The Importance of the Family Altar

Some great things happened this morning during our family altar time. Please check out Jessica's blog to read about it!

God promises that His Word will not return void!

Growing in the Lord

No, maybe not in numbers, but the Christians here are definitely growing in the Lord. Not only are they faithfully attending services, but now they have slowly one by one started coming to our church soulwinning day to pass out tracts. Up to this point it has always only been Lina, Max and our family. A few weeks ago, Yuri started coming. He went out even though his foot and hand were swollen and in a lot of pain. Then last week, Christina went out with us. It was freezing and snowing, but even with this, Lina said Christina was very bold. Christina testified on Sunday what a blessing this time had been to her! We are very excited about their growth in the Lord and are praying that the rest of our church will be out there with us as well. Vladamir has expressed a desire to come but has not yet been able too. He has started faithfully attending services again. We praise the Lord for this growth and ask that you pray for continued growth and for people to be saved.

Sometime before New Year's, I will be trying to visit Ruselan at the prison again. Again, we are praying that we will be given a private room to do Bible lessons with him in. We were doing them through the mail, but know it would be much better if we could meet with him in person.

Also before New Year's we will be bringing food and a Bible to one of Yuri's friends who recently got sent to prison. Yuri has witnessed to him in the past but the man was too attached to his alcohol to listen. Pray that God will work upon this man's heart.

Ruselan - Prison Visit

I visited with Ruselan today. At first I wasn't sure whether I would get to meet with him or not, but we were allowed to see him. He is no longer in prison, but in a 'prison farm'. Because of this we were able to meet with him face to face, without the glass between us. This made the visit much easier. He seemed sincerely interested in continuing his Bible lessons. We agreed that it would be better to continue the lessons in person rather than through the mail. We are praying that God will make a way for us to meet with him in a private room instead of in the open visitor room. Ruselan said that he would talk to the warden about it.

Please be praying for these visits with Ruselan. He is on a 'prison farm' on the other side of the city from us which means it will take an entire day with one way travel more than 1 hr 1/2. How exciting it would be if God opened up even more doors there! Ruselan has already mentioned that his 'roomate' just lost his mother. Pray that God will give us grace with the prison wardens and open doors.

Sweet Spirit

There has been such a sweet spirit in the church the past few weeks. After the many weeks of divisions and strife, it is very refreshing.

Alina has not been to church for a couple of weeks. Two weeks ago she didn't come because Yuri and Christina couldn't come and last week her great-grandmother wouldn't let her come because her grades at school were bad. Please pray that she will be able to continue coming to services. She was so excited when she was coming.

Yuri and Christina seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. Yuri is always bragging about how Christina is trying to be a godly, submissive wife and they have also been putting money in the tithe box at church. Money has had a very strong hold on them and in the past they would skip church if they had a chance to make more. After they started being more faithful to church, God provided them with steady work that does not hinder them from attending services!

I headed into the city on Tuesday to go visit Ruselan, but Tamara called as we were heading out and said that he was not able to receive us on that day. Lord willing, I am planning on visiting him this upcoming week. Please continue to pray for this visit.

Prayer Letter

Church & Bible Lessons

In our last letter we mentioned that an elderly neighbor of ours, Baba Nora, was interested in doing Bible lessons. We keep in contact with her on a regular basis and she has been recently making comments like "You have your religion and I have mine. And I will die in mine." She is still very friendly with us and our prayer is that she will still allow us to do Bible lessons with her.

We had also mentioned a couple named Ina and Valodia. Although they have not been to church since our last letter or expressed a desire to meet with us, Ina's oldest daughter, Alina, has recently started attending services. Alina is living with her great-grandmother and we are praying that she will continue to let Alina come to services and maybe even start Bible lessons.

Recently I received a call from Ruselan, Tamara's son. He will be getting out of prison this upcoming year and is now in a place where he can receive visitors. He asked that we visit him. We will probably be meeting with him this upcoming week.

Since the death of his wife, Vladamir has rarely been in church. We believe that he is starting to lose his memory and sometimes forgets what day it is. We wish we could do more to help him, but he doesn't like to accept help. He did allow me to help him take some trash and metal to a recycling center. We praise the Lord that He used us to lead him to salvation before he started losing his memory.

The church is doing better. We finally had to church discipline Boris and Ala. They have threatened now to stir up problems for us, not only with the people in our church but have also threatened to go to religious affairs (where we get our visa permissions) and place a complaint against us. We do not think that they will be able to cause problems for us, but still ask that you will pray. Especially for Valentina because Ala brought her to churc hand they continue to keep in contact.

