December Newsletter

First let me take the time to say thanks to each of you for supporting the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It is this offering given by Southern Baptists that keeps us and over 5,300 other International Missionaries on field overseas. Believe me when I say that we could not live where we live without your financial and prayer support. So, with all that being said, from the bottom of our hearts, THANKS!

Featured question(s): To end the year of 2008 and to start a new section of our monthly newsletter we would love to answer your questions. Please email your questions to us throughout the year at going.east@hotmail.com and each month we will feature a few questions in the newsletter. This month’s featured question is about food.

What types of foods are common? How is the food on the palette and stomach? What is the favorite food of Russians?

A daily average menu might look something like this in a typical Russian home:
Breakfast – Kasha and hot tea. Kasha is a hot porridge, think about oatmeal. However, Russians make kasha out of oats, wheat, buckwheat, rice and any other types of grain that you can think of. Our favorite kasha is rice kasha. However, we are very glad that Suzanne has not forgotten how to make southern biscuits. By the way, there is no such thing as self rising flour here. Suzanne makes biscuits from scratch. No, you cannot buy them pre –made here in the local freezer section either.
Lunch – Lunch is often their largest meal of the day. They will begin the meal with a soup and follow the soup with some kind of salad and then a main dish. Of course you always finish the meal with a cup of hot tea.
Dinner/Supper - That is sometime around 9:00pm for most families. It could be anything from fish to noodles and of course hot tea.

The most favorite and common foods in Russia are potatoes and bread. Russians could not live without potatoes and bread. Bread is delivered fresh everyday to the local markets. Bread is neither pre-sliced nor pre-packaged. Potatoes along with every other kind of root vegetable you can name are eaten almost daily in Russia. Staple foods for an average Russian home would consist of garlic, onion, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, bread, tea, mayonnaise and some type of canned, smoked or pickled fish or kielbasa.

We enjoy many of the traditional Russian dishes but there are a few that have made our, “well I’ve tried it once, and don’t want to try it again” list.

Family: This month we celebrated our second Christmas in Kamchatka. Of course, we missed being with our families and friends back home in Mississippi. However, we had a wonderful Christmas together in Kamchatka. We would like to say thanks to each person who took the time to send us a Christmas card, gift box, or an email message. They are all very much appreciated.

The kids were very excited to get a few days off from school. Over the holidays we took some family days and just spent time together. We went to the hot springs; swimming outside when a blizzard snow storm begins to fall is just awesome. We swam when it was -12 and during the 2 hours we were there probably about 6 inches of snow fell. We also took time to visit the ski slope a couple of times.

Ministry Opportunities: Suzanne has always loved to decorate for Christmas. When we left the states to come to the field and held our BIG yard sale, she had over ½ of the yard at Wheeler Baptist Church filled with Christmas decorations. We don’t have that many here now but she and Emma have made many decorations and we bought a few also during our travels. Very soon after Thanksgiving the decorations start going up. Decorations on the apartment door, Christmas tree by the window, nativity by the table, you get the picture. How is this ministry you ask? Well, Russians celebrated Christmas day on January 7th each year. It is not much of a holiday here. The Russians put a tree up on New Year’s Day and Father Frost will leave them presents on New Years instead of Christmas. For the majority of Russians Christmas Day is just another day off of work. By Suzanne’s early decorations we were able on several occasions to explain that in America we celebrate Christmas on December 25th each year. We were then able to explain why we give gifts and what we really celebrate, Jesus’ birth. Suzanne and Emma also made homemade cookies and gave out to our neighbors and Emma’s friends with a Christmas message attached. It was a great way for them to be able to share the Christmas story with neighbors and friends.

Marty was given the opportunity to preach at Central Church this month and also lead a Bible study at Immanuel Church.

We shared a Christmas dinner with our language teacher, Zoya, and three of her friends. After dinner we were able to share the Christmas story with them. After reading the Christmas story and talking about it for a while, it opened up conversations about additional spiritual matters. We were able to present each one of them with a copy of the Word. They ended up staying and talking until almost mid-night. We praise the Lord for this opportunity. Please pray for Victoria and her son Volva. They live in PK and we desire to continue this contact with them and to get them involved in Bible study. The other 2 ladies traveled a long way to share dinner with us over 100 miles on dirt (snow covered) roads. Please pray for additional folks to continue the spiritual conversations with Lida and Tanya.

