get a larger meeting place.

Here's a couple quotes from the family:

Timothy, when meeting his great-grandma after being apart for several years asked her how old she was. Upon hearing that she was 95 years old he said, "Wow, you must have really honored your father and mother."

Deanna, while quietly walking through the park suddenly said, "God is our Father so the church is our mother."

Cecil, when asked what a typical day for a missionary is like paused for a while and then said, "well, it depends on what that day is like."

Please pray for Deanna to be able to get a visa to Canada. She doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet, and is in the country on a tourist visa. That requires her to leave the States after six months to stay legal. Since we entered exactly six months before Christmas, we want to spend Christmas in Canada and then return. This week we'll put in a visa request with the Canadian consulate for that visit.

We've gotten out a newsletter in the mail and hope to post it on our web site soon.

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Back in North Carolina

2008-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

We have been traveling around quite a bit, but have settled into a home in Greensboro, North Carolina. A church - Calvary Assembly - has a house for missionaries to stay at for free. We still have a little settling in to do (just got the phone and internet set up) but we're are starting to set up a routine. We really appreciated having a home waiting for us when we arrived, fully furnished and everything.Before arriving in North Carolina we visited Cecil's folks in Colorado. Seeing family was our first priority upon returning to the States. Deanna has now met all her family except a few cousins. One our way to Colorado we stopped at the St. Louis arch.Last week school started. Timothy in fourth grade, Vera in second and Deanna started first grade. They are all excited about it, and we hope they stay excited as long as possible. Deanna's English language skills are advancing quickly. Here is a photo of them getting on the bus. We have watched the news about the conflict in the Republic of Georgia with great concern. We lived in Georgia for two years - 2001 to 2003 - and have been to several of the cities that were bombed, such as Gori and Poti. Cecil even preached in a church in a village on the edge of South Ossetia. We never would have though Ossetia would be headline news. So we know people in the Georgian military. Having lived in Russia we also know people in the Russian military. It was grievous to think that they would be shooting at each other. At this point we don't know if anyone we know has been killed. We thank the Lord that the shooting has stopped, and pray that all the armed forces would return home.

The conflict there is nothing new, but it was quiet while we lived in Georgia. We did some relief work among the refuges from the Abkhaz conflict. The Abkhaz conflict was in '92-'93 and there were still refuges in '01-'03 living in very depressing conditions. After doing work among refuges you come to see war in a different light. There is no glory in war.

We've begun to itinerate among churches and give missions presentations. Here is a photo of us at Vineyard Assembly dressed up in our traditional Russian outfits.

This coming year we are available for missions presentations for churches, schools or whoever would like us to come. Please pray for us to have a full calendar and lots of ministry until we return to Russia (next August, Lord willing). Also, that the Lord would speak through us and bless the people who hear us speak.

Our new mailing address is:
1673 Pleasant Ridge Road
Greensboro, NC 27409

And if anyone needs it, our home phone is 336-617-8144.

Jason, our co-worker, is at this moment aboard a plane on his way to Russia. He will be keeping the ministry going while we are State-side. He is returning on a student visa and will continue to study the Russian language. Please pray for him and his reentry to Russian culture and language.

We have a special prayer request from Sergei and the Christian Homeless Shelter. There was a court hearing that ruled that he hadn't received the proper permits to construct the building for the shelter and was told to remove the building. They have appealed to another court. Please pray that they would be given permission to keep the building.

We also need to get a newsletter out. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to inspire us with the right words while we write.

We've had some problems with transferring information over to our new computer, so if you know of someone who seems to have dropped off our emailing list, please let me know.

In His Service,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Where on the planet are the Eshelmans?

2008-07-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

we're back in the States. We're still on the road. After leaving Russia in June we attended training in Turkey. Then we flew straight from there to the States, where Cecil's Aunt Marian and Uncle Bob picked us up from the Baltimore airport. So far in the States we've bought a car (mini-van) and licensed it, gotten a new driver's license for Cecil (his had expired), sorted through years of accumulated mail, spoken at two churches, gotten a cell phone, attended School of Missions in Missouri, purchased a new computer (our other one is five years old), gotten over jet lag and visited with family in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Lord willing, we'll go see Cecil's mom in Colorado and in August we'll move into a place in North Carolina and enroll the kids in school.

O.K., now for the details.

We sure had to say good-bye a lot before we left Russia. Everyone knows we plan to return to Khabarovsk next summer, but everyone seemed to want to get together for a picnic before we left. We had several like the one below.

