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Well the big move from Russia to the USA is over. We flew into Orlando, FL on May 11. Our three sons met us at the airport and we went directly to Jason's house where a nice "Welcome Home" sign and buffet dinner awaited us. Since then we have driven 3,500 miles, and just returned from C&MA General Council in Louisvlle, KY.
Since our last letter much has happened, and we thank you so much for praying for us. Let us give you a glance at what we have been up to.
April 17-20 we took a trip to Volgograd where we served for nine years. It was a wonderful visit and we rejoiced to see people growing in the Lord and serving in the church. They organized two gatherings to make it easier for us to see everyone. There was plenty of food and good fellowship! While there we were able to locate Sasha - a young man that came to Christ during our last church plant there- who is not living for Christ. He is now married and has baby boy. We thank the Lord for the opportunity to visit and pray with him. He expressed a desire to return to the fold so please pray that as others follow up with him that he and his wife will follow Christ.
May 1 to 4, along with thirteen of our Chinese students, we participated in an outreach conference in Moscow. While this took place in the midst of our trying to pack for our return to the states, we felt it was important for the students to be there. Almost 500 students from Moscow and surrounding areas attended. Since we were the only non- Asians there, we were provided good translators. Both of us served as counselors and group leaders to a group of 12. It was a wonderful conference in which the students were challenged to live a deeper life in Christ manifested by a commitment to share their faith. The students had a wonderful time and came away with a real desire to do more in Nizhniy Novgorod to see the lost come to Christ.
A very special part of the conference was that Szee Mi, one of our students who comes from a Budhist family and who has attended our cell group faithfully since Novembver, accepted Christ as her savior! We have felt for sometime that she was close to coming to faith. Before she went to the conference she told her parents that she was going and that she was considering becoming a Chrisitan. They told her that if she did they would not consider her a part of the family. Despite this, the first evening of the conference she responded to the altar call and Wilma was able to pray for her. What a wonderful sight as the other students gathered around her. They had been praying for seven months for her salvation.
The big move wasn't easy but the Lord certainly gave us strength. We had many sad and difficult farewells. With a shortened period of time to exit Russia, the sorting, packing, selling and giving away needed to be done quickly. With the economic crisis in Russia, we were not able to sell any of our furniture or dining room set. We waited as long as we could to see if it would sell, but finally decided that the Lord wanted us to give it all to a drug rehab center in Ulinovsk. So on friday, before leaving on Monday , we provided a truck for the director, Alexei, to come to Nizhniy Novgorod to pick it up. He was thrilled to get the furniture as well as many boxes of misc. housewares, toys, and clothing to use at the center or distribute in his village.
Like any move, the last couple of days were a challenge. But, the Chinese students organized a cleaning brigade and came twice to help clean the apartment. On May 11 we flew out of Nizhniy Novgorod to Frankfurt and on to Orlando. We had to be at the airport at 1 AM to process Kira through vet control. What a blessing it was to have 14 of our students come to the apartment to help load our eleven suitcases, pet carrier, and Kira in the vans! They all accompanied us to the airport and stayed until we were checked in.
At the airport the Lord provided a faith lesson for the students. When we arrived at the aiport Ron weighed all the luggage. Our scales at home have always been in sync with the airport scales. But for some reason all the suitcases were 3 Kilos overweight. Not a good thing, with overweight costing around $200 a bag! When we made it known, Ye Qian- who will be attending Nyack College in the fall- suggested that they ask God to take charge of the situtation. So, there at 2 AM 14 Chinese students-with guards, custom officials, and other passengers watching,-all prayed outloud for the problem. What a lesson in faith and prayer it was for them, when we checked in and NONE of the bags even got weighed! Praise the Lord.
The Nizhniy Novgorod Church plant needs your prayers. Perhaps you remember Sergei, the former worker who has been in prison for murdering a man three years ago. He was released from prison in March. Aftrwards, he returned home to the Ukraine. There, his sending church told him he needed to wait 5 years before he could re-enter the ministry. Because of this news he returned to Nizhniy Novgorod. Right away in April, Victor took him and his wife in as members of the church and Sergei preached the very next Sunday. This decision is in direct opposition to the directive of the Association of Evangelical Churches of which the church is a member. We will not go into all the details, but this is most disturbing to us. Please pray that the Lord will protect the congregation and resolve other situations in the church that jeopardize its health and growth.
We will continue to minister to the Chinese students even though we are stateside. We feel it is so important that they have someone who can shepherd them, and that they receive teaching in their own language. Before we left we were able to organize a sunday afternoon serivce in another facility just for the Chinese students in the city. The first sunday we had 32 present! The students from our group played the keyboard, guitar, and helped lead worship. We were so proud of them. We sat like proud parents marvelling at what God had done in their lives. We are praying that the Lord will provide a Chinese Pastor that can come periodically and minister to them.
Prayer Requests
• Pray for all the Chinese students as they return to China this summer that they will remain strong spiritually and have witnessing opportunities with the friends and families.
• For Dai Ling's mom in China with whom Wilma has spoken several times. She has called us often to thank us for helping him. She is not a Christian and she and her husband have been on the verge of divorce. They are now back together. Wilma bought her a Chinese Bible and wrote some encouraging thoughts to let her know that we are praying for her salvation.
• Pray for Szee Mi that she will grow in her faith and that her parent's will not disown her.
• For the 30 C&MA missionaries who were recently recalled from the field. Pray that they will find employment and that the Lord will bring peace in the midst of their transitions.
• For us as we seek God's will for the next step in ministry. We have begun the application/networking process. Also, pray that we can find a good low mileage, smaller car to purchase. Right now our district is providing us with a car. But we will need to find one soon.
• Pray also as we set up housekeeping again and purchase necessary furniture and appliances.
• For "Work special funds" for the month of June. We are permitted to receive work special funds through our C&MA Work Special Account through June. The funds must arrive at headquarters by June 30.
• Pray for Wilma as she speaks at a Women's Banquet this saturday, June 6. The theme is "Connecting" to the lost around us. Just yesterday we stopped at a local dairy store and Wilma had the opportunity to share the Gospel and pray with a distraught lady who is facing a divorce hearing this week. Pray for Linda and her husband Richard.
Well this has gotten longer than we intended. Thanks for your prayers, encouragment and financial gifts to our ministry. We will write again when we have information about ministry opportunities we are considering. Thanks for standing with us during this transition.
Serve the Lord and rejoice in His goodness!
In His Glad Service,
Ron and Wilma
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