Fletcher Family Forest Day

Falyn and Tristyn peacefully watching the water flow.

Daegan doing what he does best...peacefully ruling over the bugs!

Daegan peacefully throwing a centipede on Tristyn!

We recently took a stroll out behind our apartment building to what our family calls "the forest". It is peaceful out there and we had a good time together.

The Former Soviet Union at the SBC

WOW! That headline looks strange doesn't it? Can you imagine seeing that only a few years ago? It still seems strange that we are living and working here when I stop long enough to think about it.

As you may know, at this years SBC meeting the former Soviet Union was given some extra attention and our team leader actually got to address the convention. Brad Stamey did a great job representing the region, the city of Moscow, and our team - The Co-Laborers.

Please click on the link below and then scroll down and click on "The International Mission Board Presentation" link to see the video. In the video, you will see a very good presentation featuring many of the Russians we are working with and also a story about our friend, Genady. He is leading one of the church plants now and his story will touch your heart and perhaps give you a glimpse into what God has already done and what He is going to do here in Moscow Russia.

Enjoy!

http://viewers.316networks.com/viewer/odcroundup.aspx?MsoID=3000005&NetworkID=3001187&CategoryID=1001258&action=DISPLAYODC

If the above link does not work:
1. Go to www.sbc.net
2. Click on the link to "view the video archives of the Annual Meeting"
3. Click on the link to "View 2007 Annual Meeting"
4. Click on the "Archived Programs" link
5. Click on "Tuesday Evening"
6. Scroll down and click on "International Mission Board Presentation"

The Focus Team

Pictured from L to R: Dan, Ed, David,
Neil (seated), Kameron, Peyton, Mark

The above picture is three of our team members (Dan, Peyton, and Mark) with the four guys from New Mexico State University and Focus International that are here for the summer to work with our team. Neil is playing the guitar, David and Kameron are in the middle directly behind Neil, and Ed is at the back left. These seven guys sang two songs during the first ever combined worship service between two of the regions that our team is engaged in the Northern District. It was a first step in what may be a new strategy for our team as we enjoyed a time of worship and encouragement together.

Pray for these four guys. While many of their friends are no doubt doing a variety of things of their choosing this summer, these guys have made a decision to spend their summer (after a long year of studying) living in a very tough place and working with Russian students.

Southern Baptist Have Really Done It This Time

Here we go again! It's always discussed in Baptist circles. Sometimes the matter is debated in many church business meetings. Sometimes that debate would become heated as many different people would have many different ideas about the matter.

But at the end of the day, it would always be settled with grace toward all and Southern Baptist just keep coming through...and this year you all did it at a record pace!

Of course, you know I'm talking about the 2006 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to support missionaries around the world.

Do you know what you all gave in the 2006 LMCO? Do you have any idea? Go ahead, guess!

Did you guess? No?

Then stop and guess!

You got it?

We asked our kids what they thought. One quickly said 50,000 dollars! Another one corrected what he called a "silly" guess by stating matter of factly that is was probably over 100,000 dollars! Another one corrected both of them by proudly stating they didn't know what they were talking about and that it was probably closer to a million dollars!

And then we told them...

$150,178,098.06

Can you read that number? It's difficult isn't it? Let me help you...

150 MILLION
178 THOUSAND
98 DOLLARS
and
6 CENTS

That is a RECORD!!!

So many people are distracted with all the many political manueverings within the SBC. Sometimes I fear that some things will be left undone...or even forgotten. However, I am once again reminded that while many people will always "major in the minors", the real work continues and is supported faithfully by all of you in the trenches with us. You are all AWESOME!!!

When we told our children the actual figure, they couldn't believe that our family required that much to live here!

-haha-

Thank you all and please pass this on to your church members.

The Fletcher Family in Moscow Russia

At Work this Week

Thank you all for your faithful prayers for our ministry this week with the volunteer team from New Orleans Seminary. I think we wore them out! Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, we believe we distributed around 9,000 invitations into mailboxes for free Bibles. We divided up into smaller groups and hit different parts of the region. Falyn and another MK enjoyed being hooked up with a younger girl from the seminary. They had a lot of fun with her. On Wednesday, Tristyn was with another MK boy, a translator, one of our new journeymen, Dan, and one of the volunteers. They tried to take a bus to their assigned area, but only the translator, Tristyn, and the other MK were able to get on the bus. After being separated, Dan learned that the bus they got on goes out of the city quite a distance without stopping. Thankfully, Tristyn called us from his cell phone, and we were able to get the translator to talk the driver into stopping and letting them off. They got hooked back up with their team and got to work. We are so thankful that they were on with the Russian translator! Daegan enjoyed doing his part as well. We had to wait outside apartment entrances for someone to go in or come out in order to get in where the mailboxes were. Daegan was quick to catch the doors so we could get in. He also enjoyed putting the cards in the bottom rows of mailboxes.