Turkey is eight time zones west of Khabarovsk. We attended an AGWM conference for their workers in Eurasia which is held every three years. While Mom and Dad attended meetings, the kids went to their own. Here is Timothy saying his lines during a presentation.

The girls enjoyed a face painting one day.

In the evenings we went for walks on the beach.

But the most exciting thing happened on the beach was when Timothy asked to be baptized. There is a baptismal service held after Church on Sunday in the Mediterranean Sea. Tim was the first of about a dozen to be baptized. He was baptized by Omar Beiler, a good friend of our family's, as well as our Regional Director.

After the retreat we came to the States. This was the first time for Deanna to be in the States. Here she is just after entering.

So of course this Fourth of July was also the first to celebrate American Independence. She sat on Aunt Barbara's lap as we watched fireworks in Ohio.

On our way to School of Missions we stopped in the town where Cecil had grown up. There he preached in Christ Episcopal Church, where his parents had been members. The kids really enjoyed seeing him in vestments, which the church had prepared for him. Here Cecil is talking to a parent of a high school classmate whom he hasn't seen in over 25 years.

One of the hardest parts of leaving Russia was saying good-bye to folks there, even though we should be returning in a year. We handed over the orphanage ministry to Russian volunteer workers who will try to keep things going while we are gone. We also held a graduation ceremony for five young people who graduated from an orphanage where we were ministering. We pray the Lord will hold them in the palm of his hand while we are gone.

It sure was fun watching Deanna go through so many new experiences in the last month, such as going through a revolving door for the first time, going down a water-slide, using a hotel key (the kind that looks like a credit card), playing in waves and such. Tim and Vera have been very helpful. When we were changing planes in New York, Tim taught Deanna how to use a drinking fountain. Vera enjoys explaining things about American life.

Although Deanna has a two year tourist visa to the States, the DHS determines how long any particular stay can be when entering the country. The official at passport control gave her the longest time he was allowed to, six months. This means Deanna will need to leave the States before Christmas, but will still be able to re-enter on the same visa until it expires. Please pray for us to have wisdom for us to know the best way to work things out.

We'll be spending another week in Pennsylvania before going to see Cecil's mom and stepfather. We haven't seen his folks since they came Khabarovsk to visit us last summer. Then we will finally be able to settle into our housing.

We'll be living in Greensboro, North Carolina for the coming year. There is a house there owned by Calvary Church that they provide free of charge to missionaries who are on home service. It should meet all our needs, but we'll still need to get our kids enrolled in school, send out our new mailing address, and all the things involved in moving to a new place.

We will be traveling and speaking about missions until we return to Russia, probably in August 2009. The main purpose of this is to encourage people to become involved in missions. We are also expected to raise financial support for our next term on the field, which will be a four year term. Please pray for us to have a full schedule of services. If you would like to have us come do a missionary service, just let us know.

For Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Ready to Fly

2008-06-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

sorry it's been so long since our last communication. We leave Russia tomorrow, so we've been a bit crazy wit packing and closing things down. First we'll go to a conference in Turkey for all the AGWM missionaries on the Eurasia field. After that we'll fly to the States and spend time with family. We'll buy a used mini-van and travel to Missouri for training at Missionary Renewal. Eventually we'll settle into Greensboro, North Carolina, and spend the following year traveling and speaking doing missions conferences, missions services, and whatever we can to build missions awareness in the churches of America.

We've been pondering whether to use the traditional and more accurate spelling of Deana's name, or go with the official English spelling that was placed on Diana's passport. Deanna or Diana? We've decided that if Timothy can go by Tim and Tatiana can go by Tonya that Diana can go by Deanna. So we're going to take Deanna as a nickname and only use Diana on the official papers.

Since the processing of documents seemed to be going well and we hadn't seen Tonya's folks for almost two years, we took a quick vacation to Novokuznestk (Tonya's native city). Deanna was able to meet her new grandparents and great-grandfather (he was born in October of 1917, during the revolution). He is also a veteran of the 2nd World War.

We were asked to preach at church and at a rehab center and enjoyed ministering. We also got to visit Tonya's parents dacha where we worked in the garden and took walks in the woods. It was a great way to relax before jumping in to the final packing for our year of home service.

We returned to find that although Deanna's American visa was approved by the U.S. Consulate, there was a certain fee we didn't know about that we needed to pay. We paid it right away and we were able to get it on Wednesday. She was issued a 2-year visa. Now we have all the documents we need to come to the States. Along with that, we do have a prayer request. Although she has a 2-year visa, the Department of Homeland Security will determine the maximum length of her stay when she enters the U.S. Please pray that they give her 14 months so that we'll not have to make any extra trips outside the U.S. during our time of home service.

