More Good News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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