I am keeping old prayer requests and praises, so that we can look back and see how good God has been to us.  Red text is answered prayers, praises. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17   January 5, 2002 Church - Thank you so much for your prayers.  We're coming to the end of the busy holidays.  The play last week went well.  Christmas will be on Monday, and then it will be back to a more normal schedule for us. School - We have another week of the school break left.  Please pray for us to use it wisely as we rest, plan for school, take part in activities at church, and enjoy time with friends. 
January 12, 2002 Orphan work - Please pray for our friend Kolya and his ongoing work in orphanages all around the Moscow area.  We are going with him and a group of friends to visit an orphanage today.  Please pray that God will be glorified through us, that the program we put on will go smoothly, and that our time with the kids will be good.  Pray that God will be working in the kids' hearts! School - ...starts up again on Monday.  Please pray for us!  We are looking forward to being back with the kids, but it does take a lot of time and energy.  Will has an especially full schedule this term.  I'll just be continuing my after school classes, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 
January 19, 2002 Orphan work - We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the orphanage last week.  There weren't a lot of kids there when we were, but that meant we got to spend more time with each who was there. School - Well, we've made it through the first week back, and that in itself is a gift from God.  It is really good to be back with the kids!  Please do keep praying for strength and wisdom for us as we work in this school. Language - We're working on getting Russian lessons for me through the school where we teach.  This is a great answer to prayers!  Sometime in the next week one of the other teachers is going to start tutoring me.  And she's even the exact one I would have chosen as the best teacher for me. =) 
January 26, 2002 School - Please don't stop praying, especially for Will.  His schedule isn't easy! Language - We bought a textbook, and I've been able to get together with Olga (one of the other teachers at school) to work on Russian twice this week.  I think this is going to be a big help.  Please keep praying. 
February 2, 2002 Orphan work - We're planning to visit another orphanage today (on very short notice).  Please pray that everything goes well! Church - We have another busy month ahead of us with church activities.  We'll be visiting several churches to minister with the youth from our church, and Will is going to be preaching at Resurrection on the 17th. 
February 9, 2002 Orphan work - Last week's visit turned out to be to an orphanage for kids with severe mental and physical handicaps.  I absolutely loved having the time with those special kids!  Please be praying that we can have a chance to go there again as soon as possible. Church - Tomorrow we're going with the youth from Resurrection to visit and encourage another church.  Please pray for the service that we're planning to come together well, and for a good time of fellowship with other believers. School - It looks like I'll be putting in a lot of hours, at least during the next week, helping out another English teacher at school.  If everything works out, I may continue doing that, too.  Please pray for the details involved and for the strength and energy I'll need to keep up.  And please do keep praying for Will! 
February 16, 2002 Church - The visit last week went really well.  We definitely enjoyed the time with the other church and also with the youth from our group.  Please pray for tomorrow's youth service.  Will is going to be preaching, and there are many others who are preparing, as well.  Also, children from a local orphanage will be coming. School - The teacher I was supposed to help last week was sick, so I didn't do anything more than my regular classes.  There's still a possibility that I could be helping him some, though.  Please keep praying. 
February 23, 2002 Church - Thank you for your prayers for Will and for the service!  He was able to say what he wanted to say.  We had a good time with the kids from the orphanage, too.  We'll be visiting another church with the youth tomorrow. School - I did get to do some extra teaching this week, which was great. Orphan work - Today we're visiting an orphanage with the youth from Resurrection.  It's exciting that the church is involved in reaching these kids and that we can be a part of that! 