Language: Just when you think you are making ground!!! Suzanne and I were sitting around our small table in the living room with our language teacher Zoya. She had tried a salad I had put together the night before and really like it. She asked for the recipe. I was giving her the recipe and got stumped on the word for mustard. I looked at Suzanne and she shook her head and reached for the dictionary. We both give out that sigh that said I am supposed to know the word for mustard. Lee walks by the door headed to the kitchen and says, “Горчица” with a smile and keeps walking. Praise the Lord that our children are also learning the language as well. Oh, by the way the word for mustard is pronounced (gor-chee—tsa), with a smile!

Visa Update: Visa issues continue to be a struggle for us. We have asked you and continue to ask you to pray for us to be able to find a way to live here long term. We have attempted to get work permits which were denied. We then went through a long process of paper work, getting documents mailed to us from the states, and medical exams in Kamchatka to apply for a temporary resident permit. The temporary resident permit would allow us to live here for at least 3 years and possibly longer. When we had our consultation meeting with the “powers that be” we were told everything looked good thus far and that we needed a couple more translations done. We set up a time for our next meeting and left with a big smile. That evening we received a phone call that stated we could not submit our documents and that our process had been stopped and the next consultation visit had been cancelled. I did not know what to say then and really don’t now.

We were denied because they said we have been in the country on a religious visa. What now, we asked? We are still asking. As of now our plans are on January 13th to fly to Seoul, Korea. We will be there for 16 days while we apply for another 90 day visa. We will return to PK and continue our search for a long term way to live here. We are not sure what will take place after 90 days if we cannot find that door that allows us to live here long term. God holds the keys and we ask you to join us in praying for God’s will to be done in this matter.

Prayer Request:
- Pray for the many visa situations throughout Russia.
-Pray for Victoria and Volva as we will be gone for over ½ of the month of January and will not be able to contact and encourage them.
- Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they continue their walk with the Lord.
-Pray for the folks at Emmanuel as they take part in Street Evangelism Training and Application.
-Pray for Alexander, a new believer who was involved at Emmanuel had to move 9 time zones from Kamchatka. Pray that he will find a great place of worship and discipleship at his new home.
- 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 what is happening in your ministry.

November Newsletter

What a great month in Kamchatka as we celebrated our second Thanksgiving here. We were unable to find a turkey but celebrated with roasted chicken and all the trimmings. We certainly have so much to be thankful for. I trust each and every one of you took time to give thanks for all the blessings you have received over the past year. We certainly want to take the opportunity to say THANKS for being a ministry partner with us in Kamchatka. Thank you for “Holding the Rope” in prayer as we serve on the edge. We want you to know how grateful we are for your faithful giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Your gifts make our ministry — and the ministries of more than 5,300 IMB missionaries serving around the world — possible. Countless souls will one day worship around His throne because you chose to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel. May God’s richest blessings be yours as you partner with us to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to all nations.

Thank you for your continued partnership as we work to bring the Small Peoples of the North to faith in our Lord and Savior. Keep Holding the Rope!!!

Family: This has been a month of firsts for us in Russia. Our family had the experience of visiting many of the Russian medical clinics. We had to undergo many exams to receive medical clearance in order to apply for temporary residency. It was not as bad as it could have been but the medical system is a little different here than it is in the states. There are so many stories I could write about the events but it is these experiences that you would just have to be here to understand. Lee and Emma were glad that they had to give blood only once during this month, Suzanne and I were not so lucky. We all survived and now are proceeding to the next step of the process. The process of waiting!

We are the only Americans in Kamchatka now and we took the opportunity to share our Thanksgiving meal with a young Russian Family. In the picture is our family, Sergey, Tanya and their two boys, Benjamin and Reuben. It was a great evening as we gave thanks together and celebrated with a meal.

Lee and Emma continue to do very well in their studies. We are excited that both Lee and Emma are able to report all A’s in their studies. Christmas break will mark the half way point in their studies for this year and they are looking forward to that break.

We have enough snow now so the kids can snowboard. Lee has taken time this month to teach Emma how to snowboard. They have been working on turning correctly. Finally Emma Grace takes off down the hill and turns….YEA!!!!......she turns directly into a JUMP!! Loudly I say, “What are you doing.” She just grins real big and says, “I meant to do that! It was fun!” I guess she thinks she is a professional snowboarder now.

