Jan. 2010

Please take a moment and visit this web site http://www.stirmyheart.com and click on the link Get ready to VOTE FOR "ARISE" in Tate Music Group's Artist of the Year contest!

"Arise" is the first song on Joel's new CD which will be released soon.
Joel Strahan, former pastor of Ingram Baptist Church and now singer, songwriter, missionary has written several new songs and will be releasing a new CD in Feb. The link will allow you to listen to the song “Arise” and view some video footage from Esso and Northern Kamchatka. Please take time to pass this link on to others. Joel’s desire is for this to help make others aware of the needs in Kamchatka and for the Lord to use it as a tool to open many doors. Thanks for your vote Feb. 1-5, 2010.

Psalm 61:8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Matthew 9: 37-38 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

How you can become “HANDS ON” in Kamchatka? Just ask and we will begin to plan your trip.

Family: We had a great first month of 2010. We experienced very cold temperatures and snow this month. We were also able to meet and spend time with some new friends in Esso. Please continue to pray for further contacts to be made during the long winter months. Please pray that we would be wise to every opportunity that is given us.

Family time this month was spent in local activities around the village. We swam in the public hot springs many times, did some snowboarding and cross country skiing. Lee and I also took part in some men’s volleyball at the local school. Volleyball is a very serious sport in the village and they are good at it.

The family also spent some time planning our trip to the USA. Below is our schedule for our time in the states. We hope to see many of you while we are there and we are very excited about getting to see our families again. Please pray for us as we travel and speak at several different locations while in the states. We will also be meeting with a couple of the mission teams for 2010.

February – March
• Feb 11, travel to USA for visa renewal and vacation
• Feb 14 am – Preaching at Light House Baptist (New Albany, MS)
• Feb 14 pm – visiting our home church – Wheeler Baptist
• Feb 21am & pm – preaching and mission team meeting at Malesus Baptist Church (Jackson, TN)
• Feb 28 – Woodland Baptist Church (Pontotoc, MS)
• March 7 – (Journey) Church plant in Olive Branch, MS and mission team meeting.
• March 9 – preaching at Food Pantry, (Baldwyn, MS)
• March 11 - Back to Far East Russia

How long does it take to travel from Esso to Mississippi? First 8 to 10 hour drive from Esso to PK. Overnight in PK, fly from PK to Moscow (9 hours in air), overnight in Moscow, fly from Moscow to Stockholm (2 hours in air), Stockholm to Chicago (10 hours in air), Chicago to Memphis (2 hours in air) and then a 2 hour drive to MS (total 76 hrs with all transfers and layovers). Pray for us as we travel in just a few days.

Ministry Opportunities: Thank you for continuing to pray for the new church plant in the village, Путь к Источникy (Poot k Ee-stoch-ne-koo) - The Way to the Source Church. The Church grew spiritually this month. The nationals wanted to start meeting on Thursday nights in the village for prayer. It was very exciting this month to watch God work in the hearts of the few believers in Esso as they prayed for one another and for their lost friends and family. Many prayers were also lifted up for you. The believers here are very excited that people around the world are praying with them. For that reason we started emailing the Thursday night prayer requests to our prayer representatives at each church. If you would like to get these requests and have not been just ask the prayer representative at your church and he or she can forward them to you. Please keep holding the rope for us and with us.

We were able to travel to a village north of Esso this month and hold service there. The small village “K” has a handful of believers who meet weekly. There are about 10 women, 3 grandchildren, and one man who regularly meet. They were very excited to have us come and fellowship with them. Zhenya and his family traveled with us. Zhenya and I (Marty) preached while Suzanne, Emma, Lee and Sveta sang. After the service we shared a meal with them and then drove back to Esso. Please pray for village “K” as we learn how we can be a partner and help mate to them.

We were also excited to have several English, Russian speaking Germans in our home this month. Most of them are college age students and are currently in Esso on an exchange program working with the nature park. Pray that this bridge will become stronger, that they will fully understand and believe the Gospel, and that it will open up other doors to minister to the natives of Kamchatka.

Language: As some of the “old timers” use to say, “We just keep plugging along.” Suzanne and Marty study with a tutor 3 hours a day, 3 times a week. Our tutor has also started staying late and helping Lee and Emma for an additional 30 minutes each day.

School: Lee and Emma have been doubling up on some subjects this month in order to be ahead once we travel to the states. They will have school while we are in the states but have worked ahead enough to only take about half of their books to the USA. Pray that they stay focused the next couple of weeks and are able to work ahead as planned.

Prayer Request:
If you are not receiving our Thursday prayer updates please let your prayer representatives at your church know this and he or she can forward them to you.-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 Alexander (Sasha) and his family as God continues to use him in Petropavlovsk.
- 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!)
- Please take time each day and pray for the new law that is being pushed through Russian congress. Pray for the speed and spreading of the Gospel. (You can read more about this law on our blog at http://robertsinrussia.blogspot.com)

Thank you for holding the rope!!! We would love to hear from you!

