September 4, 2003
Greetings once again - to all those who pray for us, care for us, and ever hope to hear from us!
How to summarize three months packed full to overflowing with God's goodness, mercy and love? As always, I can only try!
As a family, this has been a good summer, watching the baby grow and marveling in how wonderfully God creates a new life. We've been able to grow closer together, even as we've ministered to others.
KOVROV
We began our summer in the same place as we did last year, helping at a day camp in an orphanage-school in the city of Kovrov. Because of the delay with visas for our American friends, we were given a unique opportunity at the start of the camp this year. Phyllis and I and a friend were able to go ahead and start the camp in Kovrov, working with Pavel Korneichuk and the youth from his church. There were three of them at the start, the three of us, and between 25-35 kids. We had a great time with the kids, although we were definitely worn out by the time the group from the States arrived. It was neat to have the extra time with Pavel and his wife. Our friend, Elizabeth, spoke enough Russian that we weren't constantly translating when we were with them. It's a joy to help others communicate, but one of the minuses of the job is that you tend to miss out on doing much communicating yourself! :-)
We began our summer in the same place as we did last year, helping at a day camp in an orphanage-school in the city of Kovrov. Because of the delay with visas for our American friends, we were given a unique opportunity at the start of the camp this year. Phyllis and I and a friend were able to go ahead and start the camp in Kovrov, working with Pavel Korneichuk and the youth from his church. There were three of them at the start, the three of us, and between 25-35 kids. We had a great time with the kids, although we were definitely worn out by the time the group from the States arrived. It was neat to have the extra time with Pavel and his wife. Our friend, Elizabeth, spoke enough Russian that we weren't constantly translating when we were with them. It's a joy to help others communicate, but one of the minuses of the job is that you tend to miss out on doing much communicating yourself! :-)
We were very glad to welcome the others when they got there. We ended up with five from the main group. All in all we were in Kovrov about two weeks, living at the orphanage, working with the kids, and spending time with believers from Pavel's church. Something special we did this year, at the initiative of our friends from Minnesota was to spend some time repairing a section of the kids' bedrooms. It's a huge school, and there are repairs needed everywhere. We plastered and painted six rooms, wanting to do more, but pleased that we'd been able to get even that much done.
MSTORA
"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!" We saw the goodness of the Lord continually at camp. This camp almost didn't happen this year. Because of recent changes in visa laws and the general beaurocratic foot dragging common to visa processes, our friends from the States almost didn't make it over. There was also definitely a spiritual side to the difficulties they experienced. Hundreds of children wouldn't have been exposed to the life changing power of the Gospel this summer, the group itself wouldn't have had this unique chance to grow together, and the local churches would have missed a special time of encouragement.
"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!" We saw the goodness of the Lord continually at camp. This camp almost didn't happen this year. Because of recent changes in visa laws and the general beaurocratic foot dragging common to visa processes, our friends from the States almost didn't make it over. There was also definitely a spiritual side to the difficulties they experienced. Hundreds of children wouldn't have been exposed to the life changing power of the Gospel this summer, the group itself wouldn't have had this unique chance to grow together, and the local churches would have missed a special time of encouragement.
The Lord IS good, and He brought everything together in His time. The testimony of His working on our behalf was amazing as anything else that happened this summer. I could write pages (but I won't, have no fear!) on how He continued to work in all three children's camps and the youth camp. I know many of you have personally heard our accounts of last year's camps. It's enough to say that this year's camps outdid last year's in all ways.
The team that came from the States this year was bound much closer because of the difficulties and testing they came through. There wasn't a single one of them who wasn't 100% dedicated to giving their all in the short time they had in Russia. Their lives with the children, interaction with the Russian staff, the very fact that they were there this year were a testimony to the love of God working in and through them.