Ministry Opportunities: I would like to say thanks to you for praying for Sasha and his work schedule. I asked you in last month’s newsletter to pray for him. His work schedule has lightened up on the days we do Bible Study. Praise the Lord for answered prayers. God has truly done some cool stuff this month at Emmanuel Church. Emmanuel church is the house church that meets at the Putnam’ home on Friday nights and Sunday nights. Sasha has caught the vision of Church Planting and Street Evangelism. We are now training people how to share the Gospel on the streets. Please pray for Emmanuel and the vision that is being revealed to them through a national brother, Sasha. Pray that many people who have never heard the Gospel will hear and receive the message of Christ.

Marty was also given the opportunity this month to preach at Central Church. Please pray for Marty and his language abilities to be able to share the Good News of Christ.

Suzanne was able to share at Central Church this month about Thanksgiving in America and she sang “Give Thanks” in Russian. (It was awesome!! By Marty).

Thanks to some of the churches back home we were able to minister at the Children’s Home twice this month. We were able to give them 30 toboggans and 18 pair of gloves for the winter. They were excited to receive the gifts. Tobbagons on average cost around $20.00 to 40.00 here in Kamchatka. Gloves are also very expensive. To all of you who have sent stuff comes a very special thanks from the kids who will be warm this winter.

Language: Не хочу но надо (Pronounced - Ne – hachoo no nada) simply stated, “I don’t want to but it is necessary.” We are grateful for the time we have to learn the language. Our language will continue as long as we live in Russia. One of our Russian friends reminds us often that Russian will be the language that is spoken in heaven. When you ask him why, he simply states, “Because it takes an eternity to learn.” I seem to agree. We are doing well and are able to communicate in most areas but still speak with many grammatical errors but can see improvements each week.

Visa Update: We have received a new 90 day double entry visa. What does that mean? That means that we can live in Russia until January 14, 2009 and then we will need to exit for another visa. We are in the middle of the process filing for the Temporary Resident Permit. The TRP will allow us to live in Russia for longer periods of time.

Prayer request from last month - Currently we are awaiting our criminal background check from the states to arrive to submit with the other papers, please pray for prompt arrival. (We received our background from the states this month. We have also had all other documents translated and notarized in Russian)

Prayer request from last month - We will also be getting medical checkups this month in Russia for the TRP. Please pray that God blesses us with a medical person we can communicate with and feel comfortable around. (Again thanks for praying as God answered your prayers and we were blessed with medical staff that we felt comfortable with and were able to communicate with. They were all very helpful to us.)

Information from last month newsletter - We hope to have all the information together and submitted by the end of November. (We were given an appointment date 12-2-2008 to meet with the government officials to submit our paper work.) Once the paper work is submitted and submitted correctly we must wait for 5 months while it is being reviewed. Only after 5 months will we be given a yes or no.

Prayer Request:
-Pray for Looba and Anton who are not believers (yet) but have shown interest this month.
- Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they continue their walk with the Lord.
-Pray for the folks at Emmanuel as they take part in Street Evangelism Training and Application. (What good is training without application?) Have you been trained in anything lately?
- Pray for us as we submit all the paperwork for the Temporary Residency Permit and wait for 5 months. Pray that the Lord will be glorified in this process. We must exit in January for 10 days and return with yet another 90 day visa while waiting on approval.
- 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 what is happening in your ministry.

October 2008 Newsletter

I have started the last couple of newsletters talking about how fast time passes. This month is no exception. We were appointed missionaries through the IMB July 17, 2007 and this month marks our one year anniversary in Petropavlovsk - Kamchatka. Praise the Lord for all we have seen and heard this past year. We truly have experienced God’s greatness through the AWESOME times and the hard times.

Speaking of anniversaries there is another anniversary coming very soon to you. That is the anniversary of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It is through this offering that we are able to live where we live and do what the Lord has called us to do. Thanks for being a part of that offering. Christmas is fast approaching, and we want to express our sincere gratitude for your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. In tough economic times like these, giving often means sacrifice. Take the example set by Lottie Moon herself.

For 37 years this pioneering missionary endured hardship and danger in a land oppressed by famine, disease and war. In the end, she loved the Chinese people more than life itself, giving her own food to starving neighbors, eventually dying of starvation herself. During her career, Moon wrote numerous letters home urging Southern Baptists to greater missions involvement and support. One of those letters, excerpted below, triggered Southern Baptists’ first offering for missions in 1888 — enough to send three new missionaries to China.

“How many there are … who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God.”

Thank you for your continued partnership as we work to bring the Small Peoples of the North to faith in our Lord and Savior. Keep Holding the Rope!!!