Sammy's Papers & Registration

We now have Sammy's papers finalized. We are always amazed with the order and promptness at the American Embassy. Everything was easily taken care of.

The laws here are constantly changing and usually it is more of a hassle, but this time it was actually to our benefit. When we went in to get our registration this month, we were told that it was no longer necessary. All we need now is our visa and the stamp when we cross the border. This will save us a lot of time and work. The laws here change very quickly though so we may have to get registered again some day, but for now we are enjoying a little less paperwork.

Family & Health

We have some HUGE praises in this area. Not only is Jessica's asthma doing much better, but for the past two months our family has dealt with severe stomach problems which was due to a parasite called Giardia. It was so severe that it forced us to cancel 4 services the past month. It looks like we have finally been able to get rid of it, but we ask that you continue to pray that it does not come back.

Lydia just celebrated her 2nd birthday and really enjoyed all of the cards sent in.

We greatly appreciate your prayers. Thank you!

Health Update

For the past month or so our family has been hit with some serious health problems. First Jessica's asthma started getting worse, then we had off and on severe stomach problems. We thought it could be something we ate, next we thought it was a flu, but have found out that we most likely have a parasite called Giardia. From what we have read, they usually die off without medication in about 6 weeks. We are using garlic daily to help get rid of the parasites and hopefully keep away any colds. Thankfully, after having to cancel 2 Sunday services and holding 1 at our house due to the need to be near a toilet, we are all starting to feel a little better. Jessica's asthma has also gotten much better. Before she was having to use her Ventolin inhaler to the max of the recommended dosage (2 puffs every 6 hours), and many times she was still struggling, wheezing and coughing 2 hours later just counting down the hours until she could use it again. Thankfully, she barely has to use one puff a day now! We are into our rainy season and people have almost stopped burning, so that probably helps her greatly.



Thank you so much for your prayers and please continue to pray that we can completely get rid of this parasite.

September Prayer Letter

Church & Bible Lessons

Thank you all for your prayers considering us moving the church to the village. After much praying and testing of different doors, we have decided for the moment to stay in the city and have also moved the Wednesday night services back to the city. Does this mean that we have given up on the village? Not at all! In fact, our ministry there is just beginning! I recently had the opportunity to talk with the elderly lady living behind our house. She declined the Bible I offered her because she said her eye sight was too bad to read it. But when I offered to read it to her and give her Bible lessons she seemed to like the idea. She is busy with preparing for winter right now, but said that she would start this winter.

In the last letter we asked for prayers concerning people to do Bible lessons. God answered our prayer request by bringing us Ina and Valodia, but they have since moved and not expressed a desire to start up lessons again. We ask that you continue to pray that God will bring more people for us to do lessons with.

During the past few months we have dealt with numerous problems and struggles in the church. Most have been settled but there are still a few lingering issues. We would appreciate your prayers for this very young group of believers and wisdom for us.

Sammy's Papers

The heat has finally subsided, so September 22-24 we will be traveling to Kiev to work on getting Sammy's American Birth Abroad certificate, etc. It is a 9 hr. trip by train, but we have decided not to travel at night this time, which will make it a little easier. Please pray that we receive everything smoothly and have safety traveling.

Family & Health

Everyone seems to be doing well. The kids are growing fast. I do ask that you pray for Jessica. She just got over a cold this past month and it is "burn season" here, so her asthma/cough/wheezing has started acting up again. The move overall has greatly helped her health, but the village is covered right now in a cloud of smoke from everyone burning everything they've cleaned out of their gardens.

We want to say thank you for all of the birthday cards sent in for Jessica and Anna over the past few months and a special thank you to Victory Baptist Church for the boxes that they sent. Also, thank you so much for all of your prayers. They make a difference in our ministry here in Ukraine.

Bible Lessons

Bible lessons with Ina and Valodia went well tonight. They seem to be paying a lot of attention during the lessons and Ina always goes out of her way to thank us for taking time to teach them. We have been doing the Bible lessons at Yuri's house and tonight his mother, Baba Shora, came in and sat for the entire lesson. Following the lesson she said that she prays to God. Lina said, "God does not hear your prayers because your sins have separated you from God." Even though she is a very strong orthodox, she has agreed to sit in for the rest of the lessons. She has continued to grow softer towards Christians and was even asking Eric to bring me, Sammy and the girls over. Please be praying for her. Pray especially that she will come to the lessons sober, as she is frequently drunk. Pray also for the salvation of Ina and Valodia.