The Russian staff were a special pleasure to work with this year. There was a team from the Ukraine that were great fun and an inspiration in their ceaseless commitment and endurance through all four camps. The other staff changed a bit from camp to camp, but almost all were believers from the surrounding Vladimir and Ivanovo region churches with whom we had worked last year. It was a blessing to be able to continue and build on those friendships. The director was the same Ukrainian missionary as last year, Ivan Petrash. We greatly enjoyed the opportunity to work more closely with him and his family during the camps and even a bit longer.
One particular blessing for both of us was how we were cared for. Thank you so much to all those who were praying! We had decided before leaving Moscow that if Phyllis got sick at all, we were going to go home immediately. I was very concerned about her staying well and rested, getting the right kind of food, and on and on. The Lord rewarded our desire to serve. He blessed Phyllis' health...and growth! Phyllis ate better than anyone else at those camps, as far as I could tell! All Russians take special care of pregnant women, and believers even more so. That time out in the woods was probably better for her than even a trip to the States would have been! She came home healthy, joyful, well fed...just bursting with good health. (Or was that from swallowing too many watermelon seeds? Naaahhh....watermelons don't kick!)
The main camp was in a simply beautiful location, set deep in a forest of pine and birch. We were a good way from a historic town on one side and a village on the other, in one of the cleanest regions of central Russia. We woke to bird song (or Aunt Lyuda's "Wake up, girls!!"), went to sleep under the stars we so infrequently see in Moscow; walked through the quiet forest glades, marveled at the beauty of God's creation, breathed deep of the clean air, drank sweet clean water from an aquifer.... We lived in a place that historically was favored by the nobility for the purity of the waters, the stillness of the forests. We delighted in finding yet another bird or butterfly we'd never seen, in learning the names of the multitudes of mushrooms that grew everywhere; watching the lizards scurry in the grass, the swallows as they swept through the air, and I actually even held a wild hedgehog!! We were fed with blueberries by the bushel, wild strawberries, raspberries. Ahhhhh....
Something I saw more this year was the impact that Phyllis and I have by simply being there together. So many of these children come from broken homes, children's shelters, and orphanages. I could tell stories of crushed hearts, shattered lives that would make even the most hardened feel pity. Just for them to see us, to see other Christian families there, loving one another, serving one another was something they might not see that anywhere else. I was humbled at how much I have and that the Lord would use us to show what He intended for a marriage relationship.
Of course one of the main blessings in working in such a place is the privilege of being used by God to touch young lives. To be a channel of His love, to give a face to the love of Christ that they are hearing about, some for the first time, to show the concrete reality of the change that Christ brings - that's what we're there for.
I wish I could write for pages - although most of you wouldn't read to the end. :-) So many precious, needy kids... I could tell you of the little girls across the hall from us who were a joy to be greeted by first thing in the morning, who knew the Lord and wanted everyone else to as well, or of the little ones that brought Phyllis fresh berries at least once a day; I could tell you on the other hand of Angela, from a 'family style' orphanage. She only had 24 'brothers and sisters,' but frantically denied that she lived in an orphanage. Angela was worse than our shadow and would have lived with us day and night but for a lock on our door. She even would've gone home with us in a heartbeat, and gave every impression of having met unconditional love for the first time in all of her 13 years. (Angela is the one with me in the photo.) Ira, who we remembered as 'the one with the hole through her front tooth.' She had a mother, of sorts; a lot of the kids do that live in orphanages, but they're where they are for good reasons. If Angela was my shadow, Ira was Phyllis'. If adopting mothers was allowed, Ira would've taken a new mother home at the end of those ten days. And dare I mention Maxim? I could be accused of manipulating emotions. But he was there and had needs that couldn't be denied. My friend, his counselor, didn't know what to do with him. Maxim constantly fought the other boys, he was on sedatives, he was caught over and over smoking, even sniffing glue. But Maxim in the last three months had seen the death of both of his grandparents, whom he had lived with, his mother had been murdered, and his father was in jail...and all we could do was to love him, each one of us the best he could, from the director to the kitchen cook.I don't tell you about these kids in a ploy for sympathy. I do so only to remind you that when we say 'shattered lives,' well...they are. These children have real needs. Thank you for all of your prayers for us this summer. I know that the Lord used you to support us as we looked to Him for wisdom, for love. Your prayers were answered as we sought for the right words at the right time. Your love and care strengthened us as we strove to be His light among these hearts darkened by a life hard beyond the imagination of most.
