March 2009

Charles H. Spurgeon once stated, “God the Holy Spirit writes our prayers, God the Son presents our prayers and God the Father accepts our prayers. And with the whole Trinity to help us in it, what cannot prayer perform.”

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Dear ROPE HOLDERS, (Prayer partners); thank you so much for being so diligent in your prayers for the peoples of Kamchatka. Thank you for being an offering before the Lord. Please continue to be ferverent in your prayers as travel plans and summer mission teams begin to take shape. Pray that many will respond to the clear Gospel message in Kamchatka.

Featured question(s): This is a new section of our monthly newsletter where 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.

Question submitted by Sherry (Union Ridge Baptist Church - Missouri) What is the main social problem in Kamchatka?The main social problem in Kamchatka would certainly be alcohol abuse. In the city there are several small wooden stands much like a small ice cream stand in the states. Instead of selling ice cream the stands here sell beer, draft beer by the cup. People will buy the beer and stand there while they drink a cup or two or ten. It is not unusual to see men starting their day at 8:00 am at the beer stand. Also, Russia is known for vodka. Daily we see men and women on the streets drinking from a liter bottle of vodka. They do have laws in Russia against drinking and driving but as far as I can tell if you are walking you can drink openly.

Tanya, one of the members of Emmanuel, recently found a new job (an answer to prayer). Oh, by the way she worked six months without pay just to get this job. She is now employed, with pay, by the police agency in PK but would be considered a social worker in the states. She has told many stories of alcohol abuse and the many problems that go along with it. During the long winters of the north many people attempt to deal with winter depression by consuming enormous amounts of alcohol which often lead to suicide.

Family: Our family is doing well. Would you like to see for yourself? We will be traveling to the states in April for visa renewal plus a little vacation time. We can’t possibly visit everyone, so we want to invite you to a pot luck gathering outside by the lake at Suzanne’s parents house in Sherman, MS. We will be outside by the lake May 2, 2009. We will start around 4 pm and hang around until the fire pit burns out. What do you need to bring? If you play an acoustic instrument bring it. We are not professionals but enjoy picking around the fire pit. You will also want to have your lawn chair and possibly some bug spray. If you would like bring a dish of whatever, by all means do so. We are excited about getting to see everyone.

Ministry Opportunities: We had several opportunities this month to minister to others. We were able to make the trip north to village “E,” approximately 650 miles on snow/ice covered dirt roads. We had the opportunity to share in two services there: one on Saturday night followed by a Russian meal and one on Sunday morning where we observed the Lord’s Supper with the handful of fellow believers there. It was also refreshing for us to be in the villages once again. The small group of believers in village “E” continues to pray for and desire a great movement from God. We hope to soon be moving north where our work can expand there. Please continue to pray for those in the villages. Many have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel.

Praise report: Emmanuel’s evangelism training and broad sowing of the Word is bearing fruit. Praise the Lord, His Word never returns void. This month Tanya, the wife of Sasha, the house church leader, was able to lead her first person ever to the Lord. She used the simple evangelism plan that had been taught over the past few months at Emmanuel. She was able to share the Gospel with her brother-n-law Nicolai. He listened as she shared the Gospel and before she could go through all the verses she had been given during evangelism training, Nicolai said, “I want that!” “Want what?” Tanya asked. “Forgiveness,” said Nicolai. During the next few minutes Nicolai prayed to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior. Just a few days later Tanya was at her mother-n-laws house. The mother-n-law gave her a small gift and Tanya reached into her purse and handed Nadegda a New Testament. She turned the conversation to spiritual matters and praise the Lord for answered prayers, Sasha’s mother, Nadegda, prayed to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior. Please pray for Nicolai and Nadegda as they begin their walk with the Lord.

It was also a joy this month to have 2 of our teen agers take the leadership role in Bible study. Misha, a 15 year old Russian, who was saved in June 2008 has a desire to study the Bible and has begun to lead out in Bible study. He led one of our Friday night Bible studies this month. Continue to pray for Misha as he grows in his relationship with the Lord. Lee, our son, also led his first Bible study in Russian without a translator. We are very proud of him. Lee led one of the Friday night Bible studies also. It is a great time to see the teens of PK taking part in Friday night Bible study (their choice of nights by the way) and also leading.