March 3, 2002 
Wow! We've been busy.  I didn't have time to get to this on Saturday.... Family - My family in the States needs prayer now.  My grandfather is in the hospital with serious health problems.  Please pray for him, for my parents, and for other relatives who are involved.  Most important: pray for my grandfather's salvation. Church - We had a good visit with the other church last week.  Thank you for praying! School - Please be praying for Will.  We're at the end of another grading period, and he has quite a bit of lesson planning to do and turn in. Orphan work - We enjoyed the time with the kids last week.  Please keep praying for the kids we got to spend time with. Wisdom and planning - Please pray with us as we're thinking, planning, and making decisions for the future.  "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." James 1:5 March 5, 2002 
Update: My grandfather died yesterday.  Please continue to uphold our family in prayer. March 9, 2002 A visit - We're very excited that Will's parents and sister are coming to visit us! =)  Please pray for them as they pack and travel, and for us as we get ready for their visit.  Pray that we'll have a wonderful time together.  They'll get here next Saturday. 
March 16, 2002 A visit - They're here! =) School - I'm very glad that I've finally been able to start working some more this week.  I'm doing some speech testing with the kids. 
March 23, 2002 A visit - We're having a wonderful times with Will's family and staying very busy!  Please pray for Will's mother and me.  We both have pretty bad colds. 
March 30, 2002 A visit - We had a wonderful visit!  And we've just heard that Will's family arrived safely at home, with all their luggage. School - We're headed back to school on Monday, after a nice spring break.  The other main foreign English teacher has quit, so we'll both be getting some new classes.  I now have two full days of teaching: Monday and Tuesday. 
April 6, 2002 School - I did really enjoy my new teaching schedule, even though it was a little bit harder than what I was doing before.  I do think it will get easier as I get more used to it.  Please pray for that. Orphans - We were able to go back to an orphanage that we had been to before and have a really good visit.  The kids were open, but it seemed like maybe the adults who work with them were more affected by our being there this time.  We can see that God is working there! Health - I've pretty much gotten over the cold that I've been struggling with, but now Will is coming down with one.  Please pray for us both to be healthy as soon as possible! 
April 13, 2002 Health - We're both finally feeling better!  Thank you for praying. Language - I haven't asked specific prayer for learning Russian lately, but I know many people have been praying.  Lately I've actually felt like I am getting somewhere; it seems that I can make myself understood more often than not.  Progress is slow, of course, but I'm very thankful to God for any steps forward in this! 
April 20, 2002 School - I'm teaching today, for a make-up day, and Will is going to be teaching on some other Saturdays.  Please pray for us on these busy weekends! 
April 27, 2002 School - As I mentioned before, today is a work day for Will.  Please pray for him.  Also, I'm asking people to pray for one of my third grade classes in particular.  Third "B" has had such attitude and behavior problems that I can barely teach them.  Please pray that they will improve, and that I will have the wisdom to know what to do with them! Our friends - We have invited our friends Hans and Oksana to a youth outreach picnic on May 9th.  Please pray that they will come.  Hans is nominally Muslim, and his wife, Oksana, doesn't really claim any religion. 
May 4, 2002 
Christ is risen!  Tomorrow is Easter here, and we look forward to celebrating the Resurrection.  Easter greetings to all of you! Praise - We just got back from a wonderful few days in the country with our friends, Dean and Olga Kershner, and other people who they invited.  It was a very refreshing time of enjoying fellowship and God's beautiful creation.  Thank you, Lord! Church - Will is speaking at church tonight.  The pastor asked various men to share on the events leading up to the crucifixion.  Will's passage is John 17.  Please pray that he will be able to communicate clearly. 
May 11, 2002 Church - Thank you for all your prayers.  Will's message went well, and he was able to say what he wanted and to have everyone understand. Picnic - Another thank you to those who were praying for the picnic.  It went very smoothly.  Even though Hans and Oksana weren't able to go with us, three other friends were.  I think it was a very good introduction to church activities for them.  Also, there was a huge answer to prayer the day before.  Two of the guys from the youth group, who were doing most of the organizing for the picnic, spent all of Wednesday shopping, gathering supplies, and getting things ready.  At the last store they left everything for the picnic in their car.  When they came out of the store the car was gone--stolen.  They called around and got most of the church praying for them.  And just a few hours later they found the car just half a kilometer away.  Absolutely nothing was wrong with it, and NOTHING had been taken.  Of course, the picnic started with a testimony from them, and lots of praise and thanksgiving. Our friends - We were able to have Hans and Oksana over for a very good visit last night.  Please continue to pray as our friendships with them and others grow and develop. School - We've really enjoyed this break from school, and we're headed back on Monday.  Please pray for strength to finish well in these last few weeks before the summer. 
