Sorry for the delay!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and anything else I've missed! In between traveling for Christmas and New Year's, as well as some spotty internet availability, we haven't posted in a while, so I apologize. I hope your holiday times were special. We were able to spend time with family and friends, and that has been a blessing.

We also had one speaking engagement at Fellowship Baptist get called due to weather - the roads were very icy on that Sunday morning - but we'll be returning there this Sunday. However, a winter storm watch is forecasted for Saturday, so please pray that the weather will allow travel. This is Randy's home church before going to seminary in Texas.

Last week, we spoke at Bux-Mont Baptist, which is the church where our mission housing is located here in Hatboro, PA. About an hour before we were scheduled to speak, Andrew fell down the steps at home! He ended up with a few scrapes around his eye, but nothing any more serious. Praise God for His protection! Pray also that God will call out partners from this church, and Fellowship Baptist as well.

We've now got a little more than two months until we return to Russia. The time is just flying by! We're now going to start focusing on our return. Pray for wisdom for us as we look into visas and other issues. Pray that we will be able to find a way to stay in the country long term.

Visit From Santa

We took this picture at Andrew's preschool. He had a special visitor, and Andrew was actually pretty excited to see him - we weren't sure how he'd react to sitting in Santa's lap, but as you can see, he had the time of his life (although I don't think Santa quite measures up to Thomas the Tank Engine)!

Thank you for your prayers for our travel to Butler, PA - we had a great trip there, and Andrew did well on the 6-hour drive. The weather was beautiful - no snow to make travel difficult! We were also able to encourage Whitestown Rd. Baptist Church, and pray that God will use our words to draw people there closer to Him.

This week we'll be speaking at Fellowship Baptist, Randy's home church before moving to Texas. We have several strong prayer supporters in this church. Pray as we talk with them about future partnerships with us in Vladivostok.

As we said last week, Christmas is fast approaching, and we would be remiss if we did not express our sincere gratitude for your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. In tough economic times like these, giving often means sacrifice. Take the example set by Lottie Moon herself:

For 37 years this pioneering missionary endured hardship and danger in a land oppressed by famine, disease and war. In the end, she loved the Chinese people more than life itself, giving her own food to starving neighbors, eventually dying of starvation herself. During her career, Moon wrote numerous letters home urging Southern Baptists to greater missions involvement and support. One of those letters, excerpted below, triggered Southern Baptists’ first offering for missions in 1888 — enough to send three new missionaries to China.

“How many there are … who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God.”




This is a picture of Andrew "reading" his beginner's Bible. We've started the practice of a daily quiet time with him. We read a short devotional passage together and then Daddy reads his Bible while Andrew reads his, or watches a "God video." We're praying that he will develop a hunger for God at an early age. I am reminded of a conversation I had with a lady in the front room of Mission Arlington while we were there last month. She was talking about how God had blessed her, and I just felt impressed to ask her, "And what have you been doing lately to bless God?" She immediately began talking about how she needed to give at a church somewhere. I told her that what really blesses God is when we give Him our heart - all of it. May God bless you as you bless Him this Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Lately, Andrew's new phrase is, "Christmas is getting close...!" He's getting excited about seeing the presents under the tree of course, meanwhile, we work on teaching him the true meaning of the season. We've had a little bit of snow, but nothing stayed on the ground - a big contrast between our last three Christmases in Khabarovsk!



This week, we'll be heading to Whitestown Road Baptist Church in Butler, PA. Pray for us as we speak there, and for safety in travel. Snow is forecasted for this weekend up there!

Hope you enjoy these photos of our tree decoration time! Have a great week!

Day Out With Thomas!

We went to Strasburg, PA today for a Day Out With Thomas, and we all got to ride on a life-size replica of Thomas the Tank Engine! There was also a visit with Sir Toppam Hatt, Christmas songs, train tables, the whole works! Needless to say, Andrew was very excited, and we all had a great time. The weather was cool, but very nice, so thank you for your prayers.

