A Full House

Good morning, everyone! No pictures this morning--I have not had a spare second to load anything new into my computer. It has been a busy, busy week. We started with unexpected guests all day Sunday (a volunteer team stuck in Moscow), IMB summer interns on Monday, a night off on Tuesday, our regular card game guests on Wednesday, a great group for English Club on Thursday (15!), and an MK from another part of Russia who stayed with us on Friday! That is a lot of people in and out of this apartment this week. (That's a praise, by the way!) Yesterday, the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) MKs left for Hungary for MKR (Missionary Kid Retreat), and Sarah Beth was pretty excited to be going. Last night, our friends Rhenn and Terri kept John-John and Hannah for the night so that we could celebrate our 18th anniversary (which is officially on Monday). We had an unbelievable evening...dinner at TGIFriday's, a stroll down Arbat Street (a famous street in Moscow with lots of street musicians and fun shops). We ended our evening at a new Starbucks, drinking delicious coffee and just thoroughly enjoying our time together. We arrived home well after midnight, having had a wonderful, wonderful evening. We are so grateful for a night out without the kids! And we're even more thankful for friends who are willing to have not one, but two kids sleep over so we could have that night together! The coming week will also be a busy one. Sarah Beth arrives home Wednesday afternoon, and Wednesday evening we board a train for Kiev, Ukraine, for our long-awaited visa trip. We are absolutely trusting that everything with our visa is going to go perfectly. We will arrive Thursday morning, and the kids and I will stay in Kiev while Marc goes on to Odessa, about 6 hours away. The kids and I will be staying with our friends, the Bobo's, whom we dearly love. We are looking forward to a time of just strolling around the beautiful city of Kiev, enjoying some "down" time together. We should be back by the next Wednesday. Then we leave the next Saturday for a retreat center outside of Moscow, where we will be attending the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Russia field. This will include everyone who serves with the IMB in Russia and who is not on stateside.  Some specific things to pray about this week: --Sarah Beth and the rest of the MKs at MKR. This is an unbelievably important time for them. It's like the best youth camp ever, but with your friends you only see once a year. Pray that she will be spiritually renewed as she prepares to head into her junior year of high school. --our Kiev trip. Pray that everything will work smoothly, and we will enjoy some rest! --our friend, Teri, whose husband, Ed, is in charge of the IMB's work in Russia. She will have an angiogram and possible angioplasty at a local hospital on Wednesday. --the kids' tuition for Hinkson Christian Academy. Pray that God will not only show Himself mighty in this area, but that He will do so in a way that is only attributable to Him. --Sarah Beth's trip to Uganda in March. She is currently raising the funds for her trip. Pray that she will have no problem raising the money necessary to go to Uganda during her spring break.  --our friends in house church and English Club. We will be gone the next two Sundays and the next three Thursdays. We will miss our friends. Pray that God will be working in their hearts while we are gone.  Thank you so much for your constant prayers for us. It is easy to think that we are forgotten sometimes--a tool the enemy uses to discourage us. But when I write this every week, I picture each of you as you share this with various groups in your churches, and I know that we are not forgotten, we are not alone, and that God is using you in a mighty way in our lives. We are so grateful for each of you! We pray you have a wonderful week, full of great things that only God can do. Blessings to you and yours! His, Kellye (for all)

A Week of Changes

It has been a bittersweet week for us. On the one hand, we had a great trip to the zoo and Marc officially transitioned to the job he came here to do. On the other, our dear friends and team leaders, Jeff and Karla, left with their family to return to the States for a year. We already miss them. Marc and I have been very blessed to have a chance to serve on a church-planting team with such great leadership. 

We also got the keys to the team's van this week, which will make a great difference to us here in Moscow. On the first day we had the van, we managed to get ourselves pulled over by the police, which was an interesting adventure. We were very thankful for two things: language acquisition and contingency training! Not that we were in any danger, because we weren't, but it was a little scary to be pulled over by the notoriously corrupt police. We managed to get through it with a good story and nothing else. 

Here are some things we'd like for you to pray for this week:

--the continuing issues with obtaining a visa for Russia

--our last days of language, at least for a while

--growing friendships with other missionaries

--the house church that meets here--that we would see continued growth and new churches started out of this group

--our English club, which meets every Thursday night

--Kellye's ear infection, which is pretty awful

--Some fun time as a family

We are really excited about some time off from language study, which will allow us to do some fun things with our kids. We had a wonderful trip to the zoo this week, a place we fully intend to visit again soon. There is also a possibility of a trip to the dacha, or summer house, an hour or so outside the city. Sarah Beth will be going to Budapest in three weeks, and then we have Annual General Meeting in August and a trip somewhere(?) for visa renewal. Then in October, we'll be headed to Prague for a conference and a little vacation with friends. So we have a whole lot of fun coming up. We are thankful for a week in which we saw a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you so much for partnering with us. We could not remain on the field without your faithful prayer support. It would be impossible. We love you and pray your week is productive and ear infection-free!

Blessings,

Kellye (for all)