May 18, 2002 School - Will had to work today, and we'll both be working next Saturday.  That makes a long week! Summer - Please pray for us as we're working out plans for the summer.  We're starting to try to sort out ministry opportunities, renewing our visas, and a trip to the States.   May 25, 2002 School - Pray that we will have the strength and health we need to finish the year out well. Summer - Please continue to pray.  This week I'm looking into different itineraries and ticket prices.  Pray for wise decisions and good prices! 
June 1, 2002 School - I'm finished, and Will has just one week left!  (The elementary school year ended earlier than the older grades.) Summer - Please keep praying.  This week was busier than I had thought it would be, so we didn't have time to look into plane tickets. Hopefully we can do that this week.  Our plans for camps are coming together, though.  We'll probably be working with a group coming from Minnesota. 
June 8, 2002 School - School's out!  It's hard to believe.  Thank you for all your prayers. Summer trip to the States - We found plane tickets!  We'll be in the States July 24-August 20.  We plan to spend the first half of that time in Florida and the second in Charlotte.  Please start praying with us about transportation while we're there.  We have not started to figure out how we'll travel from FL to NC and back. Summer camps - We'll be helping at camps with a group from Minnesota from June 16 to the first week of July.  Please pray for us as we get ready for that.  Pray for the kids who will be at the camps, for the American group, and for all the rest of us who will be involved.  Will and I are supposed to be helping with translating, so pray specifically for my Russian! 
June 15, 2002 Summer camps - We're leaving tomorrow for the camps! The American team has arrived safely, all except for one man.  His visa was lost in the mail, so he is still in the States.  Please pray that he would be able to make it over here soon. Trip to the States - Our transportation prayers are answered.  Will's parents and church are buying plane tickets for us to and from Charlotte! Visas - We turned our applications for new visas in this week.  There shouldn't be any problems, but I would like to have you all praying from the very beginning of this process this time. 
July 6, 2002 Summer camps - We've really enjoyed the first two sessions of camp, first as translators, and then as general help after the Americans left.  The man whose visa was lost arrived just a few days after the rest of the group.  Tuesday we're going back out to help with the third camp.  Will is going to be a counselor this time, and I'll be his helper.  This could be more of a stretch for our language skills than translating! Trip to the States - Please pray for us to get the details together easily.  We won't be back from camp until close to our departure time. 
July 20, 2002 Summer camps - We're home from camp.  What a great experience!  Last week was the most challenging, but still wonderful.  Thank you for your prayers.  They were definitely needed.  Hopefully we'll have a chance soon to write more about our time there. Trip to the States - We're leaving in just four days, and we have a lot to do before then.  Pray!  Also, please pray that we'll make the best use of our time there.  Here's a quick summary of our travel plans, so you can be praying specifically while we travel: Moscow to Orlando Wednesday, July 24 Orlando to Charlotte Tuesday, August 6 Charlotte to Orlando Monday, August 19 Orlando to Moscow Tue-Wed, August 20-21 Friends - Two friends of ours who have seemed really interested in the Gospel just wrote from their summer home that they've started going to a Mormon Bible study.  They were writing to us for advice and answers to their questions.  Please pray for us as we answer them and for them as they seek the Truth. 
July 28, 2002 Trip to the States - We had a safe and uneventful (but long!) trip, and now we're in Florida with my family.  It is good to be here.  Thank you for praying! Friends - Keep praying!  We have had some good emails from them, but we still need to keep them in prayer. Visas - Our visas arrived a day after we did! 