Language: As we stated last month, we are soooo ready to be out of full-time language. On April 9 & 10 we will be taking the test that determines if we get to become part-time language students or have to remain full-time language students. This is a HUGE test covering Russian grammar, writing abilities, listening and comprehension abilities and speaking abilities. We are excited and nervous at the same time. Please be in prayer for us.

Prayer Request:
-Pray for the Putnam family as they return to Kamchatka on April 3, 2009.
-Pray for Ingram Baptist Church (Baldwyn, MS) as they prepare to send two mission teams to Kamchatka this summer.
- Pray for the many visa situations throughout Russia.
-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 for the folks at Emmanuel as they take part in Street Evangelism Training and Application..
- 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.

February 2009 Newsletter

Charles H. Spurgeon once stated, “O people of God, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls.”

Romans 10:17 so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Please continue to pray that God’s Word will be spread throughout Kamchatka and Russia so that those who have not heard might hear and believe and heaven brought to their souls. Pray for Ingram Baptist Church as they prepare to send two teams to Kamchatka this summer. Ask the Lord to guide their steps, to prepare them for their time overseas, for support and encouragement from their fellow church members, and for heaven to fill their souls. What we are full of will naturally flow from our lips and lives.

Featured question(s): This is a new section of our monthly newsletter where 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.

Question submitted by Keith (Wheeler Baptist Church - Mississippi): How will the Roberts family continue to live in Kamchatka? What is the current visa situation?
Visa Update: We are currently in Kamchatka on a 90 day visa. We are officially registered in the city. That simply means that we have permission to live in Petropavlovsk – Kamchatka until April 28, 2009 and then we must leave again. We praise the Lord for this door that is opened for us to return. Please continue to pray that we fully understand God’s plan for long term living in Kamchatka. Pray for us as we continue to seek out a way to live in Kamchatka for longer than 90 days at a time.

To be very honest we have more questions about the current visa situation than we do answers. Until there is a change in the government in Kamchatka or until we discover another avenue to try we will continue to do 90 day visa renewals. We have attempted other avenues such as work permits and temporary residency permits. On both occasions we have been denied because we are in Russia on a religious work visa. In short, that simply means that every 90 days we must leave Russia. In our case the closest and most economical place for us to travel out of country is Seoul, South Korea. Of course this is very expensive and time consuming. At this time this is the only open door that we have and will continue to do this until change occurs. Pray that God would change the heart of the “powers that be” in Kamchatka so that we could re-apply for a temporary residency permit.

Remember our “Holding the Rope” check list? It is found in Colossians 4: 2-5 (2) Continue in Prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; (3) Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: (4) That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. (5) Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

•Join with us this month and pray through this passage with us and for us:
Pray that we would:
o Be diligent and purposeful in prayer
o Give thanks daily (that our attitudes are correct)
o God opens the door for us to speak of Jesus and His love
o We would make every decision with wisdom from above
o We would redeem the time