We've been saying farewells to a lot of friends here over the last week, and we're emotionally ready to go even if we're getting tired. Please pray for us as we go through all the transition, that we are able to keep treating each other the way God would like us to.

We've got to go and finish the last minute packing. We need to be at the airport in 12 hours.

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Soon to be Summer

2008-05-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

one month from today we will leave Russia, go to a missions gathering in Turkey and straight from there return to the States. So the countdown has begun. So much to do, so little time.

We are trying to figure out how we should spell our daughter's name in English. It is spelled Диана in Russian, which is pronounced DEE-anna, which we have been spelling Deanna. But her Russian passport has it spelled Diana. Since all her documents in English will copy the spelling in her passport it seems we may have to go with the official spelling to keep things simple. Decisions, Decisions.

Yesterday we sent documents via courier to the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok. Today they will be submitted and tomorrow or Monday the Consulate officers will examine them and start the process of determining if they will issue Diana a visa to come to the States. Since she doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet she will need a visa. Please pray that Diana will be issued a two-year visa and all would go smoothly with this process.

May 9th is Victory Day, celebrating victory over the Nazis in WWII, and is one of the largest holidays in Russia. Since schools were closed, Cecil took the Royal Ranger outpost on an overnight campout. It was a small group, but they had a great time. Here they are getting ready to eat a lunch they cooked over the fire.
It was a nice place right next to the water (Amur River) and the mosquitoes weren't out yet. There is nothing quite like the initials of the Great Out Doors.

Since the weather is turning warm, we took the kids outside to do our orphanage ministry. We went to the local botanical garden and set up a treasure hunt. Here is a photo of Tonya doing a presentation about "guarding the heart" just before they started the treasure hunt.

Greg is a student in Bible College. He wanted to visit for a month and see what God is doing in Russia. When we met him in Khabarovsk we told him that if you want to see God at work you really must visit the homeless shelter. When he agreed to go we also told him to prepare a word to share with them. We were soon to discover what a good speaker he is. Tonya translated and Greg delivered a wonderful, encouraging message to the residents.

We are planning to have a graduation party on Tuesday for the orphans where we minister. It will also be a good way for us to say good-bye to them before we leave for a year of home service in the States. Please pray for them that when they leave the orphanage this summer that God would guard them and guide them.

Also, please pray for the father and two daughters that Tonya led to the Lord. They live in our apartment building so the girls come to visit us often, but there are many problems from the past they need to overcome. Salvation comes in a moment of surrender, but transformation of the mind (and life) is a process of surrender.

Cecil is developing a new web site about our ministry. It is still under construction, and he is open to suggestions. You can take a look at http://eshelman.info/

Medvedov is now the president of Russia and Putin has become the prime minister. We don't expect this to bring any major changes to Russia.

May the Lord bless you and Keep you.

In Him,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna (Diana?)

bureaucratic miracle

2008-04-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

yesterday we experienced a miracle. In the morning the passport office asked us to come by in the evening. On Thursday we had submitted an application for Deanna's passport, so we assumed there was a problem with the application . Tonya ran in while I parked the van. When Tonya came out with Deanna's passport I almost fell out of the car door. Deanna's passport had been completed in five days.

When I renewed my Russian driver's license it took me three days to submit the application (three visits to the police office) and then after it was submitted it took eight days of processing it before it was ready. Ten days just to renew a driver's license. Passports usually take a month, and this one was issued in five days (only three business days). Tonya and I are still in awe of what God has done.

So what if they came up with a new way to spell her name?

Now we are ready to apply for her American visa. Thank you for your prayers.

To God be the Glory,
Cecil

Quick Praise Report

2008-04-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

sometimes God answers prayer so quickly it makes your head spin. On Wednesday we sent out a prayer request regarding Deanna's documents. We need two things for her to return to the States with us for home service starting this summer: her passport (from the Russian government) and her visa (from the American government). And we need them soon since Cecil's Russian visa expires June 20th and we need to buy tickets.

The process of receiving a Russian passport takes a month. Tonya went to the passport office yesterday (Thursday) and the line was very short (in Russia that alone is amazing). Tonya needed to speak with different officers. The first was to pick up a document we needed to prove Deanna's citizenship. This lady had been very helpful by processing the document faster than usual. Tonya was able to give her a copy of the book "Son of Man" by Alexander Menn, a Russian Orthodox priest who was killed for preaching the Gospel (sorry, but it hasn't been translated into English yet). The second was to submit the documents to get the passport. This lady also was very polite and helpful. But the response of the director of the office that was most amazing. She was very interested and touched by the story of Deanna's adoption, and mentioned that Deanna is lucky to be adopted into a good family, and agreed to process the passport in one week (and didn't even hint at wanting a gift).