December

Wow! As the old saying goes, “time sure flies when you are having fun.” It’s almost hard to believe that 2009 has gone and 2010 has arrived. Just a couple of years ago when leaving the USA for Russia we looked forward to 2010 because that would be the year we would return to the states to start our state side assignment. Although our stateside assignment does not begin until the last day of October 2010 it will be upon us very soon. We have already calendared many speaking opportunities from Nov. 2010 – April 2011, if would like for us to come and share with your church about missions in Kamchatka please contact us soon due to limited dates.

While taking some time to reflect on 2009 and think about 2010 I was reminded of the words Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 3: 13-14).

Throughout 2009 the Roberts family has faced some difficulties and celebrated some triumphs while serving in Far East Russia. We thank you for holding the rope for us throughout the year. We praise the Lord for every high and low as we learned and are still learning every step of the way. Please remain faithful to pray for us throughout 2010 as we attempt to press on for His honor and glory!

Below is just a snapshot of 2010 before we leave on stateside assignment in October. Please pray that we finish our first term in Russia well.
January
• Lee returns to Kamchatka from youth camp in Germany.
• 2nd week preaching and singing in Kazarevsk, a village 150 KM North of Esso.
• End of January – First of February – Joint mission project in Milkovo with Team PK. (220 KM south of Esso).
• Ministering in Esso and other northern villages.

February - March
• Feb 11, travel to USA for visa renewal and vacation
• Feb 14 – Preaching at Light House Baptist (New Albany, MS)
• Feb 21 – preaching and mission team meeting at Malesus Baptist Church (Jackson, TN)
• Feb 28 – Woodland Baptist Church (Pontotoc, MS)
• March 7 – Church plant in Olive Branch, MS and mission team meeting.
• March 9 – preaching at Food Pantry, (Baldwyn, MS)
• March 11 - Back to Far East Russia

April
• Ministering in Esso and other Northern villages

May
• Kids complete home school for the year
• Prepare for summer mission teams
• Ministering in Esso and other Northern villages
• 1st mission team arrives last of May

June
• 1st week mission teams
• Second week leave Russia for visa renewal and Annual General Meeting
• Last week – return to Russia – prepare for next mission team arrival

July
• 1st week – mission team arrives
• 3rd week – youth camp and float trip in Esso

August
• Mission team from Canada arrives.
• Ministering in Esso and Northern villages.
• Follow up
• Kids start home school

September
• Ministering in Esso and Northern villages
• Follow-up
• Leave Russia for visa renewal

October
• Ministering in Esso and Northern Villages
• Preparing to leave for state side assignment
• Head to the states.
• We will post our states side speaking calendar at a later date which will define the remainder of 2010 and a large portion of 2011.

Family: Our family enjoyed another very white Christmas. We were blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with 12 Russian guests. Suzanne baked up some yummy favorites and everyone wanted her recipes. We all ate too much and laughed a lot, especially when the Russian men took over the BB pistols and started a target shooting tournament in the house.

We brought the New Year in while in Petropavlovsk waiting for Lee to return from Germany. Lee was able to travel to Germany and attend MKR (Youth Camp) for missionary teen agers. He came back home refreshed and excited. We are very grateful for all the people who volunteered their time and gave funds to make this possible for our teens.

Both the kids and the grownups enjoyed a break from home school and language school.
Marty and Lee had the opportunity this month to take in a day of ice fishing. It was a new experience for them. They enjoyed it very much after they thawed out. While ice fishing they witnessed a volcano explode. You can see pictures of this on our face book page. It was a cool demonstration on just how powerful this land is and how much more powerful is the Creator.

Ministry Opportunities: This month we celebrated the opening of the new church plant in the village, Путь к Источникy (Poot k Ee-stoch-ne-koo) - The Way to the Source Church. We celebrated Christmas during our first service with singing, 2 messages, a Christmas play, and dinner after the service. We were very excited to have 31 in attendance for the opening of the new church. Praise the Lord! Please pray that the church will grow and flourish in Christ.

We were able to host Russians in our home on different occasions throughout the month of December.

During our time in Petropavlovsk we were able to attend a worship service at Good News Baptist Church. We also met with a few people in the city at different times to encourage and pray with them.

We praise the Lord for the opportunities to share the simple Gospel message with others. Please continue to pray for open doors and open hearts.

Language: We were able to take a couple of days off from formal language class. Although we use the Russian language daily a break from class work is always refreshing. Sometimes the language flows easily for us and other days it feels like we are in a survival situation. Suzanne and I take 9 hours of language a week. 3 hours a day, 3 times a week. We have come a long way in 2 years but still have a long way to go in the language learning process. Please continue to pray for our language ability.

School: Lee and Emma were both excited for Christmas Vacation from school. Both did very well the first semester and will start the second semester January 6, 2010. Please pray that they will finish well in their studies.

Prayer Request:
Please take time each day and pray for the new law that is being pushed through Russian congress. Pray for the speed and spreading of the Gospel. (You can read more about this law on our blog at http://robertsinrussia.blogspot.com)
-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 Edict and Eger. They have both heard the Gospel many times. Pray for their salvation
-Pray for Sergei and his family of 4. (A new family visiting our fellowship in Esso.)
- Pray for the many visa struggles throughout Russia.
-Pray for Zhenya and his family, our Russian partner in the village. Zhenya is now working 2 jobs plus working in the church.
-Pray for Alexander (Sasha) and his family as God continues to use him in Petropavlovsk.
- 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!