Okay, so we slipped a little in keeping up with our posts. We have been extraordinarily busy the last 5 weeks. Many things are spinning around in our lives, and so here is a brief update on a few things.
At the end of June, we found an apartment and moved. We actually saw the apartment on a Friday, and moved the next Thursday. It was a little crazy, but our team and the Focus students that we've had here were a huge help! Thank you all for praying consistently for our move. The apartment is wonderful and location is wonderful! We are so thankful for what God has blessed us with, but we are still not completely settled in. Our previous apartment was partially furnished by the owner, and this one was completely empty. In Russia, they don't build closets. You have to buy shkoffs to store things in and put your clothes in. We have a long way to go to get rid of all these boxes, but we are trying to be patient.
Also, the kitchen is not completed. We have lived here 3 weeks now with no kitchen! We have been told that all the materials are in now, and it will be completed next week. Praise God! We have been getting by with a hot plate, crockpot, and toaster oven. For now, the good news is that we have a HUGE "sink" to wash dishes in...it's called a bathtub - haha. We are so thankful for all we have been blessed with.
Please pray with us for all to go well with the completion of the kitchen. God answered our prayers by placing us in one of the regions in our district that had not previously been reached at all. We are very excited about the possibilities of ministry that await us here.
Just after moving in, Doyle was assembling a small desk when he dropped a sliding shelf (with metal slides on the sides) perpendicular directly on top of his foot. He blacked out when it happened, and we are pretty sure that he has at least a small fracture, but he didn't go to the doctor. He has been homebound for two weeks now with his foot, but it is getting better. The swelling is almost gone, but all of his toes are still purple. Trying to put a shoe on is just too painful still.
Please pray for his continued recovery.We were also excited to be part of the Reach Moscow With Prayer volunteer team that was here at the beginning of July. Though Doyle wasn't able to participate as much as he would have liked, the kids and I were part of a team to prayerwalk our new region where we live, named Hovrena. It was the first time to our knowledge that this region has been prayed for. We are so thankful for those who give up part of their summer to come help us in our ministry here.
The kids are all doing great. Most of their friends have gone away for the summer, but they have helped us so much at home and with the ministry this summer. The boys also enjoy playing right outside our building. We are only on the 5th floor now (as opposed to the 18th), so we can even hear them, and they can hear us holler (yes, I said "holler", we're from Texas afterall, and some things don't change no matter how long you're away).
Please continue to pray for Russian friends for them.Thank you so much for your prayers for our grocery shopping. We are now right across the street from a pretty nice store, though it is very expensive. However, we just learned a very nice new thing that is happening here. It was funny as we discovered it all during a Russian moment. It is directly across the street from us, and we almost walked right by it. Doyle said in Russian to our teacher to look over there, the sign says Gippermarket. (like a Supermarket). Doyle said maybe we can go in and check it out later. Our teacher said, let's check it out now. So we went in and although it was new, it was very small. Doyle told our teacher that this is not "super". She agreed. They had 8 or 10 computer terminals along the wall. So we began to speak with the lady working there asking her why it was called "super". We soon found out that it was a type of "storefront". The best way to describe it is you can go into that location, or even from your computer at home, you can order anything that you can purchase at Ashawn. (Ashawn is kind of like a Russian Walmart, but not really). You can order what you want online, and they deliver it either to that store location or straight to your door the next day! (And that is our actual apartment door on the 5th floor). No matter what you order, the delivery charge is about $3. The prices are so much cheaper there also. We have done it once so far. It was odd to look on our computer, click on bread, milk, chicken, juice, and toothpaste and have it all show up at our apartment door the next morning at 10:30. Weird! Maybe this is going on in the States now, but we thought this was awesome!
We are anxiously awaiting my parents arrival on August 7th. The kids keep adding things daily to the list of "Tell Nana and Papa to bring _______". Seriously, we are very excited about seeing them! They have now received their VISAS to come over, and everything is good to go.
Please also continue to pray for Natalia. She is the mom that I met at our Wednesday night baseball in the park. She is not a believer, but she shows so much interest. Her family is now gone out of the city for almost the rest of the summer, but just before they left, she came to the park one night just to talk with me when her son didn't come to play. She wants to get back in touch when she returns. And, get this, she lives just around the corner from where our apartment is now!
We love you all, and we can't wait to hear from you all. Please let us know how you all are doing!