On Wednesday evening after the distribution, we took the volunteers to play baseball in the park with the Russian kids. We had some kids show up, and we hope to have more next week. Doyle enjoyed interacting with these guys, and he especially liked getting to throw the ball around again. I met a lady and her son near the field and invited them to join us. They left and came back about 30 minutes later with her friend and her mother. Her son, who is 9, had never played baseball before. He had only seen it on TV. He jumped right in and had a great time. Meanwhile, I had a wonderful conversation with the ladies. They are not believers, but they are very open to hearing about our ministry. The mom gave me her phone number and took mine. She even called me tonight to invite me to an English conversation group. They said they will be back next Wednesday. Every week when we do the baseball in the park, we will present the Gospel, but we did not openly share this first time. Please pray for Natalia and her son Sasha, Galena, and Tamara Vladimirnova. I hope to continue to develop a relationship with these ladies.

Please continue to pray for our apartment hunting. There have been no leads for quite some time, but we know that God knows the perfect place and time.

Thank you, once again, for faithfully praying for our family and our ministry.

Endings and Beginnings

Our New Team - Doyle, Karen, Daegan, Falyn, Tristyn, Peyton, Dan, Drew, Mark Sprinkle (in back), Brad, Lori, Mark, and Ben

Wow! The past two weeks have been unbelievably full for our family. We have had some wonderful family moments, emotional school moments, and blessed ministry opportunities.

I was able to share my testimony in Russian at church a few weeks ago. It was about 8 minutes memorized. It was quite a challenge, but the biggest challenge was just getting up in front of the people to speak in Russian. The Lord helped me through it, and I made it through without freezing up! Another praise that Sunday came when a women who had been coming to our church services came before the church during fellowship time and repented. Please pray for Olga as she begins her walk with the Lord.

The language prayers have been answered. Doyle and I have both passed our language levels to complete full time language study. We are continuing to study part time, but we are also looking forward to more ministry opportunites. We still have so far to go! Please continue to pray for our language to develop so that we may be able to share with the people the message of salvation.

The kids have finished school. Yeah! It was busy last week. The boys started out the week with field day, while Falyn had exams all week. They had awards chapels also. Among their awards, Daegan received one award for the character trait of flexibility. I guess that makes sense since he has adjusted to the move to Russia better than anyone. Tristyn received one award for being a special helper behind the scenes. Falyn received one for her hard studies in Russian language. Daegan also celebrated his birthday with his classmates. I can't believe my baby is nine years old now! Tristyn had fifth grade promotion, which was a really nice service. His teacher called each student forward and honored them with a special nickname and legacy. The kids all had their class parties on the last day of school, and it was a little bittersweet. Almost all of their friends will be away for the summer, and some of their friends are leaving permanently. It is tough for MKs to always be making new friends and always saying goodbye. Please pray for special relationships for Falyn, Tristyn, and Daegan to develop over the summer. We pray for Russian friends for them as well.

Our four summer students have arrived to work with our team for the next 7 weeks. We worked all afternoon yesterday after church with them stuffing envelopes for Bible distributions. They seem like a wonderful group of guys, and the kids are excited to have them here. Dan and Peyton, our newest members to the team, have settled in. They add a lot of fun and energy to our team, and the kids are having a great time with them also. We have said goodbye to the Stamey family for now. They are now in America and being reunited with their families after serving their second four year term in Moscow. I don't know how we would have made it this far without Brad and Lori. Lori picked us up from the airport when it was 40 degrees below zero, and they have mentored us all along the way. Please pray for their transition and for Brad as he prepares to do seminary work. Also, Brad will be attending the SBC conference in San Antonio. If any of you will be there, Brad will be featured in some of the media clips along with one of our national church planters, Genady, from the Golovinsky Church. Central and Eastern Europe will be highlighted at the conference, so if you are able to be there, you will hear a lot about the work going on in Russia now.

We have a small team of volunteers that arrived today from New Orleans seminary. We will be meeting up with this group tomorrow to distribute invitations for free Bibles in apartment mailboxes. We will continue this on Wednesday as well in the Northern Administrative District of Moscow. We hope to distribute around 10,000 of these invitations. They are designed so that whoever receives them can return the card for a free Bible. The Bible is then hand-delivered to the person to share with him. The kids are excited to be involved in the ministry, and they worked hard stuffing, sealing, and stamping the envelopes. Please pray for those receiving these invitations on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will also be using this team to play some baseball in one of the big parks Wednesday evening with the Russian children. Please pray for God to send the kids and their parents to play with us and hear the message that is presented.

We still have no apartment to move to for now. Please continue to pray that God will show us undoubtedly where He wants us to be, and He will open the right doors at the right time.

Thank you all once again for your continual prayers! We know and feel all the prayers covering us! Have a blessed week!