Question submitted by Sherry (Union Ridge Baptist Church - Missouri) What is the health care system like in Kamchatka?The health care system in Kamchatka is a social medical system. Basically if you are a Russian citizen you are assigned a doctor at birth. This person is your doctor and your first point of reference for medical needs. If you need to be refereed he or she must do that. Most Russians believe that their medical system is expensive. In comparison to the medical system in the states it is much cheaper. We recently had to have a chest x-ray for TB. This test was required in order for us to submit documents to live here. The x-rays for a family of 4 were about $30.00. However, in most areas their medical system is older and dated. For example: Suzanne and I had to have blood work done for some more document purposes. Praise the Lord the kids did not have to have this done. We went to the place called the lab and waited in a small room with several people in it. You just waited your turn and went after the one you followed came out. No appointments, no name calling, you just had to know that it was your turn. It was finally our turn. We stepped across several big holes in the buildings floor, and watched a dog and a cat trot up and down the hall. I sat down and looked into a metal bowl of clear liquid, alcohol I suspected; upon further inspection I notice several razor blades. The nurse entered without a smile, sat down and began to unwrap a long glass tube. I had flash backs of a trip to Dr. Moonies as a child. (You will have to talk to my Mom about Dr. Moonies. I have tried to forget!) She, the very focused, eye browed clinched Russian nurse, proceeded to get her razor blade so I went ahead and yelled before she ever cut me!!! She finally gave me a little smile….I closed my eyes and she drove that double edged razor into my finger and proceeded to take this 2 foot long glass tube with a black bulb on the end and squeeze my finger and suck the blood into this tube and then place it in another blood tube. The medical system in Kamchatka is very different from the states. We have only been to the Russian Social Government clinics when we needed medical work done to apply for Russian Documents. Any major medical stuff that can wait will be done in another place.

There is a place here that is a little more modern. It is independently run and we would use that clinic if we needed medical attention. However they can’t do the test needed for documents. The apteka ( Russian word for pharmacy) has basic meds that you can purchase over the counter. We are very grateful for Suzanne’s nursing abilities and her 15 years of service as a RN. She is now the Roberts’ family official medical provider. We are blessed to serve with the IMB because if we have major medical issues they have medical plans in place for us and we would be sent to places with up to date medical facilities.

Family: This month we had the joy of celebrating Suzanne’s second birthday (Feb. 19) in Kamchatka. Emma Grace’s birthday is soon approaching (March 11) and she reminds us each day on the official countdown of days until her birthday. It is great to have special days such as these to celebrate.

As long as we are talking about aging I guess I will confess. No, I did not have a birthday this month but I did have one day that I really began to feel old. I watched Lee as he shaved for the first time. What!!!? That’s Lee, could he really be shaving, almost 6 feet tall and 175 pounds. Yep, that explains my gray, thinning hair. I thank the Lord for my family and the lessons that He is teaching us together by living overseas.

We enjoyed one day on the ski slopes and invited our language teacher to tag along. She would not ski downhill but did some cross country skiing. Lee and Emma continue to improve on their snowboard abilities. We also were able to spend a few evenings cross country skiing.

The kids continue to good in their home school curriculum. Both Lee and Emma’s grades would make the honor role at Wheeler. We are very proud of both of them and their study habits.

Ministry Opportunities: We were very blessed this month to have several opportunities to share the Gospel with people. We were also able to give Bibles to several people who have never had a copy of God’s Word in their home. We were also able to host a Russian family in our home as dinner guest and discuss evangelism plans for Kamchatka. On February 8 we traveled to Yelizovo and Marty was invited to preach. Lee played the guitar and Suzanne sang a solo. The following Sunday Marty was invited to preach at the Central church in Petropavlovsk. Lee also played the guitar at that service and Suzanne and Emma sang a duet. Please continue to pray for us and our language abilities. Pray that our language would continue to increase and that we will be faithful to use what we know.

Language: We continue to strive to learn more and more of the Russian language. We have language class for 3 hours a day Monday – Friday plus homework. Lately our language classes have been a struggle. To say the least we are ready to take a break from formal language study. We have spent many hours, many days in full time language. We are ready to be considered part-time language students and full time language users. Pray that we stay focused and finish our language studies well. We are in our final book at this time. There could be light at the end of the tunnel.

Prayer Request:
-Pray for the Roberts family as we plan to travel to some of the northern villages in March. We plan to travel March 12-16. Most of this travel will be on snow and ice covered dirt roads. We will travel approximately 1100 - 1200 KM or 750 miles.
-Pray for the Putnam family as they continue the paperwork process to return to PK.
-Pray for Ingram Baptist Church (Baldwyn, MS) as they begin the paperwork process to send two mission teams to Kamchatka this summer.
- Pray for the many visa situations throughout Russia.
-Pray for Alexander 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 for the folks at Emmanuel as they take part in Street Evangelism Training and Application..
- 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.