Family: This month we had the opportunity to travel to Prague for Visa renewal plus attend a conference with the group of folks we were in training with for 8 weeks before we left the states. It was like a big family reunion. We were all very encouraged and spent the week in training and catching up with one another. Prague is a very beautiful city with a lot of history. While there we were also able to take a train ride through the country-side for a quick stop in Germany. It was neat to find out that we traveled the same rail my dad did over 40 years ago while serving in the army.

Once we returned home from our 2 weeks of travel with our new visa we fell right back into our daily routine of school and language study. The kids had to adjust to a new school teacher this month, THEIR MOM!!! How would you like to have class everyday and your Mom is the teacher? Suzanne is doing a great job teaching and the kids are doing very well in their studies. Please pray for our schedule and all the roles that Suzanne fills at this time. Suzanne, wife, mother, school teacher, encourager, language student, missionary, cook, house-keeper, and the list just goes on and on. But most of all she is just my soul mate. Pray for her as she fills so many roles each and every day.

Ministry Opportunities: This month was a month where we had a 2 week opportunity to be taught, challenged and encouraged. How sweet it is to sit under the teaching of the Word and Sing in your heart language. You will never understand how much this is missed until you live where it is not available. Take the time each day to thank the Lord for your place of worship, never take it for granted. Pray for your leaders and teachers that they will be filled with the spirit when they preach and teach. Praise the Lord for His laborers and encouragers.

This month at the spur of the moment Marty was asked to preach at the church in PK. Spur of the moment? Yes, we walked in to church and Pastor Volodia approached and said, “Marty you are preaching today.” Marty said, “Sure, be glad too but probably only 5 to 7 minutes worth.” With only a year of language study it is difficult for Marty to preach much longer than that. Well 20 minutes later he was trying to close his sermon. This was Marty’s first message at the Petropavlovsk church without the use of a translator. The cool thing is that all the folks understood the sermon. This is truly a Balaam story. Marty does an awesome job in communicating with the nationals. Anyone who knew Marty in the states knows he has a huge heart for evangelism. When we first arrived, because we didn’t know the language, Marty was very discouraged because he saw people that needed to hear the Good News and didn’t know how to tell them. Now, with the help of the Holy Spirit and lots of study, he is able to tell people around PK the best news they will ever hear. Pray the nationals receive the message and have a life changing experience.

We have also had the privilege of helping with the services at Immanuel this month. Please continue to pray for Immanuel as it continues to grow. Pray for maturity of new believers and for the national leadership to continue to become strong. Pray for Sasha and his work situation. Pray that his jobs will allow him the time he needs to lead the church.

Language: Language is simply that, Language. We sit in class each day Monday – Friday for 3 hours and usually have 2 to 3 hours of homework. The Russian language is the most difficult curriculum we have every studied. Just when you think you are beginning to understand the language they add a new set of endings that completely changes the meaning of the root word. We are definitely making progress and can communicate effectively in most daily activities, as long as we know the context.

We were blessed to have the Borders visit us this month and spend a week in PK. It was encouraging to us to be able to translate a few statements for them as they spoke to Russian nationals. The Borders serve in the CEE region and do great work throughout CEE. We thank them for being an encouragement to our family.

Visa Update: We have received a new 90 day double entry visa. What does that mean? That means that we can live in Russia until January 14, 2009 and then we will need to exit for another visa. We are in the middle of the process filing for the Temporary Resident Permit. The TRP will allow us to live in Russia for longer periods of time. Currently we are awaiting our criminal background check from the states to arrive to submit with the other papers. We will also be getting medical checkups this month in Russia for the TRP. Please pray that God blesses us with a medical person we can communicate with and feel comfortable around. We hope to have all the information together and submitted by the end of November. Pray that we are purposeful in our quest. Once the paper work is submitted and submitted correctly we must wait for 5 months while it is being reviewed. Only after 5 months will we be given a yes or no.

Prayer Request: - Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they continue their walk with the Lord.
- Pray for us as we attempt to complete all the paperwork for the Temporary Residency Permit.
- 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.
Thank you for holding the rope!!! We would love to hear what is happening in your ministry.

September Newsletter

Occasionally when I talk with friends in the states they ask me what the weather will be like tomorrow. That is because we are 18 hours ahead of folks in the states. I often wonder where time goes. Month by month time seems to be getting faster and faster. With that thought in mind, I can’t help but to think about the statement that Jesus made in Luke 10:2, “Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.” Time is flying by throughout the world and many people die each day without knowing Christ as their Lord and Savior. The task world-wide is too great for just a few to fulfill the great commission. Thank you so much for being a prayer partner for the work in Kamchatka. Please pray for laborers to come and help with the task at hand.

