January 21, 2008 by Sheree.

We had a small Christmas program at the baby orphanage. Each child got a gift and each worker got a gift. Nathan came and was the first man the kids had ever seen. They were scared and cried when he came in the room. Eventually they warmed up to him and came up to him. What a privilege to be the first man in their lives and portray a godly, loving, good man to them.

Kids Club put on a program for Christmas and invited hundreds of people from the neighborhood. About 60 kids and 15 adults came. We showed a drama and then had cakes and drinks afterwards.

A testimony from Kids Club-
Often we encounter interesting things when we visit the kids during the week. We never know what to expect. Lena and Sheree visit the homes of our kids and give them a flier with games and a review of the lesson. We went to the home of one of the families recently. The mom came out and told us that her son Vanya had been taken away to a children’s Psychiatric hospital. He had already been there before for stealing. This time she didn’t know why they took him. He had actually gotten better since the last time. His studies were going better and he wasn’t running away from home. She cried and said that if they let him out it would only be in January. He would have to spend Christmas and New Year in the hospital. The last time she saw him, he was like a zombie from the sedatives. She quietly told him to hide the drugs and not to swallow them.
We just held her and tried to console her but she just cried and cried. We told her that we would pray that Vanya would be let out before Christmas and New Year. We also told her to pray and she said she would try to. The next week we received good news! Vanya would return before the holidays and the teacher who took him to the hospital would pay a fine. Praise God!!! That woman saw how God is faithful, that He is alive, and that He answers prayers.

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January 1, 2008 by Sheree.

It’s a new year and we are looking forward to all the great things God has planned for us and the ministry. We were up late last night with all the noise from fireworks and the parties in all the apartments surrounding ours. As Americans we are used to celebrating up until midnight, then telling everyone “Happy New Year,” and then all going to bed. Here in Russia the party doesn’t begin until midnight and then goes on all night. Russians also do Christmas differently as their’s is on January 7th. So these next couple days we will be planning Christmas programs for the baby orphanage and Kids Club. We hope to give all the ladies at the orphanage a Christmas gift and to all the kids as well. We continue to do crafts every week with the 3 and 4-year olds at the baby orphanage. We are seeing them improve in their motor skills and recognizing where pieces fit together before we even tell them. A while ago we did a petting zoo with them and so I’ll post a picture from that.

In October we learned of the new Russian visa laws that we can no longer stay here on one-year multiple entry visas like we have been. According to the new law, with a one-year visa you are only allowed 90 days in then you must leave for 90 days before you can come back. This would make it nearly impossible to live here. Nathan and I love Russia and the Russian people so we began investigating other options. We found out what it takes to receive temporary residency. This would allow us to stay for 3 years without being required to leave the country, and it is the first step towards permanent residency which is like a green card in the states. We have been getting all kinds of documents and medical tests in the last couple months. The earliest we can apply is January 11th after offices open up again after the holidays. We are still lacking a major requirement so please keep praying with us. We need someone that owns a house to register us there but Russians tend to be scared to do this. It would be a whole lot easier if Nathan and I owned a place (which we really want) but for now we need to just find someone who would be willing to do this for us.

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