Bible Lessons and Building

For the past few weeks, Valodia and Ina have been coming to both the Wednesday night services and Sunday services. When we talked to them at church, they agreed to start the Salvation Bible Basics lessons with us. We plan on doing lessons with them on Tuesday night at 6:00 PM (11AM EST). Ina is Christina's sister. Please be praying that they will not only start the lessons, but will also finish them and get saved.

We have also been looking into buildings here in the village for the church and have found one that looks promising. They are asking $15,000 for it and it needs quite a bit of work, but is in the center of the village and has lots of rooms and space. Pray that God's will be done concerning a meeting place for our church.

July 16,2010

It has only been two months since our last prayer letter, yet so much has happened that it feels like it has been much longer than that.

Church & Bible Lessons

We are still praying about moving the church to the village or staying in the city. Right now, our Sunday services are in the city and our Wednesday prayer meetings are in the village at our house. We have had new visitors every Wednesday night and are at the point where we can't fit anyone else in our home. We would greatly appreciate your prayers concerning this.

On Sundays, we had been renting a van to take our family and whoever wanted from the village to the city for church. On June 17th, God provided a van for us to use, which we didn't have to pay anything for except for about $50 - which a church in America had specifically sent for a van! How is that? The man was willing just to trade vehicles with us. We praise the Lord for His answer to prayer for a van.

The Lord also answered our prayers concerning the baptism of Vladamir, Yuri and Christina. What a blessing it was to see them take this next step of faith! Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they still have much growing to do.

Right at the moment, we are not doing Bible lessons with anyone. Oksana was having a hard time with the doctrine of hell and that we are cursed if we try to keep the law instead of trusting in Jesus. She argued about this a lot during the last few lessons, then quit right before the last lesson. We are still praying that God will work upond her heart to bring her to salvation.

We had also planned on starting Bible lessons with a man named Sasha. When it came time for Sasha to start lessons, he canceled saying that he was too busy. We are thinking it is because we ask them not to be drunk if they come to our home to have lessons. Also Lena, the lady we were going to start lessons with in May, left her husband and moved. We have not heard from her since. So, at the moment we have no Bible lessons going. We greatly desire to continue giving Bible lessons and ask that you pray for God to give us at least one person to do Bible lessons with.

Family & Health

Since our last prayer letter, we have had a new addition to our family! Samuel James Curtis was born on June 17th at home! The doctor that Jessica had for Anna and Lydia came out to our home for his birth too, but she was outside when Samuel decided to come. Both Jessica and baby are doing great and the girls love their new brother. We also received his birth certificate and needed paperwork with little trouble. We praise the Lord not only for the safe delivery but for allowing us to receive his birth certificate so smoothly. We still need to make a trip to Kiev to receive his American Birth Abroad certificate, ss, passport, etc., but we will be waiting until the heat subsides a little because the trains are usually extremely hot.

Thank you so mucch for all of your prayers. They make a difference in our ministry here in Ukraine.

Sammy's Papers - Update

We received all of Sammy's papers from the hospital AND they were marked with the correct date! Eric said this was the easiest and quickest that he has ever received any of the kids paperwork. We are now in the second part of paperwork...applying for his Ukrainian birth certificate. We have two weeks left to receive his "Ukrainian birth certificate" or we will have to go back to the hospital for more paperwork. After that, we will go to Kiev and apply for his birth abroad, SS, passport and visa. Even though he has the Ukrainian birth certificate he will not be considered an Ukrainian citizen because they do not allow dual citizenships. In order to get his American one, though, we need the Ukrainian birth certificate. Thanks for your prayers!

Prayer Request - Baby Sammy's Papers

Eric spoke with the doctor today and at first she said that Sammy and I would have to come to the hospital and stay for two days. She wanted us to call an ambulance to take us to the hospital, then have all the paperwork written out like Samuel had been born today instead of last week. Eric told her that, first of all, there was no reason for us to go to the hospital and second, we weren't going to lie. So, she called her head doctor to see what to do and now he is calling his head doctor. They are supposed to call us back tomorrow. Sometimes it's so frustrating having to abide by the rules and regulations of the country. Legally, we have the right to have a home birth, just not many people know that. When we were trying to get Anna's paperwork we had a little bit of trouble too and called the American embassy. They told us that there was nothing they could do for us. Please be praying as we'd rather not have a long, drawn out battle. We have proof that I was pregnant, witnesses to the birth and saved the placenta and his umbilical cord when it fell off. We would also like to keep our ties with the hospital good for future pregnancies, as it was hard to find a hospital that would accept me. One thing I am thankful for is that they can't see me before Tuesday and at the moment, I have a very bad cold that I caught from the girls and they would probably try to separate me and the baby.



