Fwd: Hooks Prayer Update

> Good morning! I'm afraid in the hustle and bustle to get things done
> yesterday, I forgot to send this out, so this will just be a quick
> update.
>
> It has been a very hard week, one in which we have struggled with
> seemingly everything. We did have a wonderful English Club on
> Thursday night, and we are looking forward to continuing this
> ministry. Marc is working on a video for Jeff, our team leader, who
> leaves this week for a long Stateside assignment at the Baptist
> College of Florida. We did find a wonderful park only a mile and a
> half walk from our apartment, so that was definitely good news.
>
> Please pray specifically for the following this week:
> 1. Encouragement, encouragement, encouragement--the weather has
> turned cloudy and cold again, and it mirrors our feelings about
> being here. We miss the warm sunshine of Florida, our home, our
> family, and our church. Pray that every day this week, we will find
> something encouraging to focus on instead of what we miss.
> 2. Our relationship with each other--it is hard to be together 24/7
> and never have a break from one another.
> 3. Friendships, for us and our children--we are really lonely. All
> the people we have become friends with are leaving the field or have
> left it, some for good and others just for a year.
> 4. Visas--we thought our visa issues were worked out, and we found
> out Friday that they aren't. The embassy in Kiev, the only one who
> would work with Russian visas and work permits, has decided not to
> do that. Unfortunately, we found that out only because we have
> personnel there trying to get their work permits. Pray for them,
> that a solution will be discovered, and pray for our office, which
> is desperately looking for some solution to this new problem.
> 5. Our house church--pray that we will be good stewards of the work
> already started, and that our language will not be a hindrance to
> the spiritual growth of these people we have come to love so much.
>
> Thank you so much for your prayers. We could not make it through
> weeks like this without you. In fact, we couldn't make it through
> any week without the faithful prayers of our own warriors. We love
> you guys, and we pray that God is working in your life, just as He's
> working in ours!
>
> Blessings!
> Kellye (for all)

June is flying by...

It's been a wonderful, warm week here in Moscow. We had a great house church time last Sunday--thank you for the prayers. We had a great English Club meeting on Thursday--thank you for the prayers. I took the kids to the park yesterday for a picnic--you can see the pics here. It's nice to be on summer break and get to enjoy the outdoors a bit. Please pray for us this week as we are about to transition from one team to the other. And we ask that you would specifically pray for Lilliana, Sardonna and Karoline this week...we feel that the first two have either made a decision for Christ or are about to, and Karoline is a young woman who is seeking, but just doesn't know what. Pray that we will be bold in our witness to her. Remember that we are available to talk to your VBS if you want us to! Blessings!  Kellye (for all)

God has answered your prayers (and ours)

Last week, we asked that you pray continually this week for clear guidance from God about whether or not we should take over the Bible study/house church our team currently has when the team leaders leave next month for thirteen months of Stateside Assignment. After meetings, discussions with our closest friends around the world, and specific times of prayer and fasting, we are convinced that this is the direction God would have us go. We did not expect to take over something like this so soon into our first term, but we also didn't expect to be missionaries in Russia, so God is full of surprises! We had pretty much settled the matter by Thursday, but we still were asking God for something unusual, something that would help us know He absolutely wanted us to do this. Thursday night at English Club, we only had two students (Russian universities are in their exam period right now), so we played cards. During the discussion, one of the students we are closest to, Ksenia, was lamenting that her new job would make it impossible for her to attend on Thursday nights. (Ksenia is an English teacher, and does not need my help to learn English. She is obviously seeking something beyond that.) She was saying that she could not stand the idea of not being with our family every week. I asked her what days she had free, and she replied, "Only one day off...Sundays are my only free days." Marc looked at me. I looked at him. We both smiled. What a perfect position we are now in to invite Ksenia to the new group that will be meeting in our home. Yes, we are headed in the right direction. 

We do have some specific things for you to pray about during this week, things specifically to do with our new work. First, please pray for our acquisition of the Russian language. We were very, very encouraged this week by comments made to us about our Russian by people who have been on the field many, many years. Pray that God will continue to give us ears to hear and tongues that can put all those consonants together in a row! Please pray also for the kids as we work on new Standard Tenable Statements (STS). They have already memorized one STS, and now they will need to memorize something new. Remember that our STS is in place for our safety and security and for the security of the platform on which our team works. Finally, pray that God will make us bold as we invite our English Club students to come study the Bible with us on Sundays. We are praying that God does something supernatural and amazing in this situation. We believe He is about to start something big here, and we are so excited to be a part of it.

Thank you so much for your prayers. Have we told you lately how much we appreciate you? Without faithful prayer warriors, we would have packed the bags and headed home at the first sign of snow, I'm sure. You keep us on the field. You make us more effective. You hold up our arms and stand in the gap when we are too tired to do it ourselves. We love you and praise God daily for your role in our ministry. Thank you for taking this long, arduous, interesting journey with us. мы любим вас! (We love you all!) 

