Partnering Together

Some journalists from the IMB have been with us this past week. Go to imb.org to read their write up about the baptism service and to view a slide show. They did a great job and you'll enjoy it.

Last Sunday, August 20, was an incredible day for us. The new church in the Golovinsky region had its first baptism service. Two ladies were baptized in the Moscow Canal. Anastasia is 80 years old. She started coming to Bible study about 6 months ago when the church was meeting in a library. Soon she repented and gave her life to Christ. She has been faithful to attend ever since. Marina is in her 30s. She's a beautiful young woman who also recently accepted Christ. What a beautiful time it was as we celebrated with them their new life in Christ. After the baptism, we took the Lord's Supper together on the banks of the canal. Then we went to Genady's home for worship and a fellwoship meal. Genady is the Russian pastor of this new church plant. How we praise God for allowing us to be a part of this special celebration! Please pray for Anastasia and Marina as they now learn what it means to be dead to sin and self, and alive to Christ. Pray that they would have a hunger and thirst for God's Word. Pray that they would understand who they are in Christ and live out of their relationship with Him.

Drew, Mark and Ben started school today. They were all very happy and excited about the start of a new year. They were ready to see their friends again. We are so thankful to have the opportunity to send our boys to a small, international, Christain school called Hinkson Christian Academy. Drew is in 5th grade. He has a new teacher, Mr. Hays. All of the kids think he is "so cool". Mark is in 4th grade. His teacher is Miss Graham. She was Drew's teacher last year and she is wonderful. Mark had a great day. Ben started kindergarten today. His teacher is Mrs. Williams. She was Mark's 2nd grade teacher and she is also an excellent teacher. Ben only has 5 kids in his class - 4 boys and 1 girl. He was just fine when I left him this morning and he was all smiles when I picked him up this afternoon. Thank you , God, for giving my boys a great first day to a new school year!

We had a wonderful family vacation at the Skinner's dacha (summer house) this past week. God gave us beautiful weather with cool temperatures. The area around the dacha is really pretty and we just drank in the beauty of it all. The boys were free to run in and out of the house whenever they wanted and they loved it. They spent most of their time outdoors playing baseball, digging worms, fishing, whittling, playing ping pong, playing volleyball, etc. Of course, they are the new generation of "campers", so when they got tired, they would play their Gameboys a little and then be ready to play outside again. The dacha has no running water so the boys had to help with getting water from the well and it was cool enough that we needed a fire at night, so they helped with chopping and stacking wood.

Brad and I are mentoring some new missionaries, Doyle and Karen Fletcher. They came out for part of the week and we enjoyed getting to know them a little better. They have a daughter, Falyn, who is 12. Their son, Tristyn, who is 10, is a good friend of Drew's. Ben and Mark both love playing with Deagan, who is 7. Of course, we enjoyed time with our good friends, the Skinners, too. They are always so kind and generous and being around them always encourages us. We spent a few days in their home at the end of the week.

We're very thankful for the chance to take this much needed vacation. We needed some time to slow down and just focus on each other and God allowed us to do just that. At the end of the week, Drew came to me and was blinking back tears. He said, " Mom, my best time at the dacha just happened. I was in the tent by myself. I read my Bible and then I was listening to my new CD and a song called, "Here Comes Our King" came on. As I listened to it, all the memories of this whole week at the dacha were running through my mind. It was like the love of God just came over me all at once and I started crying". Wow! God is so good and I'm so thankful. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Thanks so much for praying for the baseball camp we had in our region the last week of July. This report is coming a little late because the same day that we took the volunteers to the airport, we jumped in the car and headed to Ivanova, Russia for a week of family vacation. I'll write more about that later. Below is Co-Laborer team member, Holly Henson's, report on how the week went.

Last week we had baseball camp in Friendship park again. It was a wonderful week. We had 63 kids enrolled for the camp. We had about 30 new ones to come which gives me about 90 contacts in the north to start a sports club. The team that came was really great. A lot of them were teenagers, and they did a wonderful job. They got to know the kids and spend time with them. It was absolutely awesome. We were able to give each kid a sports New Testament. Even some parents recieved New Testaments too! The team brought backpacks, t-shirts, baseball gloves, and pins to give away. The kids were really grateful for all of the gifts each day. I was able to donate most of the equipment to the baseball league that is already exisiting in the park. Please pray as I follow up with these children and PTL for a wonderful week!

We will meet again to play sports with the children at Friendship Park on August 21. Please pray that the Lord will work in the lives of these young people and their paretns, as we continue to develop relationships with them.