Thank you for your prayers.

Jessica

A Week of Blessings

On Thursday, June 17 at 12:27 PM (5:27 AM EST), Samuel James Curtis was born. Both mother and baby are doing well. To read more about the many answered prayers concerning the birth of our son, visit Jessica's blog. We ask that you pray that we will receive his birth certificate, passport, etc. without any problems.


That same day, God answered another prayer request by providing a 9-seater van for our family and church.

Another praise is that we were finally able to get a hold of Oksana. She has not been to services or Bible lessons for the past two weeks and we have not been able to contact her. We were beginning to wonder if she was through with Bible lessons and avoiding us. Today, Lina talked with her and we found out that she has been out of town. Lord willing, she will be starting up Bible lessons again on Monday. Please be praying for her salvation as she has had a hard time letting go of her Orthodox heritage.

Lastly, a prayer request. On Sunday Vladamir Vonovich (the elderly gentleman who was recently saved and baptized) told us that his wife who had alzheimers had passed away this past week. He has been taking care of her for many years now and recently had not been able to attend many services because of her increased need of care. Please be praying for this man and his family. I wish that we could say that she was saved.

Two Week Review

In the weeks following the baptisms of Yuri, Christina and Vladamir our church was hit with a very strong virus. There wasn't a family unaffected and some were in bed with high fevers for almost 2 weeks! It was such a blessing to see everyone almost recovered and in services today.

Oksana is still doing Bible lessons on Mondays, usually at about 3 PM our time (8 AM EST). It seems like the further we get into the lessons, the more she struggles. She is a strong orthodox and is having a very hard time turning from what she has been taught. Please be praying for her as we draw closer and closer to the end of our lessons. Pray that God will soften her heart and that she will stop fighting against the Holy Spirit.

In our last prayer letter we mentioned that a man named Sasha was going to be starting lessons. He has since told us that he has too much work right now. Even though it is planting season here and Ukrainians are very busy working in their fields, we don't think this is the real reason. Not only are they working in their fields almost all day, but they usually are drinking alcohol the entire time "for energy". We think that our request that those coming into our home be sober might be what is stopping him. We ask that you pray for God to give us wisdom as we work with these people.

Baptisms

On Wednesday night in the river in Vindinka normally used for just fishing, drinking and swimming, I had the privilege of baptizing Yuri, Vladamir and Christina. They had all expressed a desire to be baptized and it was exciting to see them take this step of obedience. For Christina, it was especially hard. An hour before she was supposed to be baptized she called and said that she was not ready. The whole time during the message about baptism and when Yuri and Vladamir were getting baptized, I could see the struggle on her face. She desired to get baptized but was not wanting to be harrassed afterwards by Yuri's mom and her friend. After I climbed out of the water I told her whenever she was ready to let me know. She said, "Let's do it now." Praise the Lord!

Prayer Letter

Church & Bible Lessons

The Lord has continued to bless and it seems as if the work here has grown very quickly. We are not sure is it will continue, but for the moment we are not lacking in work, just workers. We are considering moving the church to the village and praying that if this is God's will He will open up a place for us to meet there. Right now we are very tight on space.

The Bible lessons we are doing with Oksana seem to be doing very well. She listens intently during each lesson and always has many questions. Please be praying for her salvation as we bring these lessons to a close within the next month.

We will be starting Bible lessons with a man named Sasha on Monday. We have tried to encourage Sveta, who is living with him and previously expressed an interest in Bible lessons, to come but she doesn't sound like she will. We will also be starting lesons in the middle of May with a lady named Lena who has come to church with Olea. We will be meeting at Olea's house and are praying that Olea and Costa will also sit in for the lessons.

Ruselan has said that he is still interested in continuing his Bible lessons. We will be continuing these by mail and also hope to go visit with him again sometime.

Visas
We received our new visas with no problems even though we were in Poland during a very crazy time. With the of their president and with air travel being restricted because of the volcanic ash, we were afraid we would not get back to Ukraine as soon as we had hoped. Praise the Lord that everything went smoothly and when we returned to Ukraine we received our registration with no problems.

