I wrote this praise report to my intercessory team this week: I hope I can communicate to you the level of excitement I feel at this moment. First some background. While we were on furlough, I attended a conference. Picked up a book that looked good for my kids. Went to the web site for…

The following is a transcript of the message I gave to my home church in Georgia just before we left to return to Russia last month. It represents an important development in my thinking about why we are hear – not merely to minister to the orphans, but to the orphan spirit that drives it…

Simon got up from nap yesterday crying. He sometimes does that when you get him up prematurely, but this was not the case. Moreover, he kept going, and going, and going. It wasn’t pain; he just wanted to cry on my shoulder. Try as I might, he wouldn’t tell me what was going on. So…

To our great regret, we have had to cancel both of this weekend’s gatherings. Why? Snow is coming yet again (this isn’t the Richmond I remember), and even though it still may not be prohibitive, Packing is upon us to get ready to leave the state on time, and Diana is feeling pretty overwhelmed and…

We don’t plan to leave Russia. I sometimes even tell Russians that we will die there (I’m in the states as I write on furlough). This really shocks them, since they are not used to missionaries being so committed to them. Of course God’s will be done, but I really can’t see having a significant…

Sometimes I describe our work in Russia as a dual thrust: developing leaders and serving the needs of orphans. Although this is a true picture, I see the two coming together over time. Here is my present understanding of how God is working to that end: We all know the story of the kid who…

Neither Diana nor I had ever done any work with orphans before moving to Russia. We had once, however, begun the process of adopting a child from the Ukraine after Lydia was born. But then when Kerith came along much sooner than expected, we abandoned that project (perhaps for another day?). We had both worked…

I woke up feeling quite normal that Friday recently in October, excited about the men’s retreat I was at in a quiet suburb of the city (Father School, which originally came out of Korea). Normal wouldn’t last long, though. Soon after I got to the morning prayer meeting the small of my back gave, and…

When the kids all trooped out the door with backpacks at 7:45 a.m. one day this September I was left on our inside stairs staring at the closed door with a strange feeling. What was it? Oh, yes, I was alone — with nobody to teach!! For the first time since the summer I was…

I had the joy of being able to start a “class” this summer for husbands, centered around a study I wrote a few years ago that I called, “On Becoming Mr. Ephesians.” 25 men from 5 different churches came to participate. We started with a viewing of “Fireproof,” which didn’t fail to move the men…