January 2009 Newsletter

2 Corinthians 4: 5-7 for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of the God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Continue to pray that we will be reflectors of Light in a dark world, that we would always give all praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ and be humble followers where He leads.

Featured question(s): This is a new section of our monthly newsletter where 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.

There were no questions submitted this month. Please send us your questions for this section of the newsletter to work. Our desire is to provide you with information of interest.

Family: We were able to celebrate New Year in Kamchatka. It is amazing on how many fireworks the people in Kamchatka shoot each year at this time. We stood in the apartment with our heads hanging out the window and saw a great display. We splurged with a crab meal and movie night.

This month has been a time of hurry up and waits for the Roberts family. We seemed to be in a constant rush after the New Year to get all the stuff done needed to head to Seoul, Korea for visa renewal. Once we arrived in Seoul and mailed our package of documents we began the waiting mode. On the day before we were to fly out our documents returned to us in order. Praise the Lord, He is always on time.

I believe that Dorothy once made the statement, “There is no place like home.” That is so true, even when you return to 5 feet of snow. We had a blast in Korea while waiting. The kids were able to catch up on fast food favorites, and even took in their first ever adventure theme park. It was much like Disney World with Korean flair. The kids loved it and maybe mom and dad also. Before our waiting period was over we were ready to get back to the place where God has called us. We did not want to leave our new friends but it was time to return. We were blessed with a refreshing time in wait.

Maybe, if we all just took a little time with family and few more days on occasion to simply wait and listen we could be refreshed. Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Ministry Opportunities: God’s plan always overwhelms me when I can look backwards and see his handy work. When the Roberts family was blessed to serve as pastor at Wheeler Baptist Church we were able to meet several exchange students that church members would bring in to their home each year. One young lady, YeEun, came to live in the Fairs home. Over the next year we were able to develop a relationship with YeEun. God has now expanded our territory to where we have been able to share with her family on three different occasions in their home in Korea. Our God is a big God and builds big bridges.

We were also able to celebrate the Korean New Year holiday with YeEun and her family on the lunar holiday January 24. It was a great time spent by all. We ate traditional food, played traditional games, and Emma Grace even was adorned with traditional Korean dress. Thank you Han family for being special friends of the Roberts family.

We also were able to meet the Holyfield family while in Korea. They are our colleagues and serve in other parts of our world. They were home folks. I don’t just mean brothers and sisters in Christ, I mean Mississippi home folk. They understood fried food, southern accent, and they especially understood the calling we have on our lives. Praise the Lord for such a time of fellowship with them. They have 4 children: 2 of them in college and 2 that our kids loved to hang out with. We look forward to spending more time with them. Please pray for Patsy. She underwent back surgery while we were in Korea. The surgery went well and she was definitely an encouragement to our family the way she handled the process. They will be traveling back to the field soon. Please pray for speedy healing and a comfortable travel back home. They are still in wait!

While in Korea we were able to have several spiritual conversations with folks we had previously met and also strangers. God is doing a great work in Seoul.
Marty was invited to preach at Central church in Petropavlovsk. Praise the Lord for opportunities with believers in the city.

Language: We enjoyed a few days off of formal language study while we were in Korea. Our current language curriculum consists of 3 books. The 3rd book has book A and book B. Before we left for Korea we completed book 3A. Continue to pray for us as we strive to build our language skills and complete this final book.
Visa Update: We have returned to Kamchatka with another 90 day visa. We are officially registered in the city. That simply means that we have permission to live in Petropavlovsk – Kamchatka until April 28, 2009 and then we must leave again. We praise the Lord for this door that is opened for us to return. Please continue to pray that we fully understand God’s plan for long term in Kamchatka. Pray for us as we continue to seek out a way to live in Kamchatka for longer than 90 days at a time.

Prayer Request:
-Pray for the Putnam family as they begin the paperwork process to return to PK.
- Pray for the many visa situations throughout Russia.
-Pray for Alexander 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 for the folks at Emmanuel as they take part in Street Evangelism Training and Application..
- 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.

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