Prayer Update

Further info on the situation at the Baptist headquarters in R.

There are about 100 workers there. 80 of them of been laid off—totally. The other 20 have been asked to continue on without pay for 3 months. Some of these 20 are working to keep things going; others are trying to do something to ‘survive’ for that time.

Undoubtedly there was unsound financial principles that brought this crisis, however the leaders are doing all in their power to restructure on a better basis, but it takes time. So please pray for these dear brothers, that God would give supernatural wisdom, and that He would meet their every need, including the material needs for their families.

We live always with the assurance as believers that God can take the worst and make it into the ‘best’. Praise Him for that hope that always encourages us.

Finished!!!

Happy Birthday to me! I finished writing the New Testament Survey, part 2 Course Guide today!!!
That means all my writing for New Testament Survey is done! After 4 1/2 years. :D It still has to be edited, translated, edited in Russian, formatted and then sent for printing, but all of that should be finished within two months! It's possible that by the end of the summer I'll hold the books in my hands. :)
Mostly it will just feel good to be finished with it. But for now I am reveling in the feeling of getting this far.

Faith in Action...

Here is a prayer request my mum sent me. As you will read these people are going to have to live by faith over the next few months. Pray for them!

There seem to be some major problems at the Russian Evangelicals/Baptist Union headquarters. All of that has been supported by Russian nationals but specifically one wealthy man. We don’t know the whole story, but he developed some different ideas that they could not agree with, so that support has abruptly stopped. And that means that basically all plans have to be put on hold. The majority of leaders have been “laid off” for 2 or 3 months without pay. All of the departments are being run by just a couple people interim which means there basically is no missions department—which could severely affect the church planting efforts. All and all it is a serious situation.

How to pray?

Ø That the God of all resources would open the windows of heaven and pour out His abundance.

Ø That many people’s hearts would be moved to meet this crisis. God has His people everywhere.

Ø That the leaders would not give in to discouragement and that God’s Kingdom would go on and even become stronger in the face of difficulty.

Ø That Satan would be defeated and God glorified.

Ø Just pray as the Holy Spirit leads you. He knows much better than we all the issues involved.

Sun and Snow

So, I woke up a while back and was able to catch the sunrise from my apartment. Unfortunately I am no photographer (in case you haven't figured that out yet :P ), so my pics are lacking, but I tried. It was lovely to wake up in winter to the sunrises.
Now I'm getting up earlier, but it seems that the sun always beats me anyway!
It's funny how in these two pictures the bars over my windows are so prominent, yet normally I don't even see them when I look out the window.

I had a bit of a shock when I got up today. I glanced out the window and there's snow out there! That's the second timethis week, only last time it melted right away and it doesn't look like it is going to do that today. It's a bit sad because buds are beginning to form on all the trees and this will probably kill them all and set spring back a couple of weeks. On the other hand, other than the snow in November we've had very little snow this winter, so it is nice to be reminded of it and then be able to move on to spring, especially since Easter here isn't for a month yet!

Washer

Hey, just realized that I never put any pics up of my new washer! :) I'm sure you are all dying to see it...
I had it installed in my bathroom as it was a perfect fit and it is nice to have a "counter top" in there.

I also kept my old machine where it is installed in the kitchen. In never did work as a washer, but it has a dryer capability which I might find handy in the future. It is also a counter top, so I would miss it muchly if it disappeared from my kitchen! ;)

Test Results

So, I notice that I forgot to post that I was going into Kyiv to get some tests done last week. My prayer request was that either we would find out what was wrong easily or I would come across a doctor who was actually interested in helping.
I went in on Friday just planning on a basic blood test and a glucose intolerance test. My sister, Priscilla, very kindly met me there--taking time out of her super-busy schedule to "hold my hand". Eventually we met up with a doctor and I was able to get the tests. They hasseled us a little about the glucose intolerance test, but after we met with this doctor she arranged for everything. She was definitely an answer to prayer. They didn't find anything really unusual after the basic tests (I am slightly anemic), so she ordered several other tests for me and set up an appointment for Saturday for a gastroscopy. That was to help discover why I am anemic. I hadn't planned on staying in Kyiv Friday night, but went home with my sister and came back in the next morning with them (they had a wedding to attend, sorry I couldn't make it Lyena!). Let me tell you, gastroscopies are NOT fun. :D But it could have been worse. They didn't find much unsual in that either. So now I am waiting till the end of the week to get the rest of my test results.
So, that is a praise and a prayer answer and request all wrapped up in one. :) Praise that we met up with this doctor and she really is trying to be helpful and search out the options. She has prescribed some medicines for me to take (including iron) and I would appreciate prayer that they will give me that extra boost that I need. Also that she'll know what to do after the test results come in on Friday. Thankfully, she said I can just call her for the results and don't have to go back into Kyiv for them unless she wants more tests.
Another praise is that I had the finances to do this. It cost less than $400, including the meds, but that would have been rough for me, except that I have been saving up some money every month for just such a time as this. I've never been able to save "against the future" before, and for me it was just God's provision that I have been able to and that the savings that I had from that more than covered the expenses. It was nice not to have to worry about that.

