April showers bring May…showers

and we are now preparing for our Summer English Camp!

These past couple months, i’ve been focusing on building relationships in different English clubs.  God has given me favor in several places and I’ve gotten to meet a new group of people and in teaching English, I’ve also had the privilege of sharing the gospel with them.  It has been a lot of fun and even with having to teach several groups, the work itself has been really…easy!  God has put me into a position where I am well prepared and am not stressed at all by the work it takes to do it!

Now.  In about 3 weeks, we are going to have our Urban English Camp.  Please be praying for the students who are coming from Texas to help us out with it.  Our Russian team on ground zero as we try to run a different kind of camp than we’ve usually done and for me cuz I’m running point on delegating work to everyone and making sure that it all runs smoothly!!

OHH..and a couple weeks ago, Emily came down to visit us!  It was great and I was glad that we could hang out and that she could see how the ministry had changed since she left.  She was here from 2005-7 and I was her roommate when i moved to Krasnodar in 2006!!

Emily, Tolu, Jenny

…in the spirit of starting new things…

First, I realize that i am soooo bad in updating my blog and I will do my best to get better at this!!

My passport has been giving to immigration and they told me last week to wait for a phone call in the next 2 weeks at which time they will return my passport with my permanent residency.  So…as far as being able to stay in one country for a long period of time and saving lots of money doing it, it’s a new era that I praise God for!

In ministry, i’ve been thinking about this for a while but i think this is the time for me to take a step back from all the events we’ve been doing and focus more on discipleship.  It’s great that i’m not even needed there for an event to go on and I can focus more on the American students who are coming to help us out with English ministry and the Russian girls in discipleship.  Nika and I were talking about this subject again the other day and we really do need to focus on discipleship. …ohhh and to be completely honest, I think my brain needs a break from years of planning meetings and thinking up activities or else I might be looking

like this at the next meeting……and i would prefer not to scare people away=))

The beginning of a new era…

I had the opportunity to spend Christmas and the New Year with my family in California. It was a time we all appreciated since the only way we all get to see each other now is to make a pact that we will all be in one location at some point in time! I also got to celebrate my birthday (Feb. 12) with the family. It’s also my parent’s anniversary so we celebrated everything together. I feel like I spent very little time with my friends but the time we spent was so much fun.

There was also a week I spent at the University of Texas, San Antonio where I got to speak with a lot of students about doing missions in Russia. That trip was an unexpected blessing for me.
Raising financial support was also a priority while I was in the states. I haven’t fully raised my budget yet but I do thank all of you who have been giving and ask that you keep praying for me that I be able to raise the full amount this year.
I am back in Krasnodar, Russia now and have picked up my Permanent Residency! Some of the ministry already began so I literally jumped back into the swing of things the day I got back.

Speaking with students at the University of San Antonio, Texas

Birthday party

Residency in Russia

Thank you so much for your prayers!  My papers for residency have been accepted!  So i need to wait a few more months before getting the final stamp of approval but this is a HUGE blessing!  I will no longer have to leave every few months and I can live a more stable life.  Financially and Psychologically, it also really helps!  There used to be a time when i loved to travel but i honestly would like to stay in one place for a while now=)

Chi Alpha Leadership Comes to Krasnodar

(In the picture from left to right: Tolu Ladeinde, Jessica Hardin, Jenny Palmer, Scott Martin, Steve Barke, Josh Payne, Craig Woodham.  We are all standing in front of KECU, the Seminary in Krasnodar, Russia)

This September, we had visitors who came to Krasnodar to see and encourage us in what we are doing here.  Chi Alpha leadership (Scott Martin, Craig Woodham and Steve Barke) came and had the opportunity to meet our student leaders, walk on a campus and participate in our general bible study with our group.  The stories that they told of God’s miraculous power really affected the Russians that heard it.  We want to see God move in the miraculous here in Russia!

Got my work visa for Russia in Madrid!

