For all who are praying with and for us, but who have not seen us yet, a short update is definitely overdue. We feel like we have finally gotten to the point where we can stop asking, "Will this ever be over?" That is, the process of trying to fix our document problems so as to stay in or return to Russia, and then the process of gathering the needed documents so as to leave Russia. It's over, and that's sinking in slowly but inexorably.
Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your love and support. Without you, who are "the sweet savour of Christ in those who are saved, the savour of life," our encouragement and mainstay, our spiritual brace and support in a world that for us has been turned upside down... this all would have been nearly unbearable. We thank and praise our God and Father for each and every one of you. We love you, and your love is one of the greatest blessings our family has seen throughout this difficult time.
Our plans are still a bit nebulous, but they are still plans. We want to keep moving forward in life and ministry - not start 'coasting' just because we have left Russia. We will be visiting here in Florida for a couple of weeks, then we'll have a couple of weeks with my family in NC. After that, we have a month reserved at a home for traveling missionaries in NC. During all of the time we have here, and especially the month we'll have to ourselves, we want to be defining the what, where, why and how of our next step in ministry. Right now our plan is to find a place in eastern Ukraine to minister in a similar capacity as we did in Russia. That's rather... nebulous, undefined, vague, yes. However, that is what we are praying and thinking about at this point. Please pray for wisdom and direction for us.
We want to make these decisions in a fairly short amount of time so as to be able to make the most of my Russian visa. It is still good, and will allow me to enter and exit Russia until the 10th of May. We left a good bit of our belongings with friends in Kovrov, with the hope that I would be able to return and expedite their transportation to Ukraine. Return to Kovrov, that is, from Ukraine, having already moved there by that time. = o) We have therefore a very definite time frame to work within, and that's actually a good thing. You can see our tentative travel schedule on our home page.
Again, your prayers, notes, love and encouragement have been a true source of spiritual, emotional and psychological strength and solace for us. Thank you. Keep praying!
I kind of wish that we had planned our time away to be in between Florida and North Carolina, so that we would have a chance to get our children back in order, but we didn't think of that. We'll take the first few days in Charlotte to rest and settle in, and then we want to see everyone!
). By the time we get on that flight we will already have been going for more than 24 hours.
I wonder if he’ll be surprised to learn that most people in America can drive? He was appalled when I told him that there aren’t many buses there and no trolleybuses at all (at least not in the cities we’ll be visiting).