“It was a summer with lots of travel as we attended a family wedding in Pennsylvania, took time away with our kids and grandbabies and with our extended families, re-connected with friends and supporters and spoke on several occasions about our work in Guinea. We have returned to Guinea rested and encouraged”… to read the rest of the Westlake’s August newsletter click here!
Thanks for praying for us for English Camp! After lots of prayer, planning and preparation, 20 teenagers (mostly from the northeastern part of Germany) enjoyed a fantastic week of Camp with us! God provided all the energy we needed to not only simply “staff” and lead the camp, but we all connected very well with so many of the campers – friendships that are proving to last longer than one simple week together. Our staff (including the ICE team from Crown College, MN) was very fun to work with, and it was a great pleasure for me (Ben) to work with them and lead them… to view read the entire newsletter from the Carey’s, click here!
Dear Praying Friends,
Praise the Lord that we arrived in Moscow safely on Wednesday after a long, but rather uneventful trip which began Tuesday morning from our home in Edinboro, PA. Temperatures are seeing record highs in Moscow and throughout much of western and central Russia. Today it was 100 degrees, with tomorrow’s forecast being 103. Most apartments here do not have AC, and the C&MA Guest Flat (where we’re staying for the time being) is no exception. It was blazing hot last night as we all struggled to sleep (all windows were closed due to the smoke from the wildfires outside of Moscow, and the apartment must have been over 90 degrees), and began the week-long adjustment to the 8-hour time change.
Please pray! – We still do not have an apartment, and our realtor is not at all optimistic that we’ll be able to find something that we can afford. We were supposed to see two apartments today, but one landlord backed out, and the other apartment, which we really like, is out of our price range. We hope to be able to see 1-2 in the next day or so, but if those don’t work out, then our realtor doesn’t really know where to go next.
Please pray that the Lord would lead us soon to the apartment that He already has planned out for us, and that we would be able to get moved in before the kids start school on August 17. (By the way, thank you to all of you who have already been praying for several weeks about this.)
Needed: Car – Please also continue to pray that God would provide the funds that we need to buy a car in this next month.
Thank you for your support of the C&MA Great Commission Fund, and for your consistent prayers and generosity with our family. We couldn’t be here without you.
Love,
Steve, Christy, Philip, William and Jessica
Dear Praying Friends & Family,
This is our final update to you, before we return to Moscow. As a reminder, we will be flying out of Pittsburgh this next Tuesday. After a very short layover in Washington D.C., we will arrive in Moscow on Wednesday morning. Please pray for safe travels, no delays and good health during the 18-20 hours that we will be traveling from leaving our home here in the U.S., until arriving at the C&MA Guest Flat in Moscow.
Speaking of the Guest Flat, we are not sure how long that we’ll be staying there, as we still don’t have an apartment in Moscow. Our colleagues have been working very hard with a Realtor to find one, but the right one hasn’t come along yet. Please pray that we’ll be able to find an apartment soon, maybe even in these last days before our return.
Important Notice! Thanks to your great generosity, we were told by the C&MA National Office this past month that we have reached the limit of what we are allowed to raise for our Outfit Fund over a 5-year period. Thank you, thank you, for your tremendous support for our family! What this means is that for the next budget year, July 2010 – June 2011, we will not be able to raise funds for our Outfit Fund. But, this doesn’t mean that we can’t raise funds for other things! Below we want to let you know of two of the needs that we still have:
If you feel the Lord leading you to help us with either of these funds, here’s what you should do: Write out a check to, “The C&MA,” and in the memo line write, “Steve Volstad, Russia,” then write which fund that you want to give to (Vehicle Fund or Work Specials Fund). If you attend an Alliance Church you can place this check in the weekly offering. If you don’t, please mail the check to: The C&MA, P.O. Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO. 80935-3500. Or, you can give on the C&MA website at cmalliance.org.
It was great to see many of you while we were in the States this year. We’re grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to be in many of your churches, to speak face to face with you, or to write back and forth by email. We know that as we go back for this new term, that there are people here in the States who are praying for us, and for our kids, and for the new ministries that we’ll be undertaking. We couldn’t be there without you. Thank you!
Love in Christ,
Steve, Christ, Philip, William and Jessica Volstad
“And the story goes on…… This is a brief note to catch you up on what happened with the court case. Our lawyer and others took the documents that the judge wanted and he also heard some more testimonies. He then said that he would give his decision on the 2nd of August. So please keep praying!!! This is actually a very important decision as it….” click here to read more.
Hey Friends & Family!
We hope this newsletter finds you all recovering well from an exciting and enthralling World Cup! Please click here to read our newsletter and figure out why you see a LEGO convict to the right. Anyway, thanks for praying with us and throwing your arms around us and walking along side of us as we serve God here in Berlin — we love you!
Prayers, Blessings & Laughter,
Ben, Sarah, Travis & Hannah
“We are all very happy for our new situation and for what God has already done for us. This past week, Andy has been in the office at STT Jaffray for three days and has enjoyed being in an office again (for the first time since May 09). Lora has been busy cleaning, organizing, arranging, and shopping. Thank you for remembering us to the One we serve…”
Click here to read the rest of “Braeking News” and to hear how you can further uplift the Brake family in prayer.
“Will you please pray for us as we prepare to return to the field? We have much to do while still Stateside. There’s lots of packing to do, and many goodbyes to be said, some which will be difficult. Would you also pray as we begin our new ministries, for an extra special blessing of the Holy Spirit on us and in our lives?”
To read the entire Volstad Ventures Newsletter please click here!
Hello family and friends.
Just a quick note to let you know we are safe in Makassar. We spent the night at the guest house at the school and today we will be moving to our house. The last few weeks have been hectic but rewarding as we had a wonderful field forum in Bali and an uneventful trip here. Several things we are thankful for:
Thank you all remembering us. Please continue to do so as we get settled in and get ready to teach by August 16 (yikes). We will be sending a more detailed newsletter soon.
Blessings,
Andy and Lora Brake
“We talked of how God was there with us, out in the fields, and we could talk with him in the car, in the air, on a boat, in the USA or anywhere else in the world. It seemed unbelievable to them, but I am trusting the Lord to help them understand and long for such a God. ‘Why would I want to trust in such a limited god,’ I insinuated. I told them they could trust God too….” To read more about how the Lord is using the Kramers to reach people in Taiwan, click here!