Family: Our family has almost adjusted to the back to school routine and of course more change is on its way. This month we will say good-bye to a dear friend and colleague, Rachel. Rachel served one year in other parts of Russia and has served the past year in Kamchatka helping our children with their home school curriculum as well as many other tasks. Rachel will be returning home to the states the first week of October. A special thanks to her for all she has done to help our children and the PK team this past year.

Fall is here and there is new snow on the volcano. Lee and Emma are both waiting on more snow so they can go to the snow slopes and get the dust of their snowboards. The fall weather is very nice and we have been on outings to pick wild berries, mushrooms and rose hips. All of those are big treats to the peoples of Kamchatka.

Ministry Opportunities: This month was a month that was primarily focused on encouraging believers up and down the peninsula. We were blessed to be able to travel to the hand full of believers who live north and have a service in each village. In just 4 short days we traveled over (1300 KM or 800 miles on dirt roads) and held worship services. Let’s travel together:

Friday 7 am – hit the road, picked up Rachel, Volodya and Uri. Uneventful until we traveled about 150 km which 60 km was on rock and dirt – First blow out occurred – changed tire and continued north to Milkovo another 150 km.
Friday 1:30 pm – arrived in Milkovo, ate lunch in Café at Milkovo and searched for a tire. No tires could be purchased to fit our vehicle, 225 km to go to reach village “E” and no spare……we prayed and headed on north.

About 60 km outside of village “E” we had our second flat…..no spare….we did have a 12 volt compressor with us and we would drive 15 km, stop and add air. Finally we made it to village “E.” Once we arrived in “E” Zhenya and I went to the only 2 “Shinomatage” and look for tires. We found a couple of slick wore out tires that we put tubes in to try and finish our journey. We also purchased an extra tube to take with us in case we needed to break one down on the road. (Remember we are in the middle of the wilderness…..no Wal-mart, not even a house for miles and miles of travel.)

Friday 7:30 pm We had dinner in village “E” and then held a worship service and observed the Lord’s Supper together at 8:15. There were 11 present for this meeting.
Saturday 8:00 am up for breakfast and hit the road north to the next village. We stopped at 2 different shinomatage again to look for tires (they have only used tires in the village). Of course, they had none. So further on north we go with 2 slick tires, a bunch of prayers and a couple of tubes for radial tires.

Saturday Noon – We arrive at the Kamchatka river and wait for about an hour on a small, old, rusty ferry boat to cross the river so we can drive our vehicle on the fairy and cross the river so that we can continue north.

Finally we arrived in the next village, Kassarevsk, where there is a small Baptist church which meets in a house. There we held a worship service, shared a delicious meal, and spent time with believers. There were 21 at this meeting. Marty preached his first Russian sermon without the aid of a translator in this village.

Saturday at 6 pm we turned south to head toward the village of Milkovo. We arrived back at Milkovo late and ready for some much needed sleep at the church.
Sunday morning we woke and prepared for the morning service……….we worshipped, took the Lord’s Supper together, and shared a meal. There were 22 at this service. We spent the remaining part of the day and night in the village of Milkovo before leaving the next morning.

Monday we began our journey back to the city of Petropavlovsk. We certainly did not want to leave the villages. We love the villages. That is where God has called us to serve and soon with the Lord’s help we will be living there. Please pray for the proper documents to be received so that we can fulfill what God has called us to do.

We had our 3rd and final flat about 200 km from PK. We changed the slick tire to another slick spare and continued on into the city. The next day I found myself purchasing tires in the city. Praise the Lord for His provisions and safe keeping. Praise the Lord that believers sharpen one another. Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

Thanks for going on this journey with us: Please continue to hold the rope!

Language: Language is simply that, Language. Each day we strive to learn more and more and speak more and more. However, just when you think you are making progress you will say something that draws a strange look from a national. I (Marty) have seen this look many times. It is so strange how a Russian word that sounds very familiar to an English word has such a drastic difference in meaning. Nevertheless, we are making progress in our language, for example, this month Marty preached 3 sermons without the aid of a translator. Sure there were grammatical errors but when Marty preaches in English there are grammatical errors. Suzanne also sang a solo at one of the village meetings in Russian. She sang How Great Thou Art in Russia. It was awesome! (Statement by Marty)

Visa Update: The first of October we will travel to Prague for an Ebenezer conference and visa renewal. This visa renewal we will only receive a double entry 90 day visa. We have begun the process to apply for temporary residency. Once we return from Prague we will complete the process. We must submit many documents in order to apply, all of which need to be notarized and apostilled in America, translated and notarized in Russia. Please pray that we understand every step clearly. Once all the documents are submitted with the application we must wait 5 months on an answer. Please pray that God’s will is done in this situation and that He receives all the glory.

