We pray this finds all of you doing well. John John, Hannah and I are resting and getting some work done today, and Marc and Sarah Beth are in Udmurtia until sometime on Monday. I just got off the phone with Marc--oh, the wonders of the iPhone, which can get a signal anywhere!--and they are really having a great time. Udmurtia is about 14 hours away by train, located in the western Ural mountains. Last year's International Day of Prayer was focused on the Udmurts, an unreached people group who are more shamanistic than orthodox, which is not unusual in that part of the country. Marc is there with a group doing a follow-up on what has happened since the international day of prayer. Sarah Beth is headed into one of the villages for a women's group meeting tonight, and she'll be staying with another MK who is traveling with her in the village tonight. Marc is headed to a different village, where he will be enjoying the banya with some Russian brothers. I am smiling even as I type that, because the banya is an uniquely Russian experience which involves a sauna (think a hut heated by burning coals), a pool cut into the ice, and a bunch of branches with which they hit you wherever they think you need to lose weight. Somewhere in there, you're supposed to have tea and cookies with your banya-mates. And clothing...well, let's just say it's very optional. (I didn't ask Marc what he was wearing into the banya, because I frankly didn't want to know.) Then he'll go back to their hotel in a nearby city and prepare to preach his first sermon in Russian tomorrow morning. He is very, very excited about the relationships he is making with Russian brothers in the villages, and it's been great to get the chance to not only videotape all of the things that are happening, but also get to participate in ministry. It was good to hear the excitement in his voice, and in Sarah Beth's. They are also enjoying a great time together. We are always aware that in just a little while, S.B. will be in college, so we are eating up every second of our time with her.
Other than that, it's just been an absolutely crazy week. We had last-minute house guests for a few days, Hannah had a big presentation, and there were the usual language lessons on top of everything else. Plus, it is getting dark and cold quickly. In fact, I have struggled this week with sadness and what I can only call "the blues," and a fellow missionary gently reminded me that I often struggle with the weather when it gets gray. So the sun lamp comes out this week! This Florida girl is awfully thankful to work for a company that takes mental health really seriously--seriously enough to provide a sun lamp for those of us for whom the gray can be overwhelming. Would you pray this week that I will recognize what I am struggling with when I see it, and not be discouraged by it?
We are getting ready for Thanksgiving already, and we're pretty excited about that. We have lots and lots of people coming, and that should be fun. Having lots of people honestly helps us not to feel homesick. Thanksgiving is, across the board, a difficult day for many missionaries, because it is an American holiday, and no one else is celebrating it. So we are thankful for that.
Marc met a potential student for our English club on the train. Please pray that he will be able to make contact when everyone is back in Moscow, and perhaps move this young man (who is from Udmurtia but lives in Moscow) into a discipling role with Marc here in Moscow.
Well, guys, I think that's it. Please continue to pray for the many people we come into contact with, that we will see everyone through God's eyes and not our own. Our neighbors have been very unfriendly from the start, but slowly are turning the corner on their opinion of us. We are consistently being greeted and smiled at by several families here in the building--a real answer to prayer. We are especially excited because the girl who lives with one of the young men next door to us seems particularly friendly and ready to--maybe--make a relationship of some sort with us. Pray that we will take advantage of any opportunity the Lord provides. We are praying for boldness, a need to see others come to Christ that makes it impossible for us to miss opportunities to share His love. I'm praying that for you, too--may we all have a boldness and a hunger for everyone to know the love of Jesus! I pray that each of you has a wonderful, restful Saturday, and that you know how much we appreciate each of you.
Blessings!
Kellye (for all)