August 10, 2002 Trip to the States - Now we're in North Carolina, enjoying time with Will's family and friends.  Please continue to pray that we'll make the best possible use of our time here. 
August 17, 2002 Trip to the States - This has been a wonderful trip! We're headed back on Tuesday.  Please pray for safe travel and quick adjustment back into our regular life. School - School starts for me not too long after we get back to Moscow.  Pray that I'll be able to get everything together for teaching and be ready in time. 
August 24, 2002 Home again -  After a relatively easy trip, we arrived safely in Moscow with all our luggage.  Thank you for praying! School - Please pray for me as a meet with the director of the school on Monday to plan. Dima and Oksana - We spent the day today at the wedding of some friends from church.  Please pray for Dima and Oksana as they begin their new life together. 
August 31, 2002 School - My meeting with the director went well, and I've been busy all week getting ready for school.  I'll be teaching first through fourth grades all day on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  School starts next week, so please pray! Direction - Please continue to pray with us as we seek God's direction for what our next step should be in long term ministry here.  Pray that we would be able to set aside a block of time to talk, pray and plan together, even in our busy schedule. Our landlord - He is having some trouble with bills and taxes.  We don't know exactly what is involved, but please pray that he can get it all straightened out and that there won't be any problems for us. 
September 7, 2002 School - I survived (and enjoyed!) the first week.  Thank you for praying.  Please keep praying for the strength, wisdom, and energy that I need to teach.  Pray especially for the third grade.  They're a hard class to work with. Tutoring - Please pray for Will as he sets up the private English lessons that he'll be giving. 
September 14, 2002 School - God really answered prayers about the third grade this week!  They were still a challenge, but they were better overall.  Please don't stop praying! Language - Please pray for both of us as we get our studying worked out.  Will is going to be working with one of the guys from church, and I need to get started at school. 
September 21, 2002 School - God really answered prayers about the third grade this week!  They were still a challenge, but they were better overall.  Actually, all my classes went really well.  Please don't stop praying! Language - I found out that the teacher I worked with last year can't help me again, so I need to find someone else. Moscow - The churches of Moscow are having a city-wide week of prayer for this city.  There have been problems with churches being able to rent and buy property, and they will be praying specifically about that.  They will also be praying for revival and spiritual growth here.  Please pray with them and us! Sunday School - The Sunday school teacher's meeting was this week.  We'll be starting classes at the beginning of October.  I'll be helping with the youngest class again, and Will is probably going to be with the teenagers. 
September 28, 2002 Church - Tomorrow is the harvest holiday (like Thanksgiving), the church's anniversary, and the first Sunday in the new sanctuary.  Will has been able to work at the church some this week, helping to clean up construction mess in order to get ready.  Praise God for all that we can celebrate the week, and pray for the special service tomorrow. Health - I've had a pretty bad cold all week.  I'm starting to get better, but please pray for my health and for Will to stay healthy. 
October 12, 2002 Language - It worked out that I could be back with my Russian teacher from last year!  I've had one lesson so far. Health - We're both all the way back to normal.  Will never really got the cold very badly, and I got over mine pretty quickly. Tutoring - A family from church has asked Will to start teaching them English.  It should a good opportunity, but also a challenge.  There are seven or eight adults who want to study, and they're all at different levels.  We'll be getting together with them tonight to find out more exactly what they want and need, and how we can help them. Kovrov - I didn't update the prayer requests last week, because we were visiting in Kovrov, the place where we were in the orphanage this summer.  We spent four days visiting with the missionary couple there, the church, the youth, and other friends.  It was a really great time of fellowship!  We didn't get to visit the orphanage, but we did get to help with planing Bible lessons for the kids there.  There are four young people from the Kovrov church who are teaching Bible lessons two days a week.  Right now they have fifty students.  That's all they can handle, but they're praying for more workers.  Please pray with them and with us for the kids and for more Bible teachers. 
