Friday, April 10, 2020

Passion Week and God's Work

a note from Tonya:

Passion week has usually been one of the busiest in our missionary lives, a time of sowing, asking, and answering questions. I remember several years ago in Russia the Lord moved on our hearts to talk to the assistant director of an orphanage asking permission to talk with the kids about the death and resurrection of Christ. The assistant director, Tatiana Nikolayevna, hesitated for a while, but when I shared a story of a powerful emotional healing in one of the children a year before, she agreed. So, grateful for the opportunity, I got our “Resurrection Eggs” kit and went from class to class sharing the story of Christ’s resurrection with the orphanage children and staff. The Gospel presentations went very well, the children gave full attention to the story, and many people prayed with us afterwards. God gave us a word through one of our Russian sisters, Ogla, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Cor. 2:9
I was encouraged by His Word thinking that it was concerning the children's evangelism effort that was going so well. Little did I know that God had another opportunity for me that day. After speaking to all the classes in the orphanage, I stopped by Tatiana Nikolayevna’s office to thank her for letting us speak to the students. She asked me to close the door behind me and started to pour her heart out. She said she’s been an Orthodox Christian for years and followed all the traditions and rituals of the church faithfully, but could not understand why God was punishing her. At that moment her only son, who was 27 years old, was dying at the hospital from tuberculosis.
I had a long conversation with Tatiana that night, we cried together, prayed together, and finally she seemed to be feeling better and I went home. The next morning Cecil and I asked a Russian brother, Andrei, who had been healed from tuberculosis to visit the hospital and talk with her son. The same afternoon Tatiana’s son called her very excited. She was rather surprised because her son had been depressed for months. He said, “Don’t worry Mom, it’s going to be all right. A fellow came to my hospital room and told me I will live, and live forever, because Jesus forgave my sins and died for me. And Mom, could you bake me paskha?” Paskha is a traditional Russian Easter bread.

That story happened years ago. This passion week we are in the States restricted by the stay-at-home orders, waiting for the borders to open so that we can go back to Russia, the land of our calling. This story reminds us that God is still the same, He is not restricted, He still heals, saves, and surprises us because “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Let this time of social distancing and isolation be a time of waiting upon the Lord and expecting him to do great things.



Easter Blessings from Cecil and Tonya Eshelman



Wednesday, April 01, 2020

plans change

Dear Friends,

we are in the States for me to get a new visa to Russia.  That has gone well and the Russian consulate has issued me a new one.  However, the Corona virus has changed our travel plans.  We are in North Carolina waiting for things to normalize and for us to get tickets.  Thankfully a couple from church has given us a place to stay for a while, so we do have somewhere to rest our heads.

So we are in a wait-and-see mode before we can travel again.  Our leadership have advised us to stay in place until further notice and things are good for international travel.

We are all healthy and thankful for that.

We also thank our supporters for being patient and understanding that we can't head overseas right now, even though we have the documents we need.  I guess this virus outbreak has affected many people's plans.  While it has caught us by surprise, God has not been caught unaware.

I am thinking of a Bible verse that says, "For I know the plans I have you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future."

While I have been caught off-guard sometimes, I have never see God surprised.

We do look forward to seeing Russia again.

Blessings to you all!