"He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm. . . . Then are they glad because they are quiet. . . . Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107:28-31
Dear friends,
I just realized that summer is drawing to a close. It's hard to believe, but the heat is finally breaking, and we have had a wonderful, happy three months since I last wrote.
As I sat down to write last time, I felt like there were heavy clouds hanging over us in several different areas. Some of them are still hanging there, but the verse I quoted above really expresses where we are now: God has calmed the storms, or He has calmed us, and we can trust Him to continue working in the ones that are still unresolved.
Soon after I last wrote, we moved down from the fifth floor, to the first floor apartment that we're enjoying now. It's so nice to be away from the heat, leaky roof, and five flights of stairs that we had before! I still don't feel like we've really unpacked and settled in here, but that will come eventually. I am often reminded of how glad I am that we were able to stay right here in this same building. Not too long ago we spent a week at the apartment, instead of at our dacha. I was amazed by how many people had noticed our absence and missed us! One woman I had never met came up to me, introduced herself, and said that she was glad to see us. (I didn't know her because she lives in another building altogether.) Her mother had been so worried about us that it was affecting her blood pressure! Then she went on to say that they had heard so much about how wonderful Will is from other people that they felt like they knew us.
We haven't unpacked in our apartment, mainly because--as I mentioned above--we've been spending so much time at our dacha. For most of this summer we've spent the weekdays at a small garden house that we bought, just outside the city limits. Gardening is a huge part of Russian life, out of necessity and preference, and we've enjoyed being able to join in on that. Our garden is one of 500 plots (or more?) in a big garden area, and we've really enjoyed getting to know our neighbors. I've often felt like we live in a separate little village there. The time outside, together as a family, and being in a new situation has been wonderful.
Our family is doing well. Jaan and Raia continue to amaze us and make us laugh every day. Jaan will talk the ears off of anyone who will listen, and we love to see him naturally bringing God and truth up in his conversations with all our neighbors. Maybe he will be the one to plant some real seeds, spiritual seeds, that will grow like the rest of our garden has this summer. Raia is my little helper in everything. She loves to get filthy and spend long days outside. She also loves taking care of her dolls, and can't wait until her younger sibling comes. The younger sibling has been giving me some trouble lately, but in general all is going well with the pregnancy. I have been very weak and tired and struggling with diet, but God has been good to keep me going and encouraged. While I've been down with these health struggles, Will has had to take over more with home and child care. He does a great job with that, of course, and somehow manages to keep up with everything else, too.
There has been a lot of that "everything else," too, this summer. While our friends Pavel and Tanya were away for a month, Will had a heavier preaching schedule, and did a lot more of the music for church. He also started taking part in weekly nursing home visits. (A nursing home/halfway house for invalids, many of whom have come straight there after being released from jail.) We haven't been directly involved in the summer camp ministry this year, but we've been able to watch and help a little from the sidelines. Gospelink continues to grow slowly in Russia, and Will spends time calling, emailing, traveling and doing paperwork for that. The youth and young family fellowship times have not been as regular as we would like, but they have kept up somewhat through the summer, which is encouraging. Will leads those.
And on top of those ministry opportunities, our visa problems have taken up quite a bit of time and energy. As you know, we are trying to get new visas, to change the type of visa that we have. It has been suggested by the local Migration Control officials that we do so, or move back to Moscow, and we're doing everything we can to comply to their demands. My invitation, which would be the first step of that process, was denied. Just recently we have finally been able to reapply. Please pray that everything would go quickly and smoothly now, and that I would be given a visa invitation. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
Prayer requests:
1. VISAS: Yes, this is a big one. Please pray that my invitation would be granted (quickly!), and then that we would be able to get new visas as soon as possible. Pray that all of this will work out well with the timing of our baby's birth.
2. Pregnancy: Please be praying for me to hold up well under day to day discomfort and health struggles. Pray for sleep at nights. Pray for a healthy baby and good birth. Baby is due at the beginning of October!
3. Housing praise: Last time I asked for prayer about housing. Now you can praise the Lord with us for our first-floor apartment and dacha.
4. Neighbors: Please be praying for our witness in front of our neighbors, both in the city and at the dacha. I would love to have more opportunities to talk to them about more serious issues!
We try to keep current prayer requests and praises at
Please write to us and let us know how we can pray for you, too. We miss all of our family and friends, and would love to know you're doing.
Because of Christ,
Phyllis Hunsucker (and Will, Jaan, Raia, ?)
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