Balmy weather and Diana's BIG News

Dear Friends,

it's 9:30 am here, and the sun seems just about to rise.

The big, BIG, news for us is that Diana has been scheduled by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for an interview to receive an immigrant visa.  We adopted her from a Russian orphanage, so she doesn't have U.S. citizenship yet.  Several years ago we filed for her get U.S. citizenship.  After filing lots of documents and waiting (and waiting), things are moving forward.  The meeting is scheduled on February 14th, and we'll have to go to Moscow earlier to get her medical examination completed.  Right now we're working out the details.  Please pray for this trip to all come together. 

In November we fixed a Thanksgiving meal for Open Heart homeless shelter.  They have grown in numbers and in facilities.  We preached a short history lesson about the Pilgrims and why they had the first Thanksgiving. 

And then we served a meal and ate.


Vera had her 14th birthday (on the last day of the year).  She decided to take some friends roller skating at a new rink that has opened near our house.  We're not sure if she's really going to go to Valley Forge, but we know the girl in the shirt with the American flag is really a Russian.  Anyway, they all had a great time as friends.

Christmas, which in Russia is on January 7th, went well.  A local church had a special Christmas service at Hope Center, then afterward we had our game night (which we usually do on Tuesday evenings to connect with older orphans).  The folks who come for game night enjoyed the additional Christmas service, so a number of older orphans were able to hear the Christmas message.  Afterwards the folks from the church joined in the games with us.  Merry Christmas again.

We had a couple of girls who live in an orphanage spend part of the holidays with us at our place.  That's a picture of them, along with Tonya and Vera, standing behind an ice carving in the city square.  On Christmas they decided to follow Christ, and Tonya lead them in prayer in our living room.  Yes, a very good Christmas.

Life Skills lessons for orphans continue- 

A new ministry is being started by a local church.  They are starting a residential facility for unwed, pregnant women.  There isn't any kind of ministry like this in our part of Russia, so the workers have no experience, just a desire to help.  Please pray for them to have wisdom. 

Please pray for Nastia, who recently gave her heart to the Lord.  She is trying to quit smoking.  She lives in an orphanage and constantly faces temptations.

Please pray for our household organization.  We've had a lot of guests lately.

Blessings!
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera, and Dianna

P.S.  We hear from our cousins in Pennsylvania that some of you are getting Siberian weather lately.  Good for you!  So it was colder in Elizabethtown than in Khabarovsk for a day.  Enjoy it while it lasts!  Here's the forecast someone sent me (notice Khabarovsk at zero degrees F and E-town at minus 1 degrees!):

Back in Russia

Dear Friends,

our adjustment back to Russia has gone well.  The most wonderful discovery for us is that the ministry team here doubled the Life Skills lessons to two classes a week (younger and older) while we were gone, so we now have more orphanage students then ever before. Once again God is in charge, and we're just trying to keep up.

Ministry at Hope Center continued without us as well; which involved multiple churches and other ministries.  The Fall session of the Bible School took place in October!  The walls even got painted while we were gone, and it wasn't even our idea.  This is a very nice change from when everyone was looking to us to make the decisions and get things done.

We've got snow on the ground, too.  Definitely going to be a white Thanksgiving this year.

Please pray, we're planning on hosting a Thanksgiving feast at the homeless shelter.  There are presently 130 people living there. This is another ministry that just keeps growing.  I preached there Wednesday evening, and we had a great time together.  I was encouraged to see the work they are doing.  Anyway, we'll need more help than ever before to prepare the meal.

And, talking about the Lord of the Harvest sending workers into the harvest field, we have a group of students from Southeastern University making plans to come to Khabarovsk this summer.  We're very excited about this, since not many people come all the way from the States to minister here.  Please pray as we make plans and they start raising funds and getting passports.

Winter has come to Khabarovsk.  Russians are some of the most experienced winter drivers in the world, but here is a video from our city that might make you wonder. http://globalnews.ca/news/961394/video-icy-roads-in-russia-cause-cars-to-slide-out-of-control/

Blessings From Russia,
Cecil, (Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Diana, too)

Arrived

Dear Friends,

on we have arrived back in Khabarovsk, Russia.  All went well on the flights, all our luggage arrived with us, and we feel pretty well (except for the jet-lag).  Thank you all for the prayer support.

During the landing the flight attendant made an announcement in Russian, saying, "Welcome to Khabarovsk, the weather is pleasant today with a temperature of minus 14 degrees Celsius.  We hope you have had a nice flight."