In Madrid, Spain

So now, I will be able to stay in Russia longer than 3 months at a time!!  That is actually huge for me.  I’m tired off jumping in and out of Russia.  It takes a lot of energy…and money and it’s hard to be consistant with the work that’s happening with the students.  So, Praise God with me!  Next step: Permanent Residency!  =)

Birthday Month!

I turned 32 this month on the 12th of February!  It’s the 28th with just a couple hours left of Feb so i wanted t quickly update on this month.  I have no pictures although some where taken by others but i was given a surprise birthday party on the night of the 11th.  It was cool but i was truly stunned cuz i came ready to have a meeting when they yelled surprise.=)    This month also had Judi Ballwebber coming to have a seminar with the young adults on Sex, HIV and STD’s.  That took place on the 12th right after English club so my birthday was a busy day!  Thank God that all went well.  My visa troubles however have not ended yet.  I’ve been assured that it is indeed a light I see at the end of my tunnel and not someone holding a flashlight =)  The process is not moving as quickly as eveyone thought it would and  I have left the country again to renew a private visa so that I can come back and keep working on the work visa and rsidency issues.  Please keep me in prayer for that because it can be wearing on the soul sometimes…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We praise God for what He has been doing in and through us!  This is  a picture of one of the Alpha course groups.  It’s a place where those who are spiritually interested can come and gather, ask question and discuss God and the bible.  We have seen it grow and interestingly enough, it’s mostly guys that come.  But we have seen people come to Christ through it and we praise God for that!

Another big event in my life was that recently, I became an official member at Dom Evangele (House of Evangelism)!  It’s the church i’ve been going to since I got to Krasnodar but now it’s official =)

I’m sitting in between Yasea (on my left) and Tanya (right).  Christmastime was full of different events, parties and meetings to plan parties but it felt good to be in Russia at Christmastime.  It’s been a while but I was really surprised at how warm everything was.  I think i was walking around with no jacket on Christmas day!  Yeah…that won’t last long.

We ended the year with Christmas English service which was fun to do but in the middle of the laughter and joy, for me, times were stressful!  Ive been having visa problems recently and at this time was trying to plan how to get back out of Russia before my time on my visa ran out!  I finally found somewhere to go.  I’m in the Ukraine as I write this blog.  As soon as all the vacation is over, I can go to the consulate, get my visa and go back to Russia.  I praise God that I was able to get a work visa recently.  It starts in February and it lasts a year.  So i’m praying that within this 2011year, I’ll nt only be able to apply but receive permenant residency!  It would make life and living more stable and…cheaper=)  Please be praying for that with me.

A Whirlwind America Tour

November was a very interesting month for me.  My three month visa was about to come to an end which meant that I had to leave Russia again and re-new my visa.  But this time, I planned to come to America because my best friend, Ekene was getting married and I was going to be the maid of honor at her wedding!  i was really excited to be able to make it to the wedding because for while it looked like an impossibilty. 

So, I left a bit early so that i could visit friends and family in California.  Some of you guys saw me whiz by as I spent less than tow weeks hanging out with my family, running around trying to get a new visa and seeing friends =)

Hanging with my brother, Tosin in San Francisco

After California, I flew to Texas to help Ekene with the last week of wedding plans.  The wedding was great and it was so good to be able to see her so happy and meet her fiance, now husband, Chike.  Ekene and I met in Highschool and that’s when my family got  really close to hers!

With my friends from church in Antioch

 

After Texas, I drove to Louisiana to visit my sister, Yinka (on the far right) who was working with Master’s Commission Brazil.  They had been on a US tour for the last four months and I thank God that at the time I was in Texas, they happened to be right next door.  I spent a couple days with them, drove back to Texas, got my passport and visa and flew back to Russia.  I have to admit, the constant time changes made my head spin a bit but I was glad to go and glad to come back home!

…A New Semester begins

Alpha Course

The New Semester has begun and with it events like Women’s Bible study, English Club and Outreaches to students.   Alpha Course is a discussion group that we have where we invite spiritually interested people to come and share about what they think about…spiritual things =)  It’s a great time for discussion, getting to meet people and talk about how God is relevant to every part of our lives!