Family & Health
The girls are growing and loving living in the village. They have made quite a few friends in just the past week. Jessica's pregnancy is going well, thouse she has been very tired lately and is having a hard time sleeping. With only 7 more weeks, we are very busy trying to squeeze in doctor's visits and last minute preparations. Please be praying for her to have a safe delivery and also for us to receive the baby's birth certificate and papers with no problems.

Our trip to Poland went well. Even with all that happened while we were there (the death of their president and canceled flights due to the volcanic ash) we were able to get there and back home safely and received our visas without any problems.

Since returning home on Saturday, we've resumed Bible lessons with Oksana (Lina taught them while we were away). Oksana always has many questions and seems very interested. She has been coming pretty regularly to services and really enjoys the fellowship at our church. Please be praying for her salvation.

We had a full church on Sunday, partly due to the fact that Elena came and brought 5 children with her! She sounds like she is going to start coming regularly and bringing the children with her.

We turned in our papers for registration today and should be receiving it on May 13th.

Lastly, even though Tamara is no longer attending church, her son Ruselan has said that he is still interested in continuing Bible lessons through the mail.

Prayer Letter

Church & Bible Lessons

The past few months have been very busy for our little church group. On February 12th, Yuri and Christina were married. We praise the Lord that they chose to take this step of obedience. They have also said that they would like to be baptized, but were not able to make it the day we rented a place because of sickness. Even though they were not able to be there, on Sunday, March 14th, I had the privilege of baptizing Max. What a blessing it is that even though his dad is not saved, he has not stopped Max from coming to church or from being baptized. We pray that God will put his hand upon Max's life and use him for the glory of God.

Our Valentine's banquet went well and we had many unsaved attend, including Lina's husband, Dema! This is the first time he has ever attended any of our activities. A lady named Oksana came and has recently started Bible lessons. She seems very open to listening. Please be praying for her.

Tamara is no longer coming to church and her mom has stopped taking Bible lessons. We found out that while she was coming, she was still practicing witchcraft. She would even sit behind people at church and try to get them to let her tell them their futures DURING the services! Ruselan finished the first Bible lesson. We are not sure if he will continue to do the lessons now that his mom is no longer coming to church, but we are going to send him the second lesson anyways.

A young lady named Olea has been faithfully attending services with the man she is living with now and her two sons. She is maybe 18 and already divorced. Please be praying for them. She claims to be saved. Costa (the man she is living with) is not.

On the 20th of March, we rented out a space with two ping pong tables for a church family day. We had a good group come out, again, mostly unsaved. Dema came for the second time to a church activity and Valentina's son Roman and his step son, Arteome, came for the first time. It is exciting to see people that we have been praying for start to come out. Even though Roman did not stay in the room while I gave a short salvation message, we know that God can still work on his heart.

Visas
It is almost time for us to renew our visas, so we have been preparing the needed paperwork. We mentioned in our last prayer letter about receiving a 3 year visa and applied here for the document that we were told we needed for that. When we called, they said we could not receive a 3 year visa without an "excuse". We are not sure what type of excuse is needed and no one is willing to give us that information, so we will only be able to get a 1 year visa again. Please be praying for our trip and that we will receive our visa without any problems. We leave for Poland the 8th of April.

Family & Health
Jessica's pregnancy is going well and we have been told that our new little addition will be a boy! She was able to get registered at a hospital and with a doctor, though not the same one she had for the girls. Please be praying for continued health and for a safe delivery.

On Sunday I had the blessing of baptizing Maxime, the first Ukrainian I had the opportunity to lead to the Lord. We look forward to seeing how God will use this young man for His honor and glory. Yuri and Christina have also said that they would like to be baptized, but were not able to make it because of Yuri's health. Please pray that Yuri, Christina and Vladamir will soon follow in baptism.

Also, tomorrow our church is having a "Family Day". We have rented out a room with two ping pong tables and look forward to spending time with family and friends. More than that, we are praying that God will work upon the hearts of the many attending who are not saved.

Trying and Strengthening

The past few months have been an exciting, trying, sad, and strengthening time for our church. We've been excited about the professions of faith made, the spiritual growth amongst the believers, Yuri and Christina choosing to get married...but like always, when God is working, satan is also at work. We found out a few weeks ago that during all of this, Tamara had been trying to practice fortune telling, healing, and other forms of witch craft amongst the believers at the church - sometimes even during the middle of the services! We pulled her aside and talked with her, showing her from the Bible that this is not of God. She still insists that it is a "gift" and has not been back to church since. Pray for her, as only God knows her heart. Through it all, we have seen God work on the heart of the believers and strengthen our little group.

