and that's what we've got! Nothing new to really report on the visa front. Passports are still being processed, and we did not receive them this week. We did receive our criminal background checks back from the FBI - no arrest record for either of us - another case in which no news is good news! :)
Keep praying - only 4 weeks left until our return to Russia!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
6 more weeks of winter???
No special pictures to record this week - the temperatures dropped quite a bit, and you'd almost think it was still winter! So our planned family outing this week turned into a family "inning." Hopefully we'll have something fun to show you next week.
Our passports are still being held up, but we've been told that we could get them as early as next week. Our letter of invitation should be ready on March 9th, so, as long as we have our passports by that time, we will be able to apply for our Russian visas, which should give us enough time. Thank you for continuing to pray for these details to come together. We covet your prayers!
Personally, I confess to feeling a bit of stress. All these variables out there, and they all have to come together in the right way and at the right time, and there are still a number of unknowns. How will the Russian authorities in Vladivostok respond to our request for temporary residency? How will people respond to our message? Will Andrew adjust well back into Russian life? Will we be able to find a day care for him? Who will be our language teachers? You can pray for me, for flexibility and comfort with ambiguity. :)
Also, please pray for us, that God would bless us with another child. We'd still like for Andrew to have a little brother or sister (he just says he wants a brother). Many of you know that Angela miscarried with our second child close to a year ago. We are still trying, so keep up your prayers!
With that, I'll close for this week. Have a blessed week!
Our passports are still being held up, but we've been told that we could get them as early as next week. Our letter of invitation should be ready on March 9th, so, as long as we have our passports by that time, we will be able to apply for our Russian visas, which should give us enough time. Thank you for continuing to pray for these details to come together. We covet your prayers!
Personally, I confess to feeling a bit of stress. All these variables out there, and they all have to come together in the right way and at the right time, and there are still a number of unknowns. How will the Russian authorities in Vladivostok respond to our request for temporary residency? How will people respond to our message? Will Andrew adjust well back into Russian life? Will we be able to find a day care for him? Who will be our language teachers? You can pray for me, for flexibility and comfort with ambiguity. :)
Also, please pray for us, that God would bless us with another child. We'd still like for Andrew to have a little brother or sister (he just says he wants a brother). Many of you know that Angela miscarried with our second child close to a year ago. We are still trying, so keep up your prayers!
With that, I'll close for this week. Have a blessed week!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
I know, not yet, but I thought it was better than wishing you a happy Friday the 13th!
We are still working on visas, but we have made some progress. We will be going in with religious work visas, and then trying to establish temporary residency while we are in Vlad. We will be praying like crazy that the city administration will look favorably on us and grant us a residency permit! So you can start praying now for favor from city officials. We also have passports being updated to help with receiving visas while we are overseas, so pray for all those details to fall into place quickly.
Speaking of quickly, we have only 6 weeks left in the US! It's amazing how quickly the time has flown. We're anxious to get back, of course, but we'll also be leaving friends and family behind once again. Pray for good times with family and friends as we finish our time here in the States.
This week, we took Andrew to the Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. He had a lot of fun! There aren't too many places we can take him where he can play with anything and everything he sees, so he really enjoyed the freedom there, and we did too.
Also, Andrew's preschool class does a missions project every spring, and his teacher asked if we could be the missions project! They would like to collect items to send to children in Russia, so pray that this project would be something that would really connect with people, and that God would use it for His glory, both in Russia, but also with Andrew's preschool class.
We are still working on visas, but we have made some progress. We will be going in with religious work visas, and then trying to establish temporary residency while we are in Vlad. We will be praying like crazy that the city administration will look favorably on us and grant us a residency permit! So you can start praying now for favor from city officials. We also have passports being updated to help with receiving visas while we are overseas, so pray for all those details to fall into place quickly.
Speaking of quickly, we have only 6 weeks left in the US! It's amazing how quickly the time has flown. We're anxious to get back, of course, but we'll also be leaving friends and family behind once again. Pray for good times with family and friends as we finish our time here in the States.
This week, we took Andrew to the Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. He had a lot of fun! There aren't too many places we can take him where he can play with anything and everything he sees, so he really enjoyed the freedom there, and we did too.
Also, Andrew's preschool class does a missions project every spring, and his teacher asked if we could be the missions project! They would like to collect items to send to children in Russia, so pray that this project would be something that would really connect with people, and that God would use it for His glory, both in Russia, but also with Andrew's preschool class.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Under The Sea!
We had a nice family day at the Camden Aquarium today! Daddy's favorite was the sharks, and Andrew's was the hippos! Although, I must say, I wasn't quite brave enough to actually swim with the sharks!
We will be meeting with the missions committe at Fellowship Baptist, up in Easton, sometime before we go back, to talk about partnerships. Pray for us, that God would lead each of us in that meeting to have wisdom as we talk about future partnerships.
Pray also for groups now making plans on coming to Vlad. Some of our friends from Ingomar Baptist Church are planning on coming as soon as this summer! Clear Lake Baptist is planning on a trip next fall.
Continue to pray for favor towards us from the authorities in Vladivostok. Pray that God would lead us to people of peace in the city administration who will help us in moving toward residence permits. Pray also for God to be working in peoples' hearts as we prepare to go.