Prayer Request: - Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they continue their walk with the Lord.
-Pray for the believers across the peninsula that they continue to plow and not look back.
- Pray for us as we continue to search out a way to be able to live here year round.
- 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.

Thank you for holding the rope!!! We would love to hear what is happening in your ministry.

An observation from a mission team from the states who recently spent 10 days in Kamchatka:

Expect the unexpected in God

We had the amazing opportunity of experiencing the good and bad of Russia first hand. We were part of a mission team consisting of 6 people. Our team was originally supposed to head to Brazil to do evangelism along the Amazon Basin, but God changed our travel plans and sent our team to Russia instead. We prayed and prepared for our trip to Brazil for over a year, but we only had a month to plan for Russia. We knew God had His reasons for changing the plans. We didn’t understand it, but we were trusting Him! (Proverbs 3:5-6)

We faced many obstacles while praying and planning for this mission trip. If you can think of it, it probably happened. But when God’s in it, Satan can’t stop it! After the work God did in Russia, it’s no wonder Satan was working so hard to stop it.

We were told in advance that Russia was a cold and spiritually dark place, so we thought we knew what to expect. Guess that’s what we get for thinking. We had no idea how the Lord was about to change our lives. We met people who forever impacted our life and friendships that will last forever.

The Lord opened doors for us to work a youth camp in Kamchatka, Russia. What an amazing opportunity. Most of the youth at this camp were from a children’s home. They didn’t have much, but what they did have, they treasured. Not only did these kids treasure the few material things that they had, they also treasured trust and friendship. These youth longed for someone to show them some love, attention and tell them the truth.

We lived strictly primitive for 8 days on the Avachinskii Volcano. Primitive means…mosquitoes worst than you could imagine, eating things you never thought you would ever eat, living in tents, not having electricity, running water or a bath (unless it was in a creek).

Primitive wasn’t that bad. It really made us appreciate the things we take for granite every day. We were very thankful for the creek we bathed in and the campfire on those cold days and nights.

All of our time spent in Russia was memorable, but honestly some of the best memories were at the youth camp, Camp Favore. We were able to build relationships with these youth which led to trust. That trust, later led to trust in Jesus Christ. We’re ashamed to say, but we went to Russia with the expectation of planting seeds and maybe seeing 1-2 people saved. We’re so glad our thoughts and ways are not the Lord’s thoughts and ways. (Isaiah 55:8) Praise the Lord 18 youth prayed and trusted Jesus Christ to be their personal Lord and Savior. God showed up and showed out!

We apparently had little faith in what God could do. Even though Russia is a spiritually cold and dark country, God loves the Russian people and desires a personal relationship with them. We serve an awesome God and with Him all things are possible!!! (Matthew 19:26)

Visa laws are making it very hard for the missionaries in Russia to stay in Russia and share the love of Jesus. We know the Lord is not finished with this country. We’re asking you to pray with us and expect the unexpected in God!

Kevin & Jodi Nichols

August News Letter

Once again the month has flown past us. This month we spent two weeks traveling to, in and around Moscow. We attended our first AGM (Annual General Meeting). It was a time that we spent with other colleagues, worshipping in our heart language, and learning new tools to aid us on field. Emma enjoyed a week of VBS. A word of encouragement - never take for granted the ability to worship together in your heart (English) language. When you have struggled for a year with a foreign language and sung every song and heard every sermon in Russian it is almost overwhelming to hear over 100 people burst out from the heart singing praises to the Lord in your native tongue. This was a twofold encouragement to us: #1 give praise to the Lord for times that we have such as this and #2 it encouraged us to strive to become very fluent in the Russian language so that we can experience the same with the Russians during worship.

Our new experience for the month was to wake up one morning and find that our district had shut the hot water off for 2 weeks. We had come to learn how to live without the convenience of hot water about the time they shut all the water off for 2 days while they repaired the pipes. What a blessing….we made it fine, thanks to the mission team leaving us all the extra “bath in a bag” they had brought with them to camp.

