To download a printable PDF of this prayerletter, please click HERE.

2014 started off with a bang quite literally as, per tradition, we had fireworks going off around the city from midnight on into the wee hours of the morning.  During these first 2 months of the year, we have been quite busy and have seen the Lord work in some great ways.  

As many of you may remember, we began some much-needed remodeling in the church sanctuary back in April of 2013, which included replacing the old, drafty wooden windows, installing a new in-floor heating system and many other things.  Praise the Lord we were able to complete the repairs and celebrate Russian Christmas on January 7 in the new sanctuary.

Praise the Lord we had close to 120 in the service, including some from the surrounding village ministries, and the majority of them stayed afterwards for our traditional Christmas dinner following the service.

Other Ministry News

December saw our coworkers, the James Dean family, head back to the States for a short furlough and in their absence, we have been overseeing their various ministries — namely, the junior church ministry here in the city as well as the Sunday school ministry in the village of Shila.  We covet your prayers during this time as we travel out to Shila and back every Sunday, both for safety on the roads and for the Lord to work in the hearts of the children who attend.  Our usual service time in Shila is 4pm, but last week we had 8 kids show up at 3pm, ready for service!  Praise the Lord!

Furlough Plannings

Several have asked about a furlough and when we plan to be back in the States.  Unfortunately, at this time, it is impossible to give a definite answer or timeframe on when we would take our next furlough.  The reason being that our furlough plans are dependent on when we can apply for Karalyn’s permanent residency.  

Every year, there is a set quota of residency permits, and if the quota is filled before your application is accepted, you have to wait until the following year to apply for a permit.  Karalyn is not eligible to apply for her permanent residency until July and it is very likely that the quota will then already be filled.  We are still planning on trying to apply in July, but if the quota has already been filled, then we will have to wait until January or February of 2015 to apply for her permit.

So with that, we have two possible scenarios for our furlough.

If Karalyn’s application is accepted in July, then we are planning to take our furlough in December, 2014 through May 2015.  

If Karalyn’s application is not accepted in July, then our furlough will be pushed back until sometime in 2015 — possibly the summer or fall at the earliest.

Needless to say, we covet your prayers regarding these future plans.  We will definitely inform you of more concrete details in July as soon as we know one way or the other.

As always, we truly appreciate your faithful prayers and support of our ministry.  We are honored to be your representatives to the people of Siberia.