Blessings!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Good News!
We've received some good news - we've been medically cleared to return to Russia! It was really more of a formality - no one has any medical problems - it's just one of the things that has to be done before we can return. So praise God, that one more step on the road back to Russia has been completed!
We mentioned in our newsletter, but not here, that Angela's grandmother, Winnie, is having health problems. She is living in a nursing home, she's lost most of her eyesight, and now is losing function of her kidneys. She's 89 years old, a wonderful Christian lady, and she's lived a full life. Pray for her and the family as they make decisions regarding her care.
Continue to pray for us as we get our ducks in a row to return to Russia. We now need to start seriously working on visas and other issues. The days are winding down! Pray for us also as we spend time with family here in the States. Just about 2 months exactly until we plan to return.
I promised some pictures last week of us at World of Coke, and Chik-Fil-A. Here they are!
The Batmobile is from the first Batman movie with Michael Keaton, and it's part of S. Truett Cathy's personal collection!
Finally, Andrew got to have some fun making snow angels, and a real snowman! He had a ball!
We mentioned in our newsletter, but not here, that Angela's grandmother, Winnie, is having health problems. She is living in a nursing home, she's lost most of her eyesight, and now is losing function of her kidneys. She's 89 years old, a wonderful Christian lady, and she's lived a full life. Pray for her and the family as they make decisions regarding her care.
Continue to pray for us as we get our ducks in a row to return to Russia. We now need to start seriously working on visas and other issues. The days are winding down! Pray for us also as we spend time with family here in the States. Just about 2 months exactly until we plan to return.
I promised some pictures last week of us at World of Coke, and Chik-Fil-A. Here they are!
The Batmobile is from the first Batman movie with Michael Keaton, and it's part of S. Truett Cathy's personal collection!
Finally, Andrew got to have some fun making snow angels, and a real snowman! He had a ball!
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Thrill of Victory....
...Is not what the Eagles experienced last Sunday! Oh well, someone has to lose, right? At least one Pennsylvania team is in the Superbowl!
Well, on to more important things. Thanks for praying for our conference in Georgia this last week - things went really well. We were able to have some good conversations with folks at the missions fair, and several have signed up to receive our prayer updates, so we are thankful. Travel so far has gone very well, Randy made it back to PA, and Angela and Andrew are in Huntsville, AL spending some time with her parents. They return Monday. Pray for them as they travel back, and for Randy as he tries to remember his bachelor survival skills over the next few days! :)
We had some unexpected fun family times this week. While we were in Conyers, we went to the World of Coke in Atlanta, and the Chick-Fil-A corporate headquarters. For me, Chik-Fil-A was most interesting, because their entire corporate vision begins with, "To bring glory to God..." It was really quite inspiring to walk on the company grounds and hear the clock chime to the tune of "He Leadeth Me." We'll have pictures next time of Andrew posing with the Coke polar bear (Angela has the camera).
It's probably sounding repetitive, but keep praying for our visa situation. We will be exploring options this week, and hope to have something more concrete soon.
Well, on to more important things. Thanks for praying for our conference in Georgia this last week - things went really well. We were able to have some good conversations with folks at the missions fair, and several have signed up to receive our prayer updates, so we are thankful. Travel so far has gone very well, Randy made it back to PA, and Angela and Andrew are in Huntsville, AL spending some time with her parents. They return Monday. Pray for them as they travel back, and for Randy as he tries to remember his bachelor survival skills over the next few days! :)
We had some unexpected fun family times this week. While we were in Conyers, we went to the World of Coke in Atlanta, and the Chick-Fil-A corporate headquarters. For me, Chik-Fil-A was most interesting, because their entire corporate vision begins with, "To bring glory to God..." It was really quite inspiring to walk on the company grounds and hear the clock chime to the tune of "He Leadeth Me." We'll have pictures next time of Andrew posing with the Coke polar bear (Angela has the camera).
It's probably sounding repetitive, but keep praying for our visa situation. We will be exploring options this week, and hope to have something more concrete soon.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Fly Eagles, Fly!
We had a special family day outing this week at the Build-a-Bear workshop, and what can I say? Daddy got a little caught up in Eagles playoff fever! But don't worry, I won't be asking for prayer for the Birds this week. However, if they make it to the Superbowl... :)
Well, anyway, we're traveling again this week. We are going to be attending a missions conference in Conyers, Georgia. It actually worked out well, since Angela's parents had been wanting to spend a little more time with her and Andrew, so they'll be staying behind in Huntsville for a few days after the conference. Pray for safety in travel, and for connections with new prayer partners.
Thanks for praying for the weather last week. We were able to speak at Fellowship Baptist, and we have another meeting scheduled in February to speak with their missions committee about future partnership! Thank you also for praying for Andrew's eye, he has recovered very well, and you can't even tell where the scrapes were from falling down the steps.
We've also received Andrew's new passport, so we're one step closer to our return to Russia. Soon we'll need to begin the visa process. Again, please pray for favor with the authorities as we make plans for our return.
Also, we are working on a website for our team, and we're going to try to incorporate our prayer blog with that website. We'll keep you updated as we get things under way, and any input you have will be appreciated. Let us know what you like, and what you think needs improvement.
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