Family: Our family continues to do well both spiritually and physically. Lee and Emma have started back to school. We are still waiting on some of their books to arrive from the states but they have started nonetheless. Lee has already read one book and is writing his first book report of the year. (There is excitement in the air) Fall is in the air and the leaves will quickly begin to change and we will prepare for the next eight months of snow. We have had some clear and very nice days, clear blues skies with temperatures in the 70’s. Lee and I were able to go on an overnight fishing trip with some of our Russian friends. It was a great experience and we even managed to catch a few fish. We were also able to host one of our native friends from the village a couple of nights this month.
Ministry opportunities: We were very blessed to be ministered to at our AGM conference in Moscow. While in Moscow we were able to visit with our friends the Hooks and enjoy a Sunday morning worship service with them. A special thanks to the Hooks family for putting up with us a few days.

We finally arrived back in Petropavlovsk……Marty was able to help with Bible studies at Emmanuel and actually led his first Bible study this month without the aid of a translator (although he struggled for words it was a humbling but great experience and all seemed to understand the message). Suzanne has been able to share more and more with her language teacher the truth of the Gospel. Every day Natalia has more questions about why Suzanne believes what she believes. Please pray for Natalia as she is seeking the truth.

We continue to grow a friendship with our neighbor Zhenya. This month we were able to give him some fresh fish and he gave us some fresh berries from his dacha – (a small place outside of town where they grow fruits and vegetables). Pray for this relationship to grow as we share with him the truth of the Gospel.

Language: As we continue our language study we daily realize how much more we need to learn. However, we are also seeing some major steps in our language acquisition. Lee and Emma are both doing very well and are able to communicate easily with their friends. Lee even corrected Marty’s Russian a couple of times this month. (That is not surprising because Marty does not speak English very well).

Visa update: Visa issues continue to be an ongoing problem for us. Russia has now started what is called a 90/180 visa. What this means is that if you hold a religious visa you are only allowed to live in the country of Russia for 90 days and then you must live in another country for 90 days before you return to Russia. Our visa expires in October and we will be able to receive a new visa for only 90 days. We have made three attempts to obtain a work permit and in all three cases we have been denied. We are starting the process now applying for a temporary residence in Russia. This is a long and tedious process. Please pray that we understand everything and that we are led to the right person to help us with this situation. Please pray that the Lord will be honored and exalted in this difficult time.

Prayer request:
- Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they continue their walk with the Lord.
- Pray for the Putnam’s who are home for a few months on state side assignment. Pray that they have a blessed time with family and that they are able to communicate with several folks in the states the need to come along side and help with the work in Far East Russia.
- Pray for us as we continue to search out a way to be able to live here year round.
- Pray that we will be faithful to serve the Lord on a daily basis in the midst of __________ (just fill in the blanks).

Thank you for holding the rope!!! We would love to hear what is happening in your ministry.

On the Rope!!!

Thought of the Day:

Some of you now that I used to send out a daily devotion titled, “Thought of the Day” when we lived in the states. This morning I spent time in my devotion reading Jeremiah 12 and also from H. Norman Wright’s Book: The Perfect Catch. I want to share with you today a verse from Jeremiah and a story from Norman. Thanks for being an encouragement to our family. I pray that this devotion encourages and challenges you, as it did me.

Jeremiah 12:5 (HCSB) If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?

1 Corinthians 15:58 (RSV) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord you labor is not in vain.

Matthew 10:38 Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me in not worthy of me.

The Story!

There is a story of two hunters who, while walking through the woods looking for deer, stumbled across an old farmyard. At first glance the two thought it was deserted. There were old car parts and tractor parts pieces lying about. The barn was in great disrepair, the fences needed mending, and the house was a little more than a shack. The only evidence that it was still a working farm were the few chickens and a goat wandering about nearby. As they continued to walking they came to a well near the middle of the property. Looking down the old well they noticed that they couldn’t see the bottom and this started a conversation about just how deep that old well might be.

“I reckon there’s only one way to find out how deep this well is,” said one hunter. “We’ll throw something down it, and then we’ll listen for the splash.”
“Good idea,” replied the other, “What shall we send down the shaft?”
They looked around them, and the closest thing they saw was an old transmission lying on the ground nearby. Both men lifted the transmission over the edge of the well, dropped it, and listened. Although it was only a matter of seconds, it seemed like a long time to the men until they heard the “sploosh” of the transmission hitting the water below.