We contacted the American Consulate in Vladivostok about getting a 2-year visa to the States for Deanna (not an immigrant visa, that is a whole different matter). They first stated that Deanna we not eligible for a non-immigrant visa to the United States since she might become an illegal immigrant, and the tone was quite negative. After sending our last prayer request out, Cecil asked if we were able to show that the whole family was returning to Russia, would she then be eligible? Their response was yes, if we could provide documents proving our ties to Russia and showing we would return, and this time the tone was quite positive. So now Cecil is gathering documents showing we own property here, own a vehicle here, have Russian driver's licenses, have Russian bank accounts, and getting a letter from AGWM that after a year of home service we will be returning to Russia as part of our jobs.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. It is true that we don't yet have the documents in our hands, but we sense that the Lord as given us favor on all sides.

Praise the Lord.

In His Blessed Name,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

God is in Control (It's all about Him, anyway)

2008-04-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

This is Holy Week in Russia, since Orthodox Easter falls on April 27 this year.

We want to share with you some wonderful things that have been happening, a story from Cecil's trip to Mongolia, and then a situation of uncertainty where we need prayer.

In our previous email update we mentioned a family that lives in our apartment building. While the mother is still gone, the father and two girls have continued to attend church (the father goes with Cecil to the men's meeting). The father has continued to not drink or smoke. It is neat to watch as the whole atmosphere in the home changes. The older girl was telling us about waking up in the morning hearing her younger sister explaining to her father what Easter is about since had to work on Palm Sunday and the girls had attended with us and heard the story at church. In the past she usually was awoken by sounds of scolding and cursing when her dad would return from the night shift. They are coming from a situation of absolutely no spiritual knowledge and God is now laying a totally new foundation. They had never heard such common stories as the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, what happened on Palm Sunday or even what happened on Easter. They still have a long way to go, so please pray for them, especially for them to get firmly connected with a church so they continue after we leave this summer.

We want to thank the Lord for how he is in control of our orphanage ministry. We've had people from three different churches join with us. It looks like they will be able to continue the weekly lessons while we are gone. Tonya feels we have planted a lot of seed, but we haven't seen much fruit in the children yet. However, we've been talking with the teachers there about spiritual subjects for a long time. A month ago two teachers gave their hearts to the Lord, and on a day we weren't even there. We feel much more peace knowing that we aren't needed to keep the ministry going. Hey, it's not about us.

Here is one of the orphanage ministry guys witnessing to a teacher last December.

Cecil thought of another story he wanted to share from his trip to Mongolia. He arrived by train to Ulan Bataar on a Sunday morning and was able to get to a Church service. He attended Hope Church, which he worked with 12 years ago when he was teaching at the Bible School. One of his former students is now the pastor. The next Sunday Cecil had already turned in his paperwork with the Russian Consulate, and having two weeks to wait, went to the countryside to help his old buddy, Chris. Chris has a ministry to the nomads and is in the process of moving his family from Moron (a town in Western Mongolia) to Tetsentsingl (a small village way out there). So he attended church in Tetsentsingl. It was the first time there had ever been a church service in that village. You could call it a house church, except that it met in a ger (round white tent) where a family of believers live. Including Cecil there were seven adults. Chris says they have nine adults attending now. The next Sunday Cecil attended a church in Moron since he needed to catch a plane back to Ulan Bataar that afternoon. It is a young church, but they have already built their own building and it is pastured by a Mongol. What a special experience to get to worship in three healthy, but very different, churches all in one short trip.

As an update on our Khabarovsk mission team. Aaron and Beth are in the Republic of Georgia, staying busy and doing well. Due to the Russian visa situation they do not plan to return to Russia, but will finish their term in Georgia and go straight back to the States. Jason is in the States and has raised the funds he needs to return to Khabarovsk as a Missionary Associate, but is waiting on his visa. Please pray that Jason's visa will be issued soon. He is eager to return. Elf continues to learn Russian and is active in ministering to the students in her dormitory. She plans to return to the States after her semester is over, but is still seeking the Lord as to what her next step should be.

