I put out this note recently to a local email group of mainly missionaries in St. Petersburg: There are a lot of us who care about the orphans in and around St. Petersburg. But it’s becoming clear to me that the situation ischanging, and our data is quickly becoming out of date. At the monthly…

The following is from our mission’s Lenten Devotional Series for this year that I wrote. CRM Lent DevotionalBrought to you by CRM Empowering Leaders Scripture Reading – Day 19 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of…

Despite the fact that family/team ministry is where I want to go with our crew, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what this really means. Why is having a ministry as a family important? First of all, I think it’s a forgotten biblical value. God’s mandate to Adam was for Eve…

I wrote my last post about our new ministry at the orphanage nearby just minutes before leaving for my first class teaching English there. I knew nothing of these children and wished I had hindsight right then and there. Well, now I have some hindsight and several stories under my belt. Here’s a recap:week 1:…

I wrote in February about the extraordinary means that the Lord used to show me that He had His finger on this one young woman – of all the hundreds of beggars around the city – for us to establish a relationship with. That process has now evolved from fleeting moments and faith to reality.…

The orphanage down the street is a huge red and gray brick structure about 3 minutes from our door. We pass it all the time on the way to the Metro or for groceries and have long hoped to see the inside and made acquaintance with the director. In January Lyle wrote about the miraculous…

When I asked my future teammate almost two years ago how we could possibly function as a team, he couldn’t think of anything. He teaches at the local Christian University and didn’t see any open doors or reasonable fits with his work there. I remained puzzled over this misfit with my philosophy of ministry until…

People keep wondering what it means for me to say that I’m a coach, or that I am coaching someone, so it’s time to clear this one up. Coaching is a field that I barely knew about before I enrolled in the training I got. What little I did know made me realize that it…

Remember the saying “Truth is stranger than fiction”? We have living proof. Last Thursday a transportation/timing issue required that I (Diana) take the boys to school, while Lyle escorted us to the Metro and continued onto the little town of Pushkin to teach. Being 8 am, we decided to let Lydia stay home. We’ve been…

Ever since my first cry over the plight of the poor here, they have been getting my attention more and more. As has become my practice, I wait for God to show the way. Marina is a young woman Lydia and I had seen a few times on the subway before I spoke to her.…