“That certainly is a deep one, “commented one of the hunters. “Sure is,” replied the other.

As they turned to leave, the men were suddenly confronted with the goat they had seen earlier. The goat was charging right at them! Its head was down and it was running so fast that its feet barely touched the ground. At the last possible moment both men jumped aside and the goat charged right past them, bleating loudly, and fell straight down the well.

The men stared at each other, then at the well, then at each other again. They had never seen anything like that before in their lives. They walked away from the well, shaking their heads in amazement at what they had just witnessed. They hadn’t gone very far when they were approached by the farmer who owned the property. They chatted for a time, and the farmer gave them permission to hunt on his property. As they were about to leave the farmer asked, “By the way, have either of you fellows seen my goat?”

“Have we seen your goat?! Your fool goat tried to kill us. He charged at us and we barely had time to jump aside before he hit us. Luckily he missed—but he was going so fast that he ran right into the old well. That was a crazy old goat. You should have tied him up.”

The farmer scratched his head and looked around him. “I thought I did have him tied up. In fact, I’m sure I had him tied up. I tied him to an old transmission.”
The moral of the story is a simple, yet profound one: You will follow what you’re tied to!

Well, what are you tied to? Think about it, and remember who called us to follow Him. Several times Jesus said to others, “Follow me.”

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24 NASB)

It’s a good thing to be tied to Jesus.
Be careful on who are what you run with……….you just might become tied to it!
Thanks for holding the rope!

July Newsletter

WOW!!! July was a very busy month in the Far East. There is so much that I could write about the month but it would consist of several pages. Please remember if you have any questions or desire to know about Far East Russia please contact us by email and we will do our very best to answer your questions .
Family: Our family is doing well both spiritually and physically. The kids are still enjoying their summer break. We celebrated the 4th of July with friends on the river with a picnic. Emma was able to have her first watermelon in over a year. Watermelons are hard to find here and when you do they are very expensive. Emma sends a special thanks to Caleb and Mandy who splurged and bought her a watermelon.
We are getting excited about traveling to Moscow in early August for our Annual General Meeting. We will be able to see some old friends and make some new ones while we are there. Of course, Emma Grace is excited about getting to eat at McDonalds in Moscow. Lee was able to travel to Budapest, Hungary for the MK retreat. It is like youth camp for all the missionary kids in CEE. He had a great time on the trip and we will meet back up with him in Moscow.
Ministry opportunities: There were many opportunities for ministry this month. Lee was able to help with church construction in Yelizovo. They made a lot of progress on the building but still have some work to finish. We were able to share the Gospel with 58 folks on the street in a city evangelism project. Some that we met on the street evangelism project have already attended a Thursday night Bible study. Marty preached at the church in PK. We were able to help with the “Favore” camp on the volcano. A special thanks goes out to those who traveled so far to assist with the camp. Without them the camp would not have been the same. Thanks to: Andre (Minnesota), Sasha (Minnesota), Mandy (MS), Caleb (TN), Kevin (MS), Jodi (MS), Janie (MS), Jacob M. (MS), Kayla (MS), and Jacob H. (MS). During the volcano camp 18 youth prayed to receive Christ. Praise the Lord. We also saw two adults pray to receive Christ during the Bible studies in PK. We celebrate with you over these decisions. Please pray for these as they begin their walk with the Lord.
Language: Thanks for praying….we have made great steps in our language this month. We passed our second level test and after AGM we will begin our third level of language study. This should take around six months to complete and we will have a final test to complete our full time language study. Pray that we will be able to communicate well with those who are ready to hear the message.
Prayer request:
- Pray for the Tarleton family. They are friends and colleagues of ours, who have faithfully served for over 15 years. Teri Tarleton passed away this month at the age of 49. Pray for the family as they grieve their loss and celebrate her home going.
- Pray for the new believers in Kamchatka as they begin their walk with the Lord.
- Pray for the Putnam’s who will be going home for a few months on state side assignment. Pray that they have a blessed time with family and that they are able to communicate with several folks in the states the need to come along side and help with the work in Far East Russia.
- Pray for us as we continue to search out a way to be able to live here year round. Our visa expires in October and we must begin processing paper work this month. It is crucial that we have doors open to us. Please pray fervently for this situation.
- Pray that we will be faithful to serve the Lord on a daily basis in the midst of __________ (just fill in the blanks).
Thank you for holding the rope!!! We would love to hear what is happening in your ministry.