The Lord is good to all that seek Him. He drew many of these needy children to Himself during each camp and showed them His goodness and mercy and love. It was wonderful to see the changes beginning to take place even in the short time that we had. For many, this was the first exposure to the concept that there even is another, different life - not to mention the God that not only offers that exchanged life here and now, but eternal life in His Son, Jesus Christ.
We stayed until the last camp, through the youth camp, and even a bit longer. The last week at camp it was just us, the director's family, and a few others. We had some wonderful times of fellowship, even as we hand washed 200 odd sets of sheets and bedspreads!
We were gone about a month and a half, all told. It seemed like much longer, so many children, so many different faces, stories, memories... and then we were headed back to Moscow again.
BACK IN MOSCOW
We had something of a busy August, getting back and settled into life in the city again. I ran around a good bit working on getting our new visas. Praise the Lord, we had no problems. We had to take a short trip to Tallinn, Estonia in the process of getting all our documents legal. It so happened that we were in this beautiful medieval town on Phyllis' birthday and had a wonderful day and a half giving ourselves the walking tour. At this point, we're as legally here as possible.
We had something of a busy August, getting back and settled into life in the city again. I ran around a good bit working on getting our new visas. Praise the Lord, we had no problems. We had to take a short trip to Tallinn, Estonia in the process of getting all our documents legal. It so happened that we were in this beautiful medieval town on Phyllis' birthday and had a wonderful day and a half giving ourselves the walking tour. At this point, we're as legally here as possible.
The next big event is, of course, the arrival of our baby! We are very much looking forward to that, and the sooner, the better, says Phyllis. Please do keep us in your prayers the rest of this month. So far, everything has been ideal, even the cooler than average weather special order for Phyllis.
Beyond that, only the Lord knows. I'm looking forward to one of my main ministries being to Phyllis and our baby. I'm also going to be involved more in the Bible study in Razvilki, leading it as something more like an adult Sunday school. I'll be helping in the church's orphanage outreach, singing in the choir (I think), and continuing to do as much as is possible.
Two important PRAYER NEEDS for this fall/winter: Phyllis and Baby!!! (Well, you all knew that already, but I thought I'd mention them again!) ONE - that the Lord would provide jobs allowing me to pay bills, etc. There are quite a few opportunities at the moment, but none of them have shown any definite promise quite yet. Ideally, I'd like to work a few days a week in a private school close to our apartment.
TWO - when I went out to Kovrov in March with GospeLink to find local pastors/missionaries to sponsor, a major prayer request of ours was answered. Since our time in Kovrov last summer, Phyllis and I had been praying about the possibility of moving out there and partnering in the ministry of our friends Pavel and Tanya Korneichuk. We both felt that we the Lord was leading us in that direction. For me, the hard thing was how to even bring it up to Pavel. We had discussed with him in depth what it was like to be a missionary there, and gotten a very clear picture of their need for help and support. I had even discussed, generally, theoretically what it might be like to move out there. They knew we were praying for direction in looking where we could minister outside of Moscow. That's all a little different than saying, "Would we actually make good partners for you as missionaries?" That is what I finally did in March. Pavel and Tanya were overjoyed at the very idea and are now praying together with us for the Lord's further direction in the next step of our life here.
Please be praying with us and them. I or we need to go and visit them and hash things out in detail. (How exactly could we be of help, what ministries, housing, etc.) We also need to bring our desire before the church there and have them be praying with us.
All that isn't going to happen immediately, of course. We would ask you to be praying for wisdom as we follow the Lord's leading. He is good and He does good and we rejoice in Him.
In His grace and peace,
Will and Phyllis
In His grace and peace,
Will and Phyllis