Janurary 2008

Praise the Lord, we are off and running in 2008. January was a very busy month for the Roberts’. We were able to travel to a few places this month and encourage fellow believers. Please take time to pray for each church in Kamchatka.
We traveled 300 kilometers to the town of Milkovo. Approximately 5,000 people live there. There is one RBU (Russian Baptist Union) church there. There are six faithful women who meet every Sunday to encourage one another and pray for one another. They have a church building but do not have a pastor. Please pray that God sends a pastor to lead them. The church is heated by wood and everyday someone must trek through 3 feet snow 6 times a day and fill the heater with wood. At the conclusion of the service they assigned days of the week and each took a day that they would fast and pray the upcoming week for their lost family members. Please pray that God is honored and glorified in Milkovo.
We were blessed to have the opportunity to speak at Emmanuel Church this month. This is the new church plant in PK. Please pray that God would raise up national leadership in the church and that the church would catch the vision of evangelism.
We were blessed to have the opportunity to speak at Elizovo Church. Elizovo has a house that they use to meet in. They also have plans to expand the building. They have some lumber already purchased. Please pray that the building would be completed in God’s timing. Also, the pastor had to leave due to family medical reasons. He is expected to be gone eight months. Please pray for the men who have agreed to lead the church in his absence.
Central Church in PK was issued some bad news this month. They were meeting in an auditorium. The city decided to renovate the auditorium so the church had to move out. They currently do not have a place to meet. We were able to meet one Sunday with them at the library. Please pray that God would direct them in finding a new place to meet for worship.
We were also able to host “G.” He is a man from Village “E.” We were able to prepare a meal for Him and encourage him. He lives where we will be moving. God did some awesome things in our first meeting. Please pray that God allows us to continue to encourage them even if we currently are 600 kilometers away from them.
We traveled once again to Malkie. We were able to take a few days in the mountains for a prayer retreat. We were able to spend time with our team and time with the Lord. Please pray that God directs every decision that is made.
Language update: Suzanne and I were able to complete the first of three textbooks this month. We spent 185 hours each in language this month. We are able to communicate a little more each week. Please pray that we grasp this difficult language quickly and effectively.
Lee and Emma are both doing very well in school. Both of them are learning more language each week. Emma has completed the Russian alphabet and is able to read simple sentences. Lee’s teacher added language to his daily studies. Lee is now working on simple conversational Russian. He is doing very well in language learning and can read Russian exceptionally well.
The snow and the mountains continue to amaze us each day we are outside. We were able to try many new Russian foods this month including our first reindeer. Reindeer, smoked salmon, and fresh baked bread………WOW, that is good eating.
Thank ya’ll so much for “holding the rope” for our family and the people in the Far East. Please continue to lift us up. Please remember the churches here. Here is a challenge for you………take a map of your state and draw a circle that covers 600 kilometers. Now, count how many churches are in that circle. Remember how many churches were mentioned in this newsletter. Please pray that God sends forth laborers to the harvest field. The next time you complain about the church building you attend being too hot or too cold…….think about those 6 faithful ladies in Milkovo who must stoke the fire 6 times a day just to keep the pipes from freezing and bursting and pray for them. The next time the pastor of your church preaches past noon…….think about the Central church who currently has no place to meet or Elizovo church who’s pastor had to leave for a length of time. The next time you complain about having to do so much around the church………..pray for “G” who desires to have other believers living close to him, to encourage him and work together with him. Pray that God is honored in all that we do.
Romans 15:20-21 (HCSB) so my aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named, in order that I will not be building on someone else’s foundations, but, as it is written: Those who had no report of Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
Serving Him together,
The Roberts’ (Marty, Suzanne, Lee and Emma)