From the Steppe of Kazakhstan

April 5, 2009

Dear Partners,

It has been forever since I have sent out an email update and I am sorry. We have just arrived in Karaganda, Kazakhstan again and will be here until the end of July.

Between returning to Russia in early January and now, our lives have been pretty much non-stop. In the last update I explained that God had clearly showed us it was time to leave our ministry in Russia on a permanent basis. We spent the last four weeks saying, "See you later" to four different churches, one each weekend. It was the most bitter-sweet time of our entire ministry. It was also the most humbling as person after person explained what a difference we had made in their lives. We had to explain time after time that it was not US!! It was God. We were honored to be the vessels God used to touch their lives. I could not believe how we had bonded in sisterly and brotherly love with so many people during our time there. It was like leaving family, only worse because we truly do not know when we will return. We hope to be able to return about once a year for a month so that Steve can offer a seminar to the pastors and meet with each of them individually for some encouragement and mentoring. But that is all in God's hands. It has been amazing to watch each of them grow in their Christian walk during the past few years!

We will be staying in touch with everyone and hopefully get updates about what is happening in Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Komsomolsk. I can tell you that my special Anya has been very good about emailing. She, her sister and brother-in-law will be leading a Christian Camp over spring break and they are looking forward to it. Claudia's mother passed away two days after we left. Please keep her in your prayers. Pastor Sveta has visited the US for her first time. She was a guest of the Russian Initiative Consultation in San Diego in early March and I know she blessed everyone there as much as she was blessed.

We came back to the US the first of March and went off almost immediately to South Carolina where Steve was a guest speaker at The Mission Society's President's Gathering. We got to spend a day at the office of The Mission Society and visit with the staff there. We are so blessed to be supported by such an awesome group of dedicated Christians!! I do not know if we have mentioned before but office staff meet in prayer every single morning first thing and we are all regularly bathed in prayer!

Back in California we faced the 10 bags we brought back from Russia and sorted them out. We then repacked for Kazakhstan leaving lots of stuff in storage. Always during these transitions something ends up in the wrong place. This time Steve arrived here with his American phone and his Kaz SIM card. I ended up here with my Kaz phone and my Russian SIM card!! Life is never boring. The couple of weeks we had in California were non-stop as well. Steve had to deal with our taxes with papers both in Fremont and Redding. We had lots of business to attend to that seemed never to end. We did get in a little family time but it was in bits and pieces. They are all well and doing great which is a wonderful blessing. We celebrated a few birthdays as well.

But now we are moving on here in Kazakhstan. Steve will be working with the Field Leader, Douglas Fears and they have lots to do. We will also be in contact with people here to investigate the possibility of getting a visa to work with pastors here. During a trip to Ukraine in June we will also investigate the possibilities of working with pastors there. We are hoping that by the time we leave here the end of July, God will have shown us clearly where we are to be working next.

We will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia the end of June to our Annual Conference where Steve will once again be appointed to Church Development for the Eurasian Methodist Church. There we hope to see many of our Russian pastors as well as Claudia. I understand that the woman whom we stayed with every weekend in Komsomolsk, Olya, will also be there as a delegate this year!! Praise the Lord for special gifts.

On the 1st of May, the team here will be celebrating the 15th birthday of the Living Vine Church which was begun by a team from our agency. There will also be a team retreat in May and Steve will be leading part of that as well.

I, quite frankly, am not sure exactly what my ministry will be here this time. There are many possibilities and I am just going to follow wherever God leads me. He has always provided amazing opportunities to share Himself through me and I know He will not stop now. I just love going along for His ride!! I will, however, be meeting again with the college girls I met last November. I have heard through the grapevine that they know I am here and are waiting for me to come to the store where they work and set up new meetings. :)

We thank you for your patience and I promise to email more often. As our Partners, everything we do is on your behalf for God also. We never forget that and praise God for you daily. May you all be blessed threefold for all the blessings you pass on to us through your support.

Grace and Peace from Steve and Blessings and Hugs from me,

Carol

PS (from Steve): We will be in Kazakhstan through July. After that, we will return to the US for our five year furlough (Wow, can it be 5 years already?!) We will remain in the States for about 9 months. The purpose for this furlough is to rest, renew ourselves, pray and seek God's will for the future, and visit with our partners to share the ministry and the future with you. We will be traveling around the US to visit with many of you. Tentatively, we will be traveling to the Midwest, East and South in October and November. After Christmas, we will begin visiting churches and friends in California and Nevada. If you are interested in having us visit and do a presentation, preach, meet with your group, etc, please e-mail us and we will begin to put our schedule together. Before long, I will try to give more specific dates for our travels, and will share this with you.

We have been considering how to be the best stewards of your support funds. We no longer have a car and have been renting cars for our visits to the US. However, rental fees for 9 months or so would be atrocious. One thought was to purchase a used car, use it for the 9 months, and then try to sell it. However, God has prompted me to ask you if there is anyone who has a second car (which gets good mileage) that you would be able to loan to us for the 9 month furlough. It would be driven a LOT, so please consider that in your response. We have insurance coverage for any auto that we do not own. If God touches your heart to help, we would be very grateful.

Hope to see you soon.