Prayer Letter

As most of you probably have heard, we are now in the states on furlough.  Because of computer problems, we are just now getting around to posting this prayer letter.  We will hopefully have things fixed soon.  Thank you for your patience!

December 16,2011
Visas & Family
First, we'd like to apologize for missing a prayer letter.  We have had a lot happen since our last prayer letter.

We had mentioned that they were making some new visa laws, which we were told would not affect us.  Even so, I visited our Ovir about 2 times a week for two months with the same response...everyting would be fine, just come back next time and we will tell you what to do.  Four days before Lydia and Samuel's registration was to run up, they told us they would not renew their registration and they had 4 days to get out of the country.  The Lord worked miraculously and allowed Jessica and the kids to make it back to the states safely around the end of October.  I stayed behind to get things a little more in order.

During this time, we were contacted by a former missionary to Russia who wanted to visit us and help for a little while.  When I told him our situation, he said he would be willing to fill in for us while we were stateside.  This was a huge answer to prayer as we did not wish to leave our church without a teacher.  Brother White has applied for his visa, but it still has not been approved.  We ask that you pray with us that God will get him to Ukraine quickly.  My prayer had been that he would be able to be there before I left, but I returned the 2nd of December so that I could be here with Jessica when our baby is born.

Jessica is doing very well and the Lord has blessed us iwth a wonderful, Christian midwife.  The baby is due December 31st.  Please continue to pray for a safe deliver.

Before we left, we installed a new water filration system in our home which seemed to be greatly helping our parasite problem.  It seems like the Lord has completely cleared us of the parasites and we are praising the Lord to be through that.

Ukrainian Church
The Lord has greatly blessed the ministry the last few months we were there and we are excited to share with you the news that Slavic got saved and baptized!

Valodia is still working, but comes when he has a day off.  Zenieta, a lady who visited twice when we first moved to the village in our home, has also been visiting on Wednesday nights.  She asks a lot of questions about what we believe.  She has been attending a Baptist Union Church in a different village.  We believe that she is saved and it has been a blessing to have her when she visits.

Baba Maroosa has not been attending services an also lost her son the beginning of November.  I am not sure how much contact our church people will be able to have with her while we are away, but we are still greatly burdened for this woman.

Many of you have asked frequently for Pasha, my translator.  When I found out that we were going back to the states, I gave him his notice.  Although we are sad to say that he did not trust in Christ, I believe God is still working.  He told me when he left that I treated him better than he could have expected from any Ukrainian employer.  I would have loved to have been used to lead this man to the Lord, but I know that some plant, some water and some harvest.  I pray that one day God will save this man and use him for His honor and glory.

In our absence, the church has continued to meet.  Until Mr. and Mrs. White are able to get there, Yuri is reading sermons.  Please pray for this young group of believers that God will protect them from the many wolves that may sneak in and also that they will continue to grow strong in the faith.

Furlough Plans
We are planning on taking a ear furlough and are looking forward to visiting with some of our supporting churches.  Our plan is to be in the southern states February - June 2012 and in New England July - November.  Please contact me as soon as possible if you would like us to come in for a meeting during the time we are in the states.  You can reach me at (207) 249-0731.  Also, please send all mail to either our sending church in VA or our mission.