We're HERE!!!!!

So, after waiting a loooong few months, making about a million necklaces to raise funds (Thanks again to all those who supported!!!!) and finally fitting all of our gifts for our sweet friends into our suitcases (needless to say this took quite a long time.... who knew Peanut butter could complicate things so much lol) we headed for Houston on Thursday!

We arrived at the airport a little late, and saw the line for security and thought OH NO! but, we were able to go through the 'first class' line which was much quicker. We had a minor setback while waiting for the plane -- at one point I remember thinking, "We're not going to be able to go...", but God worked out EVERY detail (Even our flight was delayed... I believe without that we would not have had time to get everything resolved!) ... God put specific people in place at the exact right time... and obviously we got on the plane and are now in RUSSIA!

We landed in Russia, walked through customs and got our baggage the fastest that we have EVER done! We walked out into the airport looking all over for Viktor (all the while we are trying not to look at all the cab drivers offering us a ride... yikes!) .... and all of the sudden someone comes up behind us and scares us to death!!!!! Viktor!!!!!!!!!! We are so happy to get to spend some time with him this trip! Yay! We went out to meet Slava at the car, and then headed to Ryazan! It was a great drive... the weather is a bit rainy... but not as cold as we thought it would be... maybe in the 30s/40s!

That night when we got back to Ryazan we went straight to a 'party' at Slava's church... One of the first faces that we saw when we walked in was Valdemar! He is a great young man, and close to our hearts -- he graduated from Solotcha this year, so we were so excited to see him at the church! Some missionaries from America were sharing about their experiences, and also some students from the international church were there as well -- one that I met was from Zambia!!!! (shout out to my friend Katy!!!!!!!!!! :)

One of my favorite parts of these trips is to hear everyone singing praises to the Lord in their own language... I think it is one of my absolute favorite sounds... and it was a great night of worship Friday night!

This morning (Saturday) we got up and headed to the church and sat in on their 'leadership meeting', after that we went to the orphanage where Viktor coaches soccer. It was Erin and I's first time there... the orphanage is larger than I would have expected. We went in and went to the gym where some of the boys were practicing with Viktor. We hung out on the sidelines and cheered them on, and watched as the little ones that weren't playing at the moment did flips and took pictures with our cameras..... it just breaks my heart to meet more and more kids that don't have families. It really was a fun afternoon with them, and we're hoping to return.

We came back into town, and had a small girls bible study. The american missionary from seattle fixed lots of fun snacks, and we talked with the girls about the story of the woman with the alabaster box...

A great few days coming to an end.... its 1: 28 AM here and we're about to go to sleep.... we're so excited to see what the Lord has in store for the next week!!

  Here are some ways you can pray...


- focused/purposeful conversations with all we come in contact with
- that God would work across the language barrier...
- that God will helps us connect with kids that He has put on our hearts to get in contact with
- that we will be allowed to visit the orphanage and see our kiddos
- encourage the local believers 
- ultimately that we would be sensitive to the spirit moving and be able to share the good news with all we meet