And just for fun here are a couple of pictures of the train station where I catch my marshrutkas back to Rivne when I go into Kyiv:

This is the Orthodox church that was built just outside the train station a few years ago. The marshrutka's park in the parking lot of the church, from what I can tell, but maybe it is actually the train station's parking lot.
This is the North Terminal of the central train station in Kyiv. It was redone a few years ago with this modern look. You can see all the city buses (marshrutkas) and the ones to the airport all lined up. The South Terminal is a little more traditional, I'll have to remember to get a picture of it next time I head to Kyiv.


And this is my marshrutka that I ride back and forth to Rivne and Kyiv. The company is called "Crazy Turtles" (and yes, sometimes I really think they are crazy, but turtles they are not!--we can now cover the 200 mile distance in four hours, a few years ago it took five or six), hence the turtle on the window. I prefer to use this company as they seem to be the most reliable schedule wise.
And just for fun. This is my nice, Ellie reading me a bedtime story (her bedtime, not mine). It was about trains, but I don't remember her version actually having any trains in it, as a matter of fact, it sounded remarkably like the story we had just read before it! :D

International Women's Day

So, International Women's Day was on March 8th, Saturday. I bet you didn't know that did you? :D
Happy Women's Day! I'll share my flowers with you:



Okay, so I just enjoyed taking the pictures and wanted to share them. :P But really Women's Day is a big deal here. It's a government holiday, so even though it was on Saturday, Monday was off. And on Friday we gave all the women in the office a box of chocolates. Flowers are customary, but as long as you give some little gift you are okay. And flowers are getting expensive.
In one sense Women's Day is the communist Mother's Day, but don't tell anyone I said that. :) We have also begun celebrating Mother's Day here in the last few years, but we don't get a day off for that. The primary difference between the two is that on Women's Day all women are given flowers, not just mums. It's interesting and kind of fun and of course I enjoy the flowers! :)

A Praise

So, I was tlaking to mum th other day and I realized that since I have had my braces I have not yet had a migraine from my TMJ! This is huge, I've used a retainer for ten years to avoid those migraines and I was uncertain about having braces because I knew I wouldn't be able to use my retainer (even though the braces are to solve this particular problem by realigning my jaw, hopefully). I'm thankful.
And I really am doing better every day. It takes time and I wear out quickly, but I am having less migraines and am gradually building up energy. :)
Thanks for praying for me!

Keep Praying

Hi everyone,
I have not died, nor have I dropped completely off the face of the earth. Only almost completely. :) In case you couldn't tell from my long absence on here, I am still sick. That's the bad news. The good news is that I am doing better than I was a couple of weeks ago. So keep praying!
I run out of energy fairly quickly, but am mentally alert which is a good sign. However, I notice today when I came into the office that it was like a thick fog descended on my brain. This could be from any number of causes, but I would say it is primarily a spiritual attack. I'm also getting a headache as I sit here and I have had very few headaches while I've been home sick (maybe two, which in a two week time period is almost miraculous for me). I've struggled with this kind of mental fatigue in relation to my work for several years, but it only ever comes up when I am doing spiritual work and specifically in relation to my work on the New Testament Survey course. That's when it started. It is very discouraging as it makes it difficult to concentrate and get anything done.
Please continue to pray, both for healing and that I would not fall into discouragement or depression because of being sick and not being able to do the work that I am here for. The enemy uses every weapon he can to bring discouragement and insecurity into my life and it is a constant battle.
I plan to be in the office three days for a couple of hours each day this week and then increase that next week and see how my body handles it. I'm excited to be partaking in life again!
Oh and another praise, thanks to some special gifts from friends and family and a little saving on my part I was finally able to purchase a new washing machine (the one I had bought used was never able to be repaired because we can't get the parts). It has been delivered and will be installed tomorrow, Lord willing! It will certainly make my life easier not to have to cart my laundry to my parents' place every week. :) But thanks all the same, mum and dad!