Tomorrow, we drive to Romney, West Virginia for a speaking engagement Sunday morning at Covenant Baptist Church. Pray for safety in travel and for God to speak through us as we speak in the morning worship and at Sunday School.

Thank you for your prayers for Randy's time in Florida. It was a great time of connecting with Scott and his family. We reminisced about the college ministry at Temple, and were able to visit with some folks who had come to a fall festival at his church in Lake Wales. Pray for God to raise up partners from FBC Lake Wales.

Keep praying for the visa situation in Russia. We are still looking into avenues to stay in country long term. Other colleagues are in the same situation as we are. Please pray for wisdom as we seek the best option for our continued presence there.

Happy Birthday, Randy!

With all of the travel last week, I forgot to mention that Thursday was not just Thanksgiving, but also Randy's birthday! We had a great time of visiting with family - about 34 people together for Thanksgiving dinner - and everyone sang Happy Birthday! Praise God for this time of reconnecting with family.

Thanks for praying for safety in travel - everyone made it back safely from Texas. Tomorrow, Randy leaves for Florida to speak at First Baptist Lake Wales, where his college pastor, Scott Markley is pastor. Pray for him as he speaks there, for God to bless his speaking, and for prayer partners to be raised up in this church.

This week on Friday, we'll be going to Strasburg, PA for A Day Out With Thomas. This is a life-size replica of Thomas the Tank Engine that Andrew will get to ride on! Please pray for good weather for this special time for Andrew!

Hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving...anyone have a special Thanksgiving story to share? Post a comment and share it with us and the rest of our prayer partners, we'd love to hear from you!

On The Road Again, Again...

Well, we've once again had to say goodbye to a number of dear friends in Texas, but we have had a great visit here. God has really shown us some neat blessings! For one, we were blessed with a car! For our times in PA, my mom has been very generous in renting a car so that we could have her car to get around in, and that's been great, but we felt bad about putting a financial strain on her, especially since we'll be coming back to PA to stay until March! Well, as we mentioned this to some friends we were staying with, they just "happened" to have a car that they were wondering what to do with, and they are going to let us use that car until we leave for Vladivostok! We thank God for these special friends (you know who you are!), and we pray His blessings upon them and their family.

We also had a good time of re-connecting with our "extended family" at Mission Arlington. They truly are co-laborers in the Gospel. We visited with Eugenio and Deyanira, who are pastoring our old apartment church at Sawyer's Mill Apartments, and living in our old apartment there. God is really using them - we attended a Wednesday night Bible study, which was packed, standing room only. Please pray for them as they seek to develop leaders from within this faithful group of attenders.

I'm writing this from somewhere in Tennessee, as I drive the car back to PA. Angela and Andrew are in Houston, and will be flying back tomorrow as I drive the rest of the way. Pray for safety for us as we travel, and for God's peace for all of us.

**Just a clarification, I'm not actually driving while I write this...I'm in a hotel. Just to eliminate any confusion. :)

Live Armadillo Sighted!

Yes, I know it seems somewhat random, but this is the first time I've actually seen a live armadillo in the wild! We saw not just one, but three at the Armand Bayou Nature Center in Houston this week. Andrew enjoyed it, and he also got go on a hayride, do a cakewalk, and sit in a stagecoach. Lots of fun!

Right now, the Stodas are all sick with some kind of bug. We're a family that believes in sharing! Pray for healing, and that our time speaking will not be adversely affected by our health.

We'll be speaking this week at First Baptist Teague. They have had a tragedy in the church recently, the pastor's daughter was killed in a traffic accident. Pray for healing for this family, and for the church

We'll also be heading up to visit our friends at Mission Arlington this week. For those of you who don't know, Mission Arlington is a multi-housing ministry in Arlington, TX where both Angela and Randy served (check them out at www.missionarlington.org). We thank God for them, and ask that you continue to pray for them as they reach Arlington and the nations for Christ!