Barring any surprises, God appears to have given us wonderful resolution to our visa woes. As I reported recently, we had decided to taken an open mind to all possible options and allow God to do the choosing for us. After a process of elimination (indeed in one case heart-wrenching for Diana), God made it…

Let me through out an idea for a summer team project that some may want to consider for next year. This is from a ministry here that almost everyone who works with orphans works with. They organize a lot of projects and generally help facilitate ministry for other ministries.The following is from a note from…

Mom: Today was “Pervii zvonok” (First Bell). What was that all about?Kerith: I was going to 1st grade. It was fun. I saw all my friends, and I was relieved that I saw them again. This was because the celebration had started today. First graders go to second, and all the grades are changing. I…

Without the faithful support and prayers of a whole lot of people, not only would we not be here, but we would have not chance of thriving in the assignment God has for us. We send everyone on our mailing list news every month that includes prayer requests, and I send a small group of…

It was just a conversation with Pastor Igor during our weekly coaching session, but it seemed so packed full of juicy food for thought that I feel compelled to post a synopsis of it. We started out talking about the war with Georgia, as I was interested in his input on what is going on…

Just when you think your kids aren’t thinking about anything loftier than turning a bunk bed into a fort, they come up with the most amazing thoughts on life. Take Kerith. He’s a child of tremendous intellect, but also tremendous range of emotion (blessedly, usually joyful). So he loves to figure things out, take them…

The extent of my contribution to the discussion on the conflict between Georgia and Russia is limited since it’s so far away. I’ll start with an excerpt from an email from our friend David (whom we visited in April) who is from Tbilisi and was there recently. I appreciate the balance. So much for trying…

Our eyes got bigger and bigger as Tobias and Katarina, the missionary couple with whom we spent our time in Germany, told us about the ministry that provided their covering while in St. Petersburg. Because of our interest, and because of their relationship with the Harbor (now without a contact person in the wake of…

As I wrote before, the freedom with which foreigners in Russia can obtain the right to live here has been severely curtailed since we arrived a year ago. What many are now doing are either becoming students (of Russian) or looking for a work permit (often by teaching English). Since neither of these fit my…

We had an interesting start to our relationship with Julia. We wrote about her in an earlier newsletter: After meeting her the day before, Julia and I met at her bank to sign the paperwork. Since nothing in Russia is quick, we had plenty of time to talk and get to know each other. Julia…