A Reminder

The apartment hunting seems to be at a standstill for now. There simply have been no apartments the size we need in the region we need available for viewing. God knows just the right apartment and timing, though. Thank you for your prayers. We know that because you are praying, we have been able to rely on God for his timing and have not worried over it. Please keep praying.

Thank you for praying for our language teacher, Valentina. I occasionally send home some extra leftovers for her to have for dinner. A few days ago, she shared with me that because she didn't have to prepare anything, she simply heated the food I gave her, and sat and read her Bible while she ate. Please continue to pray for her understanding and repentance.

Continue to pray for Igor. We have received word that he is closer to repentance, but there is still a spiritual battle going on.

Dan and Peyton arrived safely this evening in Moscow. We look forward to meeting with them and our entire team together on Wednesday. Thank you for praying for their safe travel.

Falyn had an orthodontist appointment today and heard great news. First of all, she will get her top braces on next month (which she is very excited about). And, after further x-rays and watching how well her teeth have moved from the headgear (a certain answer to all the prayers on her behalf), the orthodontist is not going to recommend her wisdom teeth extractions until AFTER she gets her braces off. She was REALLY excited about that news.

Last Friday I experienced an important reminder of why God sent us to Russia. Doyle and I attended Tristyn's class field trip to the planetarium and afterwards took the class to McDonald's. Although I am always cautious, I apparently let my guard down for a second when ordering food for the kids, and my camera was stolen from inside my purse. This was the camera that Doyle and I bought for each other for Christmas before we left the States, and it was so disappointing. However, our motto is "It could always be worse." They didn't get my wallet nor passport. So we won't be posting any pictures anytime soon. Tonight, Tristyn was very bothered by this. He couldn't understand why someone would do such an aweful thing. I had to remind him that there is a difference between the lost and the saved, and the lost just think and act differently than we do. And that is why we were sent here -- for those lost in Russia. We are praying that the person will be curious enough to see who he stole from and will view all the pictures of the kids and other activities stored on it. (They had a Russian chapel program that morning at school where I took pictures, and I took many of the group on the field trip.) Doyle said it would be awesome if they were convicted by the pictures...and then they looked us up and returned the camera.

I will be sharing my testimony in Russian at our church service this Sunday. I have memorized about 1/3 of it now. It will also be recorded for my language evaluation to complete my full-time term of study. Please pray that I will get it down and not be nervous when presenting it. Pray that God will work through me to touch someone who attends that day.

Doyle is also studying very hard and he has his next evaluation in a week. Please pray for his studying as well.

Nine days of school left! Falyn will have exams next week (Tuesday-Thursday). Please pray for her to be prepared, rested, and healthy.

Don't forget -- Daegan turns 9 on June 1st!

Apartment Hunting

We are finding the apartment hunting scene quite interesting here in Moscow. Last Friday we were able to see our first apartment. We had to make a decision by the next morning, and after much prayer and discussion, we decided to take it. If you know how Doyle is with shopping for things and how he analyzes everything, it was a long night of discussion. Doyle and I left right after seeing the apartment to go to a church-planting conference (in Russian) outside the city. When we returned home Sunday night, we found out that we lost the apartment to another family that had looked at it before us. Our agent, however, had another apartment for us to see. By the next evening, that apartment fell through, but we had another one to see. On Tuesday, we went to see this apartment. Though it was quite a long walk from the Metro, when we reached the building, we were encouraged that it was a new building. However, the apartment turned out to be really weird! It actually had no kitchen (just a little corridor kitchen with two burners - no oven- and a dorm-style fridge). Even more interesting was that one of the bedrooms had a shower stall in the corner. Needless to say, it was easy to say no to this one. However, we are being told that there just aren't any apartments available for us in the area we need right now. Please keep praying for our apartment searching.

Also, please pray for our language teacher, Valentina. Her mother-in-law passed away last Wednesday. Her husband died 11 years ago, and she has solely cared for her mother-in-law for the past 3 years. Pray that we can be a spiritual encouragement for her and that God will use us to speak to Valentina right now.

Also, please pray for the Stamey family (our team leaders). Brad lost his grandmother (last grandparent) on Friday. They are returning to the States in 4 weeks and hoped to make it back before she passed away. She was a believer, but please pray for Brad and his father for their loss.

A few praises... the church-planting conference went well. We understood most of what was presented and are excited about growing in our ministry here. We found out on Thursday that a man and his wife repented on Thursday at the Bible study at the social center that one of our Russian partners leads. The man was 78 years old! Also, Dan and Peyton (our new team members) have their paperwork and will arrive here on May 21st.

If you are keeping up with us with the 90 days of prayer, Tuesday is prayer for the people of Chelyabinsk and Wednesday is prayer for Chita.