Encouragement

We visited our dear friends and former Ulan-Ude teammates up near Calgary, Canada.  We enjoyed walks outside in beautiful places and a trip to an indoor mini water park for families.

We had fun visiting Matthew and Heather Ann as they worked at Starbucks.

Leif pretended to be Heidi's bodyguard and picked up her boyfriend, Josh, from the airport.  He was very surprised and was worried that he may be kidnapped!

     Our past few weeks have been filled with encouragement.  We have gotten together with many dear people from various walks of life and have enjoyed times talking with them, hearing about their lives, sharing from ours, and praying for one another.  As you can see from the pictures above, we had the chance to visit our former teammates, who are now living in Calgary, Alberta.  It was really fun to laugh with them and share our hearts with one another.

     There have been two things that have really struck me the past few weeks as we've been talking with many dear people.  One is that SEVERAL different people and families, when asked how we can pray for them, said that they want to serve God and to be shaken out of their comfort zone.  They want to be willing to go and to do whatever He asks of them.  Wow!  I love this.  It's so encouraging, and it creates a snowball effect.

     The other thing that has blown us away, is the increased prayer support we have received from many for our family, our ministry, and the people of Siberia.  Several people have told us they are committed to praying for us DAILY and one couple would like to start a prayer group for us and a handful of other missionaries.  People have written us letters saying "I'm in!" with praying, and we are deeply humbled and oh-so-grateful.  We are excited about what God is doing, and have a renewed sense of hope for the days ahead.  What would we do without the body of Christ?