Blessings,

Kellye (for all)

New Prayer Blog

JUNE 13, 2008

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

We have been on the field for just over eight months now and have seen our share of successes and  failures, but more than anything we have seen God moving and working in our lives.  Since we arrived in Moscow in October we have sent weekly emails to our partner churches and family members so they could know how to pray for us in the upcoming week.   In recent weeks we have been asked to share those letters.  So, each Saturday night we will post our weekly prayer letter on this site so it can be shared.  Please feel free to forward this blog address to anyone who may be interested.

I have also posted an archive of our recent letters so you can get aquatinted with our work here.

We know that people from all over the world have been praying for our family. We know because we have felt the direct results of those prayers.  So, we wanted to also thank your for praying and ask that you continue to pray for us. 

Please feel free to post your comments and your own prayer needs so that our large prayer family can pray for each other.

Blessings,
Marc

We need your prayers this week!

This has been a really, really busy week. In fact, as I write this, we have a home brimming with children--John and Han each invited two guests home from an all-mission brunch this morning, so we have six kids running around and being crazy. (Sarah Beth volunteered to walk to the store for tortilla chips--an escape plot if ever I heard one.) We had some event every night (or day) this week, which is unusual for us. On top of that, we also had language lessons, which pretty much wiped us out. The really great news is that Buck and Leslie, friends of ours who have been living in St. Petersburg, have moved to Moscow, along with their three children. We are so grateful that they are here--we had them over for dinner last night, and two of their three kids are here right now. Their arrival is a great blessing for us, and we look forward to spending time with them.
Of course, we always covet your prayers, but this week is especially important, because we have an important decision to make in the near future, preferably this week. Our team leaders, Jeff and Karla, are leaving for Stateside Assignment in a month. We have been asked to consider taking over the Bible Study/House Church that meets in their home. That may seem like a no-brainer, but there are several concerns to consider. First, while we have made gigantic strides in our acquisition of the Russian language, we would have to really prepare in order to teach a Bible lesson in Russian. Conversation is one thing, but "church" words are not in our vocabulary lessons. Second, there are some security concerns. I don't want to spend much time here, but our team is "on platform," which means we (and our children) would have to memorize new "standard tenable statements" about who we are and why we're here in order to protect that platform. That is further complicated by Marc's transition from the team we are currently on--a church planting team--to the administrative team--our permanent team. Finally, and most important to the leadership here, we are at a critical moment in our lives as missionaries. This is the time culture shock hits hard and people leave the field. The worry is that the responsibility would be one more pressure in an already pressure-filled situation. (You know those lists of different events that give a number to how much they stress you? I think the point where it physically affects you is around 150. The average score for a first-term missionary on the field is somewhere around 800. There's a little pressure.)
So there are the concerns. But there are also reasons we would love to do this. First, we have several "kids" in English Club who are obviously seeking something beyond learning English. An established group is easier to invite someone to than a new group. Second, we already have a relationship with the people who attend at Jeff and Karla's. Some are incredibly close to making decisions for Christ, and we fear what will happen if they are "shipped off" to another group. Finally, we have developed a passion for seeing God sweep into this country and do something only He can do. Somewhere along the way, we became missionaries who long to do whatever is necessary for Him to be glorified. If this is what He has for us, we want to be a part of it.
We are asking that in your Sunday School classes tomorrow, each of you take time to explain our situation and hold a specific prayer for God's will in this matter. And then we are asking each of you personally to pray about this during the upcoming week. I don't think we have ever asked for you to pray for/about something every day for a week since we began this journey, so you can see how important this is to us. We are looking for God's clear guidance and the peace only He can give about our decision.
Your prayers matter so much. Many of you have been praying for our kids to have friends. From the other rooms in our apartment, all I can hear is laughter and playing. God answers your prayers. He cares about what you bring to Him. Thank you for being faithful to bring Him our concerns. You are a vital part of what we are doing here.
Blessings!
Kellye and Marc

A Great Week!

Good morning! We have had a busy, busy week, with two parties for Marc's fortieth birthday, English Club, Hannah's promotion to middle school, and the end of (most of) school for the kids. Last night, we said goodbye to friends who are returning to the States, and we found out another family we love is also returning to the States permanently. Pray for us and for our kids that these goodbyes, which are a part of missionary life, are not discouraging, and that God has something fun and wonderful planned for the summer.
The pictures are from Marc's birthday celebration and English club and Senior banquet. The IMB girls below are the girls from our company who went to Senior banquet together. The pic to the left of that is Sarah Beth with her best friend, Sarah Beth (they call themselves SBSquared). We love you and appreciate your prayers. Blessings!