October 19, 2002 Tutoring - Will's first lesson went well.  The next one is tonight.  They're meeting Thursdays and Saturdays. Direction - Again and still, please be praying with us for the wisdom to know where we're going in our ministry here. 
October 24, 2002 
I'm updating this today because we'll be really busy for the next few days. Orphanages - We're planning to visit several orphanages tomorrow and Saturday.  Please pray for this to work out and for it to go well.  Pray that the kids and workers in the different orphanages will be open to hearing about the Lord. Sunday - This Sunday is a youth service at church.  Will is giving the opening message, so pray for him as he prepares now.  Also, pray that he'll be able to clearly say what he wants to get across. Health - This week has physically been a struggle for me.  Please pray for strength! 
November 2, 2002 Orphanages - I went with the group (Will wasn't able to go) to visit two orphanages and had a wonderful time, just helping with presentations and being with the kids. Sunday - Will's message went well, as did the rest of the service.  Thank you for praying. Health - This week was much better than last.  Praise the Lord! Halloween - I had to plan the Halloween celebrations at school.  Even though I wasn't excited about that at all, God used it, and we had good conversations with several of my colleagues as a result of Halloween.  (More about that soon when we send out an update.) 
November 10, 2002 Wedding - Yesterday was the wedding of friends from the youth at church.  Will sang and helped a lot with the music.  We're thankful for such a nice day and for another couple starting out life together! School - This past week has been Fall Break.  We start up again this week. 
November 16, 2002 School - School is going well and I'm enjoying it.  Because of a change in schedules, I'm now teaching on Tuesdays, too.  I still have the same number of classes, but some of them have been moved to Tuesdays. 
November 23, 2002 Church - We officially joined Resurrection Church on Sunday.  This week has been especially busy with church activities, too.  Will led the Wednesday night Bible study, since the pastor wasn't able to be there, and he also taught Friday night at a home Bible study.  Pray for us as we continue to be as involved as we can with Sunday school, the youth, choir (for Will), and other parts of church life. Health - Please keep praying for my health.  I'm fighting with yet another cold. 
November 30, 2002 Thanksgiving - We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope you all did, too.  We have so much to be thankful for! Health - Praise the Lord, I'm finally feeling all the way well. Christmas - We can start praying now for the busy time ahead.  Christmas is a great time for evangelism and drawing people into the church.  It's also a very busy time, of course.  Please be praying for us as we're deciding what to be involved in and starting to prepare. 
December 8, 2002 Razvilki - Please continue praying for the Bible study that is meeting in Razvilki, just outside Moscow.  We enjoy being a part of it, and are praying that it will grow into a new church some day. 
December 14, 2002 Christmas - As I've mentioned before, this time of year is very busy.  We have a youth service, Christmas play, New Year's celebration, and two weddings coming up soon at church. Missions trip - Several of the Americans we worked with in the camps this summer are planning to come over for a Christmas evangelism trip.  We're trying to help them get visas and make other arrangements, but it's not going very smoothly.  Please pray that God would work everything out as quickly as possible.  They need their visas right away! 
December 21, 2002 Busyness - Pray for us in this busy season, and especially for Will.  He does really well with thinking about and working on one thing at a time, but having so many things going at once is driving him crazy.  Some of the scatterbrained incidents lately have been rather comical, but please pray that he would be able to handle the busyness. =) Church - Tomorrow is the youth service, and Will has somehow gotten drafted into preaching! Missions trip - They got their visas! Peter - A Nigerian friend of ours will probably be staying with us this week.  Please pray for him, as he's trying to get back to his home country.  Also, he's having problems with documents, and his whole situation is pretty complicated. 
December 28, 2002 Missions trip - The group will arrive on Tuesday, and we'll be traveling with them until January 9. Church - Will's preaching went well last Sunday. Please pray for him to remember his lines in the Christmas play today.  And pray for the kids who will be coming to see the play.  Many of them are orphans. If there's anything we can pray about for you, please let us know.  We will certainly pray!