Welcome Home!  A bit of a weather change from the Carolinas.

We'll try to catch up on sleep, organize ourselves, and jump back into ministry here. We arrived on Tuesday, and yesterday (Thursday) we attended a Life Skills lesson our ministry team was leading.  They did a great job, it was so good to see how the ministry has continued without us. 

Russians are some of the most experienced winter drivers in the world, but here is a video from our city. http://globalnews.ca/news/961394/video-icy-roads-in-russia-cause-cars-to-slide-out-of-control/

Blessings From Russia,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Diana

Countdown to departure.

Dear Friends,

once again we are counting down to a departure to the Far Side of the Planet.  Good thing it's not for the far side of the moon.  We have tickets to fly to the Russian Far East on the 10th of November.  So right now we're packing and putting things away.  What doesn't go into our suitcases or our 5 by 10 foot storage unit will have to go to the thrift store.

Please pray for us to have peace as we try to finish off the check list of things to do.  And for us to not forget anything too important (let's see, where is my passport... ).

We are looking forward to jumping back into ministry and seeing friends.

Our latest newsletter.  It was written by the kids. They got put in the mail today.  I mean, the newsletters were mailed today.  I'll post it on our web site soon!

We will write again from the other side!

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Diana

Ahhh, America the land of travel and adventure

Dear Friends,

ahhh, America.  The land of travel and adventure.

In July we spoke in 11 different churches.  So many friends in so many places!  We're half way though August now, and only spoken in two churches so far this month, but we also helped out with General Council in Florida.  We spent most of Council in the Eurasia booth, speaking with many interested folks; some of those folks are interested in coming to help us in the Russian Far East.  Please pray for us that the Lord of the Harvest will send laborers into the harvest field.




Do you know anyone who is called to this part of the world?  If so, let us know!

While driving up from General Council, we were able to hit the beach in South Carolina for about an hour.


We've been blessed to see the Atlantic Ocean more than once this itineration.  In July we spoke at a church on Ocracoke Island, and were able to stay an extra day.  Our kids got to make new friends and had a great time.


Here's some of those friends on Ocracoke Island.  Can you tell which ones are Eshelmans?

Most of our time in the States has been spent traveling, speaking, contacting pastors and filling out reports.  If you'd like us to come to your church and speak, just contact us.  Don't worry about the traveling and filling out reports part, we'll do that ourselves. 

Oh, did Diana turn into the Cat in the Hat?


Please continue to pray for the ministry in Russia.  The Lord has given us a wonderful team of volunteers who continue the work while we are Stateside.  After all, this is the Lord's work and doesn't belong to any single person.

Blessings,
Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera and Diana

On The Move

Dear Friends,

we're on the move again, speaking in churches (and wherever folks invite us).  From the islands of the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the Smoky Mountains and back, we've been traveling.  While we were going through Missouri on our way to Missionary Renewal, we even got some of our faces in a local newspaper, standing next to a statue of a dog named Old Drum.  We'll try to scan it sometime and share that story with you.

During Missionary Renewal, the kids got to make new friends and meet old ones among the other Missionary Kids.  The MK program run by the Assemblies of God World Missions is a really good one (the summer program is called ISMK - International School of Missionary Kids).  So they had a great time.


Diana got to sit over the dunk tank during a party.
 

This year our kids got to enjoy Independence Day in the States.  We made a cake and went to a party.





This is the second of our three mini-itinerations.  Cecil can't be outside of Russia for more then six months, or he will lose his resident permit, so we've plans to go back to Russia in November.  Until then, we will visit as many churches as possible.  If you'd like us to come to your church or home group, just let us know.

Please pray for the volunteer team back in Khabarovsk, as they continue to minister without us.  And please pray for us as we travel and raise funds to live in Russia.

Blessings!
The Eshelman Family - Cecil, Tonya, Timothy, Vera & Diana

Stateside

Well, we arrived back in North Carolina all safe and sound.

Long flight.  Changed 15 time zones.  Jet lag. 

Off to Missionary Renew (School of Missions) in Missouri.

Love,
The Eshelman Family

Russia - we'll see you again this Fall.

Dear Friends,


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We also participated in the annual "March for the Family" event that churches here put on.  It went well.  Tonya and I are holding a banner that says, "preserve the family, preserve Russia."

Tim was there too, running around with his own banner.

Diana graduated from the 4th grade this week.

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

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

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