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!