Please take note of our new home phone number. Our internet is very slow and our Vonage phone will not work. If you would like to talk to us please buy a calling card or call us on our house phone from Skype for 2 cents per minute. We would love to hear from you. If you call from Skype you do not need to dial the 011-7, just select Russia in the country section. When you call please remember the time difference. We are 18 hours ahead of MS time.
Genesis 12: 1 Now the Lord said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.
Well, we are not the Abraham family but that is exactly how we felt several years ago. We knew the Lord was calling us out of our comfort zone to another country. We were ready but where would the Lord lead. He placed a people group on our hearts that are called The Small People of the North. They are the native peoples of Kamchatka. God has taken us on a long journey that contained many twists, turns, and learning curves to bring us to the place where we now live.
We have arrived in the northern village of Esso located in Kamchatka, Russia. We have rented a small cabin to live in and we are learning to live as the village people live. We still have much to learn about the place, people, their culture etc... However, we do feel at home. We have a peace about us that can only be explained by the peace that the Father gives. Please pray for us as we minister and proclaim the true Gospel message too many that have never heard or had an opportunity to respond to the Gospel. Please ask the Lord to give us wisdom in developing strong relationships with our new friends and neighbors.
Family: Our family is happy and healthy. We are enjoying the fresh mountain air and quietness of village life. Our kids are getting to experience the way of living as some of you might call the “old days.” Since we have been in the village we have picked an assortment of wild berries and made jam, jelly and syrup for the winter. We also have caught, canned, pickled and frozen salmon for the upcoming winter. We store all of our root vegetables in a root cellar. Our root cellar is accessed through an entry door in the floor of our home. We have a couple of green houses on our property where we can grow tomatoes, cucumbers, etc… Each day we walk to the small store and buy fresh baked bread. There are about 5 small stores in the village. Each store is about the size of an average American living room, around 250 square feet. Each store has its own special product it sells. Most of them will have several of the same things but you usually visit one store for meat, if they killed a hog that day, another for bread, another for household supplies. We praise the Lord for the experience that our children are getting. It is a great way to live for us. Pray that we adjust to the village life and learn to live as they live.
Emma Grace absolutely loves playing outside with her dog Deek now that we have wide open spaces. She and Lee take a ride on their bikes each evening across the creek and up one of the many trails. We also go swimming a couple of times each week in the hot springs. The center of the village has a rock hewn basin that is naturally fed with hot water from the thermal waters produced by the volcanoes. We enjoy a late evening swim and relaxation in the hot water.
Ministry Opportunities: Since our last newsletter we have had several opportunities for ministry. We have preached in the city and in the village. We were blessed to be able to travel back to the city and take part in baptismal service in the Pacific Ocean. This month in the city 4 believers were baptized by the church plants happening there. I am not sure but I think the water was around 45 degrees and the air temp about the same. It was cold but awesome!
Village – We have started a regular meeting in the home of Zhenya in the village. We will soon be moving our Sunday worship service to an adjacent cabin that will be used as the new church. We are planning the opening service to be held the second Sunday in October. Please pray as this takes the turn from a meeting to a church plant. Please pray for Zhenya as we help encourage him to take the lead in the new church plant.
Marty has been able to take part in some physical work/ministry this month. He has enjoyed doing AOK’s (acts of kindness) for new friends and neighbors in the village. Marty has been able to use some gifts that had been put on the back burner due to city life. Just a few hats Marty enjoyed wearing this month: mechanic, carpenter, welder, plumber and fisherman (yes you can use fishing as ministry and an act of kindness). Always be grateful for the knowledge the Lord has given you and be ready to use for His honor and glory.
We have also started a Friday night fellowship time in our home. It is a time for friends to gather, eat, discuss life, play games, laugh, pray and encourage one another. Please ask the Lord to bless this time on Fridays.
Laborers Together: We want to give a special “thank you” to all who pray for us on a regular basis. Please continue to pray and share with others about the work God is doing in Kamchatka. Take a moment to pass on our blog address and/or email address to others. You can view our blog at http://robertsinrussia.blogspot.com or email us at going.east@hotmail.com please remember that we are always excited to hear from you and answer any questions you might have about the work in Kamchatka.
Volunteer teams are needed. If you have any interest in physically joining the work in Kamchatka you are desperately needed. We already have teams that are preparing for their trip here next summer. Please know that it is impossible to plan a trip to Kamchatka in a short period of time. We suggest a year of planning and at least six months of preparation. If you are interested in how you can come to Kamchatka, help in what God is doing and are willing to have your life changed for your investment in the Kingdom don’t hesitate to contact us. The time for planning is now.
Language: Suzanne and I have resumed our structured language study. We currently have 9 hours of class time each week. We meet with our teacher in our home on Monday’s, Tuesdays and Thursdays for 3 hours each day. Please pray for us as we continue to learn a very difficult language. Pray that our pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar abilities will increase. Also pray for Suzanne as these 3 days are especially long for her. She teaches the kids school from 8 am until 2pm and then has language class from 3 to 6pm.
School: Please continue to pray for Lee and Emma. They are full swing in their home school curriculum. Lee and Emma have started the year off very well. They have had several tests and have good grades thus far. Pray for Suzanne as she teaches a 4th grader and 9th grader.
Prayer Request:
-Pray for {Путь к Источникy (Poot k Ee-stoch-ne-koo) - The Way to the Source Baptist Church} a church plant happening in the village of Esso.
-Pray for the discipleship of new believers.
- Pray for the many visa struggles throughout Russia.
-Pray for Zhenya and his family, our Russian partner in the village.
-Pray for Alexander (Sasha) and his family as God continues to use him in Kamchatka.
- Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they continue their walk with the Lord.
- Pray that we will be faithful to serve the Lord on a daily basis in the midst of __________ (just fill in the blanks).
- Pray for laborers. (We invite you to join us physically in the work – for more information about bringing a mission team to Kamchatka…..just ask!)
Thank you for holding the rope!!! We would love to hear from you!