We are facing a situation of uncertainly created by a clash of documents. Cecil's visa will expire on June 20th and he must be out of the country when that happens. Deanna's documents have been very slow in processing. We still have one more document to receive before we can apply for her to get a passport. That document should be ready tomorrow morning. If it is, then we should be able to start the application process for getting her passport tomorrow afternoon. That process takes about a month. After that we will need to apply for Deanna to receive a visa to the United States, which takes a week or two (assuming there are no problems with the U.S. Consulate). Then we need to buy tickets for Deanna. But Cecil needs to buy tickets soon to insure their availability. It is possible we may need to split the family up, but we'd rather not. We will continue to have a lot of documents to deal with until we are able to get Deanna U.S. citizenship. Please pray for the Lord to work out all the details.

A little political news from Russia:
Russia is soon to change presidents. Mr. Putin leaves office May 7, when he will be succeeded by his protégé, Dmitry Medvedev. Mr. Putin will stay on as prime minister, putting him in a position to influence future policy.

We thank you all for your faithful support, prayers and love.

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna

Back and Forth

2008-04-05T23:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

Cecil has returned from Mongolia with a new visa for Russia. He was only issued a 90 day visa, but that's O.K. since we plan to return to the States at the end of June. He was gone for just over three weeks. While he was there he not only went to the Russian Consulate to do business, but he headed out to the countryside to visit an old friend of his named Chris. Seventeen years ago they lived together in a tent while working at a Boys' Camp in North Carolina, and now they went camping in Mongolia. Chris has lived in Mongolia about thirteen years now, and is moving further out into the countryside as he tries to reach the nomads with the Good News. Since Cecil had to wait two weeks for his visa to be issued, he went out and helped Chris build a new house for his family. They are living in a ger (round white felt tent) and had Cecil stay with them. That's a photo of Cecil and Chris in front of the ger, which is in front of the wooden house Chris is building.

They did a little traveling around together. Did you know that there are ten times as many sheep as people in Mongolia? And lots of cows, goats and horses too. Cecil got to see some of them.

Cecil also had his birthday (March 23rd) while he was there. Here he is in Chris's ger with a cake they cooked for him.

While Cecil was gone the rest of the family had some adventures too. There is a family in our apartment building that has been torn with divorce several years ago. The parents continue to live in the same apartment because they can't afford to buy another and split up. So finally the mother of the family went to a city on the opposite side of Russia expecting to inherit some property. She left the two girls (10 and 15 years old) with their father here. The youngest has been attending Sunday School with our kids for several months, made a decision for Christ and has been praying for her family. The father began drinking and it became unsafe for the girls to stay at home so they moved in with Tonya and the kids. The first night they stayed at our house the older girl gave her heart to the Lord. Two weeks later a minister from a local church went with Tonya to talk with the father and he decided to repent and follow Jesus. He stopped drinking. Next Sunday he accompanied his youngest daughter to church while the older one attended a different church with Elf. Since then he has not been drinking or smoking and has been reading his Bible and attending church. Cecil returned from Mongolia on Sunday evening and they went together to a Christian men's meeting on Thursday. This has been an amazing change in his life and the family is undergoing a complete transformation. Please pray for this family, and particularly their mother who is not saved yet.

Also while Cecil was gone two wonderful professors, Everett and Evelyn McKinney, stayed at our house. Tonya translated for Evelyn at the Bible Institute in the mornings. They were a blessing to have around and helped with the kids and even cooked pancakes. We thank God that he has given us a big enough home to house our family, two troubled sisters and two teachers all at the same time.

On Tuesday Elf had her birthday. She turned the big 19. We are very proud of this young lady who came all the way from the States to help us. She was certainly a big help to Tonya and the kids while Cecil was gone.

When asked what kind of birthday cake she wanted, she flipently said she wanted one like a map of Russia. So that's what Tonya made.

Pretty close, huh?

Just before he left to get his new Russian visa, Cecil finished our latest newsletter. It took a while for the rest of the family to get all the stamps on the envelopes and the letters in the mail, but they are all mailed out now. You can take a look at the web version at http://hqmail.agmd.org/~tonya.eshelman/NL2008-1/NL2008-1.html if you want to.

We plan to return to the States at the end of June to spend one year of home service. We will be itinerating among churches to raise missions awareness and financial support for our ministry. We have a lot to do to be ready to go back, packing up and scheduling services. We are still waiting on some documents to process so that we can get Deanna a passport, and then we'll need to get her a visa to come to the States. Please pray for as we schedule services that our time will be fruitful and that this will be a powerful time of ministry. Please also pray for us to bring everything to a close and tie up all the loose ends here so that the transition will be smooth and not too stressful.

Because of Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Deanna