(I am scheduling this to post on our first day of camp in Kherson, where Raia will be back in her element, working with kids and her friends at the church she loves. Please pray for us.)
Jeremiah 1:19 “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
HomeLife Academy gave Raia their Overcomer Award for this year.
I just took the one page about her to share here.
She has just officially graduated, and I am struck again but how much the word Overcomer fits her and what she has done in the past year. She has overcome
- Fitting 11th and 12th grades into one year
- While living, thriving, helping others under occupation and in an active war zone
- During unexpected sudden evacuation
- Through a dark winter winter without electricity
- Far from her very closest friends
- When her dreams of a certain university became very distant because Lithuania didn’t accept the high school diploma she was working so hard for
- Not taking the SAT when planned with her tutor and then taking it later when she was stressed and not feeling ready
- Passing the GED, which she never planned on taking
- Retaking parts of the GED to raise her passing scores even higher....
She still has more to conquer, including right now figuring out applying for residency in two countries almost simultaneously, not to mention starting the whole new adventure of university. Thank you to everyone who has carried her and the rest of our family in your prayers and support all these years. Please keep praying!
If we were in normal times, we would celebrate her graduation with our family and local friends. Even that isn’t really possible right now. If anyone here wants to congratulate her, send words of encouragement, or even little gifts, her email address for both notes and PayPal is raia.xansaker@gmail.com. Again, thank you!
I’ll close with these words of Jesus in John 16:22. Glory to the One who is the real Overcomer:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
3 comments:
Sniff. Thank you for sharing this. I am presently too overwhelmed with emotion to say more. Glory to God! All my love, Grandda.
Grandda beat me to the comment section...I"ll just second what he wrote and add my love.
Greetings,
My name is Tim Wolter. Last week I saw a short prayer request for your family in the weekly newsletter at Azalea Baptist Church In St. Petersburg, FL. I was intrigued when I saw the comment about your daughter's plans to attend LCC. I taught there from 2005-2007 and I have returned from time to time to teach in the Summer Language Institute. LCC is a great school.
My wife and I have also traveled to Russia on several occasions working with a church in Vladimir and an orphanage in that region. 20 years ago we adopted two sisters who we met at the orphanage.
When we moved to Lithuania to minister at LCC we needed to find a good local church. The church we found is called City Church. The pastor and his wife, Saulius and Sanna Karosas, are both graduates of LCC. It is a terrific church. I would encourage her to seek it out when she arrives in Klaipeda.
If you have any questions about either LCC or City Church please feel free to reply to this email. I wish you well in your first year at LCC. My main role at LCC was director of their First Year Seminar program. As I understand, it is still functioning well helping students adjust to life college life.
Take care,
Tim Wolter
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