Valentine's Banquet 2010

This year we had our 2nd Valentine Banquet. It is not a usual Valentine's banquet because it is open to everyone, not just couples. This year's theme "The Most Important Relationship". We didn't get as many pictures as usual because Jessica was busy serving and handed the camera over to me and Valentina. The women all worked very hard and not only was there more than enough food, but it was all excellent.

Oksana, Lina, Anna, Jessica and Lydia - the main servers (the girls brought the bread baskets to the tables)
Unsaved: Oksana, Anna and Lydia

Alla, Boris, Constantine, Olea and Pasha (Dema, Lina's husband, also came but requested that his picture not be posted due to the fact that he is in the military. This is the first church activity that he has attended. What a blessing it would be to see this man saved!)
Unsaved: Constantine, Olea ?, Pasha and Dema

Valentina and Elena
Unsaved: Elena ?

Evan, Yuri, Christina, Lela (Christina's mom), Max and Vladamir
Unsaved: Evan and Lela

During the banquet, we had a few activities and contests. Pictured below are wives from our church holding "portraits" that their husbands drew of them. After the husbands who wanted to participate drew the pictures, the wives had to guess who was who. They all guessed correctly.

Please be in prayer for the unsaved who attended. We praise the Lord for those saved in 2009 and are excited to see what the Lord will do in 2010. We ask that you pray for the ministry here as satan would like nothing more than to stop the unsaved from coming to Jesus, but also to destroy the work here and hinder the growth of the believers.

Bible Lessons

We have sent Ruselan his first through-the-mail Bible lesson. We ask that you will be praying that the Holy Spirit would work upon his heart showing him his need of salvation as he reads the Bible.

Also, Tamara's mom (Baba Shura) has agreed to start Bible lessons. We were supposed to start today, but she was sick. We are planning on meeting with her next Wednesday at 3 PM (8 AM EST).

On Sunday, we had two new visitors to church, a man named Constantine and a woman named Oksana. Both have expressed an interest in Bible lessons, but we have not been able arrange them with them yet.

Prayer Letter - January 16

Bible Lessons

For many months now we have been requesting prayer for an elderly gentleman named Vladamir. On Sunday, December 6 after finishing our last lesson, Vladamir bowed his head and asked Jesus Christ to save him. He admitted that he could not do it on his own, but that it was only through the blood of Jesus that he could be saved. We greatly appreciate all of you who have been faithfully praying for him.

We were able to visit Ruselan in prison, though not in November. We had a good visit with him and he has agreed to start Bible lessons through the mail. Also, while we were there, we met a lady who was very interested in learning more about us. She gave us her phone number and address. We have contacted her and hope to meet with her sometime and start Bible lessons.

Tamara's mom has also started coming to church. We are very excited about this as she has convinced others in the village not to come. Her name is Baba (grandma) Shura.

It seems like God is opening many doors for Bible lessons right now and we are praying that some of the "older" Christians would be willing to teach as well. Pray as we work to not only see others come to Christ but teach those same people to lead others to Him.

Church

God is continuing to work upon the hearts of our little group of believers. Not only are they faithfully coming to church, but we have noticed a growth in their spiritual walk with the Lord as well. They are seeing the importance of putting Christ first in their lives. God has also been doing a work in Yuri and Christina's hearts and they have their paperwork almost complete for marriage. They go to sign papers to officially be married around the 13th of February.

Tatiana has also started to be a little friendlier towards us, but still has not come back to church.

Registration

We received our registration with no problems and will be able to stay in the country until we have to renew our visas in April. As we mentioned in our last letter, it may be possible for us to receive a 3 year visa. We would greatly appreciate your prayers concerning this.

Family & Health

After about a month of the flu, we all seem to be doing well. Jessica's breathing problems and cough have gotten better. Not only is she doing better, but is also pregnant again! The baby is due July 2nd.

Thank You!
Lastly, we'd like to say thank you to all of those who sent Christmas cards, to Albemarle Baptist Church for the card with little goodies in it, and for the boxes our church family and Bill & Carol Curtis sent. Thank you all so much. It was such a blessing to know you were thinking of us!

"Baba" Shura & Tamara