What A Great Week

We hope you are having a great Saturday like we are--watching college football. I must admit, though, that it's made us a bit homesick as we watch the images of home. We are currently watching Virginia Tech play Eastern Carolina and enjoying our Saturday night.

School continues to be such a blessing to us. We had a great week. Sarah Beth is playing soccer, Hannah is singing in the choir, and John-John starts Cub Scouts this week. We are diving in to everything the school has to offer. We are also praising God that the school received its education license this week. Thank you for praying for that.

Our friends, the Tarletons, also returned home this week, an event we have very much been anticipating. Of course, the days ahead without our beloved friend, Teri, will be hard, but we are so grateful for the time God allowed us to spend with them this summer, and we are thrilled to have Ed, Rachel and Rebecca home. Thank you for continuing to pray for them.

We will have been here eleven months this week. Unbelievable! So much has happened during our time in Moscow, and we are so grateful for the ways God has stretched us and grown us, and for the time of peace and contentment we now find ourselves in. Thank you for the many, many prayers you have said on our behalf these eleven months.

We are also grateful that Marc successfully navigated the world of the car accident in Moscow. Another driver was passing on the left (on a two-lane street, of course), and ran into Marc's side of the car. The car wasn't hurt, and neither was Marc, but he had to deal with both the other driver and the police when they came. He did so successfully--no small feat! Marc has decided he's going to add a whole new section of vocabulary to the lexicon--what to say to the militsia!

Please continue to pray that God will move in a big way in our English Club. We had two new people Thursday night. We are really, really excited about how well the club is going, and by the relationships we are developing. We have not successfully made the move from English club to house church, yet, but we pray that is coming soon.

We have just had a great, normal, every day week here. What a blessing. In the worries of visa issues, language issues, and family issues, we have come to appreciate the week in which nothing big happens and life runs smoothly. I do think you would have enjoyed my trip today to buy Sarah Beth soccer socks at the sporting goods store. It turns out that somewhere in my language study, I missed the word for socks. So I grabbed a pair, hunted someone down, and then made a complete idiot of myself asking where the socks for girls who play soccer might be. I even managed to pick up a soccer ball and make what I imagine to be some soccer moves to illustrate my point. Nothing, my friends, is as humbling as the trip to the mall when you must buy something specific. Nothing. By the way--I got the socks. :o)  I hope during your week, you will have at least one opportunity to try to explain yourself in a language you know but don't know. And I hope if that happens, you'll say a little prayer for us and smile. We love you all so much! Have a great week!

His,

Kellye (for all)

p.s. The pics are of Marc because I hardly ever remember to put up pics of my good-looking man. The two on the left are from AGM (yes, he has on a fish-cap), and the one on the right was taken at the zoo in Kiev, Ukraine.

It's been quite a week...

Here are some of the things that made this a BIG week in the Hooks' household:

--we said goodbye to our friends, the Roberts, who headed back to the other side of Russia

--we received an email on Monday telling us that a friend of the family was paying for four months of the kids' tuition at school. That leaves us with only a little over $1500 left to pay for this year

--the kids and I (Kellye) started school at Hinkson Christian Academy on Wednesday (John-John passed out on the couch and slept for 12 hours after school!)

--we received our documents from the Russian government, which means we will be allowed to stay in the country (Hallelujah!)

--we resumed English club after a three-week break and had a FULL HOUSE!

--with our documents, we can once again drive the car, allowing us to pick up more than just a day's worth of groceries--another hallelujah, because my kids were starving!

--we received THREE packages, including one from a VBS class at our home church in Florida, full of goodies for us to enjoy (and enough vanilla extract for an army)

As you can see, this was a tremendous week for us. I can't tell you the relief we feel to have our very important documents back in our hands and know that we are going to be able to stay in the country. HUGE for us. We are so full of praise, we might just explode. Here are some things we would ask you to pray about this week:

--tomorrow is our last Sunday with Dima before he heads to France and Italy for a two-year study program. I will be presenting my testimony in Russian for the first time to the group, so please pray that I can spit out all those syllables in a way that is understandable and meaningful, especially to Dima. We believe Dima is VERY CLOSE to making a decision for Christ--would you pray that tomorrow would be the day?

--our friend, Ed Tarleton, and his daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, are heading back to Moscow this week following the death of their beloved Teri. Would you please pray that this transition would go as smoothly as possible, and that there would be peace and comfort in being home? 

--the decisions regarding our school, Hinkson Christian Academy, are scheduled to be made this week. There is a round-the-clock prayer vigil at the school Monday thru Wednesday. Would you pray that God would show Himself in a mighty way in the licensing process of this place that is so important for the missionary community of Moscow?

--finally--would you pray that our hearts continue to be consumed with a passion for this place and these people, but above all, for our God? We know that faithfulness is what He requires, and we want to be found faithful. Would you just pray that we would continue to be 100% faithful to His call on our lives?

What would we do without you? Well, we'd probably be back in Florida! Never do I want a week to go by without telling you how much we appreciate and need your prayers. We love you, and we're so thankful for you. We pray that God is blessing you in your faithfulness just as He has rained down blessings on us this week. We love you and are praying for you! 

His,

Kellye (for all)

We Need Your Prayers!

You should have received an email telling you we were home from AGM and well. We have enjoyed our time with our friends, the Roberts, as they have been with us in Moscow before and after AGM. They return to Petropavlask-Komchakty tomorrow...ten time zones away. Please pray for their safe travel to the other end of the country.

A situation has come up with our documents. Because email is public, I want to be really careful with what I say. There has been a snag in our registration here in the city. The lawyer has assured the company that it will be taken care of, but we need to be registered quickly.  If the situation cannot be resolved there are hefty penalties, both for us and for the company. Please pray that this situation will correct itself immediately.

Our kids (and Kellye) start school this week at Hinkson Christian Academy. We continue to pray about how we will come up with the rest of the kids' tuition. We basically need $500 a month. So far, we know that two months are paid for by supporters in our partner churches. We are so thankful that God has laid that need on someone's heart and that they responded in obedience. Please continue to pray that there will be no problem with the tuition payments.

We all came home from AGM feeling pretty rotten, especially Kellye and Sarah Beth. Please pray for quick healing--we don't want to start the school year with summer colds!!

Thank you for praying for us during AGM. What we anticipated could have been a depressing, sad time for us turned out to be a really fun time that renewed our spirits and gave us the chance to meet new friends and spend time with our old friends, too. God has been so faithful to us...and we are so thankful and grateful to Him for His continuing mercy and grace. And we are thankful for each of you, too. We say it all the time, but it bears repeating--we could not stay on the field without our faithful prayer warriors, who lift our arms when we are too tired to do it for ourselves. Thank you for continuing to stand in the gap for us. We love you and are so thankful for you.

Blessings!

Kellye (for all)