From Bear:

Beloved,

Trust things are going well at home. I must say it is a blessing to be an extension of you as we represent Christ to the dear Saints here in Tambov. Our days have been filled with laughter, Scripture, praying, eating and playing. All in all that is a common day for me in everyday life. We have been stretched both physically and spiritually. The team is really doing a great job loving on each other. Nothing but pitching in and helping. They are using their spiritual gifts and showing the fruit of the Spirit. After today’s ministry, I finally understood why we are so tired. We have literally, time wise, done a week’s worth of VBS like we have done in Twin, in one day here. We spent from 8:00 am to 8:00pm, 12 hours playing, doing crafts, and teaching the Scriptures to 47 kids. Today alone these precious little ones have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ 4 separate times and Samantha shared her testimony on how the Lord saved her. The Lord is opening up many hearts. The orphans are clinging to anyone who will show them attention and love and that is just what we have done here. One small issue happened on a personal side. Somewhere during the day, I ripped a huge hole in the seat of my pants. Needless to say, there were many laughs. Also didn’t help that the kids desired to make the hole bigger. Did find a bandana to help cover some of it. On the ministry side, I saw the Lord draw some older boys from the orphanage to be more open to me and the Gospel. They were distance the day before but today the Lord softened their hearts and they were very endearing when it was time to leave. Tomorrow is Sunday, looking to see the Lord use His word to shape hearts. Please pray for strength and the shaping of our hearts. Love you in Christ, Pastor Bear



From Paul:

Yesterday we had a handful of kids from the local churches in Morshansk plus about 35 children from an orphanage nearby. They were quite a handful, and they would glom onto all of us. It is difficult to truly understand how hard it is to talk to someone, young or old, when the languages are so different. Even though you can use gestures like charades, the other party usually just shakes their head and smiles politely until an interpreter shows up. Our interpreters, Misha and Alya both speak english well and can communicate what we are trying to say very well. They are a real blessing!

Yesterday and today have been very busy and tiring. We left the church at 9:00 this morning and it is a 1 1/2 hour drive to Morshansk. Day camp starts at 10:00 and goes to 7:00 PM. We are very busy trying to figure out how to keep the kids occupied and teach them Biblical truths.

I am falling asleep at the computer and will need to email you tomorrow when I get a chance. Samantha gave her testimony before I taught and did a very good job of explaining the gospel as well.



From Dirk:

Things are going well here. It is encouraging to see the zeal with which all are embracing the opportunity for witnessing (in the airport, to the children, etc..) and for the love that is being poured out through each one to the children. We had about 47 children in Morshansk (12 from the Church and 35 from the orphanage) on Friday afternoon. We return to them today and pray for their openness to the gospel message. It is a joy to witness their response to love and attention. Now we pray that God will open their hearts to understand their need for and the opportunity to embrace the love that will transcend all their circumstances and fill them with true eternal joy in the Lord. All on the team are enjoying the chance to be stretched, and may God continue to use us to share His love with these precious people and may we continually give thanks to God who has poured out His love into our hearts. May all your hearts be encouraged as well and give our precious people my love and let them know that they are in my prayers.

Dirk