Don't forget to give to Lottie this year!

With grateful and happy hearts...

What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks, to sing an anthem to you, the High God! To announce your love each daybreak, sing your faithful presence all through the night, Accompanied by dulcimer and harp, the full-bodied music of strings. ~ Psalm 92:1 (The Message)

It is good to be home again after spending most of the months of October and November on the road. In that time, on two different occasions I spent a combined three weeks in Prague, a week in the Republic of Udmurtia and have just returned from another week in the Chuvash Republic. The remainder of this month and December will be spent at home, and I am looking forward to the time with my family.

I hate that it usually takes a special holiday, especially Thanksgiving, for us to stop and recall all the things the Lord has done for us and for all the many things for which we should be thankful. We really should do that on a daily basis, but it seems that (at least for me) life always seems to get in the way of pausing to reflect on God's graciousness and to think about the things for which we should be thankful, but become part of our daily routine. So, here is an abbreviated list of some of the many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving...

~ Of course, I have to start with my God, who provided the ultimate sacrifice to save me from my sins. That sounds preachy, but really. To just imagine that someone who knows my every thought, motive, and generally crappy nature would still lay down His life just to make sure that I can approach the throne of God. Wow! Now that is something to be thankful for.

~ My wife. I don't tell you who read this, or even her, enough what a special woman God gave me in my wife. Kellye is a truly wonderful woman who supports me in every way. In many ways, she is the embodiment of the Proverbs 31 wife and here are just a few examples from The Message version of that proverb:

"She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast
for her family and organizing her day...
First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,
rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.
She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
diligent in homemaking.
She's quick to assist anyone in need,
reaches out to help the poor.
She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;
their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
her husband joins in with words of praise:
"Many women have done wonderful things,
but you've outclassed them all!"

Is it any wonder that I am thankful for her??

~ My children. Sometimes, in the midst of life in another country it can be hard to remind yourself to be thankful for your children. Life here can be difficult and life here with three children who share a room in an apartment can be a little challenging at times. And, as a result, it can be pretty hard to remember to be thankful for your children at times. However, they are each very special and I love watching them growing into the people that God is molding them to be. Sarah Beth is silly and compassionate and makes me laugh. She has a great eye for video and photography and spending a week with her in Udmurtia was one of the greatest joys of my time in Russia. She has a great heart for God and for lost people and I am excited to see how God will use her. Hannah is growing into quite the young woman. She understands that following God's call is not always fun or easy, but that obiedience to that call is important, even if what we want to do somedays is go home. Hannah is funny and creative, a great writer, computer savvy, and has a unique way of seeing the world. She is also a joy to spend time with and I love that she still likes to snuggle up with her Daddy just to be close to him. John-John...well, what can you say. He is my boy. Not only does he look like me, in many ways he acts like me too. He is curious and inquisitive. He wants to know everything about everything. He also is computer savvy, even though he is just 7. He, unlike his father, likes to study Russian. He has never met a stranger and is never bashful to tell people about Jesus. He has a heart for God and all of "God's little guys", no matter how repulsive. I am just glad that we do not live in Brazil! I have no idea what John will be when he grows up, but I can already see signs that he will be a great man of God. As you can see, I have much to be thankful for.

~ Our family back home. I don't want to camp out on the fact that life here can be difficult. However, life here is always made easier by our family back home. They pray for us regularly, call for no particular reason, help us deal with stuff back home, spend countless dollars to help make life easier and send boxes of silly things like KoolAid and 3 Musketeers bars. This year I am specifically thankfull for Kay and Cathy, who are the sisters I never had while growing up. But mostly I am thankful for two sets of parents who raised Kellye and I to hear God's voice. I am thankful that we were raised in Christian homes. I am thankful that our parents always held us accountable to standards of Chrstian living, even when that was difficult. I am thankful that our parents made it possible for us both to attend OBU, or I never would have met my wonderful bride.

Time is starting to run short, so I will try to get in as many things possible...

~ Our churches. We could not stay on the field without their help and support. We appreciate everybody who helps by praying, giving, and going. A special thanks also to the many Sunday School classes who have sent cards, letters, packages and donations for things like warm winter clothing.

~ My travel partner, Tim. Getting to travel around the country would not be nearly as much fun without him by my side. More on that at a later day, but you should know that I am thankful for the fact tht he is my partner.

~ Friends around the world who read this blog, many of whom I have never met. Most days I wonder why this blog would be of any interest to anyone other than family or friends, and yet you continue to read and to pray for us. I am thankful for you.

~ Old friends with whom I have reconnected via Facebook. How cool is that, really?

~ Snow on Thanksgiving morning. It would not be a Moscow Thanksgiving without it. Seriously, I love it.

~ Our English Club. Having relationships with this special group of Russians that God has given us to share our lives with is just great and we love them.

~ Our "Mission Friends" here in Moscow and around the world. Too many to name everybody specifically, but you know who you are. I am thankful for you.

~ Our cat, Notchka, who makes our apartment feel a little more like home.

~ A company who makes sure we have a place to live and food on the table and who has a vision of reaching all peoples on earth with the Gospel. We are also grateful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering which makes us being here possible. Please start praying about what you will give this year.

As you can imagine, this is far from an exhaustive list of all the things I am thankful for. And, if you put them on a scale, they would far outweigh the yucky stuff about missionary life. Thank you again for being part of our ministry and for reading.

COMING SOON...

~ A recap of my trip to Udmurtia.
~ A full report from my trip to the Chuvash Republic.
~ New videos from the Engage Russia project.
~ The world premire of the Engage Russia theme song, "You and I" by the Jud Kossum Band.

STAY TUNED!!!

Where in the world is Marc???

Over the next six months I am scheduled to travel to nearly a dozen cities spread across Russia.  So, it may be difficult for me to sit down and write regular blog entries, however I will attempt to do that as often as possible.  However, in the meantime, I will be posting regular updates on Facebook, which I can do from my phone.  So, if you are on Facebook and have not added me as a friend, send me an invitation, I would love to hear from you.

I have also created, a Twitter account and will start updating that soon as well.  

Thanks for praying and wanting to stay connected.

Blessings,

Marc

On my way out the door...

Well, it seems that time for reflection lasted for only a couple of hours before life started getting busy again.  In less than an hour I will head out for the train station and will spend the night on my way to Cheboksary, the capital of the Chuvash Republic.  This media trip will be the second in a series of trips I will be taking as part of our new "Engage Russia" project.  I will be telling you more about that as we roll out the new website and first video features...hopefully just after Thanksgiving.

I will return next Tuesday and will update you on this trip, plus add a few more comments from my Udmurt trip at that time.

Blessings,

Marc

Time to Reflect--Part One

It is a quiet Saturday morning... something that comes none too often in our home these days, so I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on the past couple of weeks.

First, an update on the dryer.  

Now that I am feeling just a little bit more calm about the situation I can share with you that I have made my peace with the fact that we will not have a clothes dryer.  No big deal, really, just one of those niceties from home that you like to have, but not a necessity.  Yes, I would love to have a fluffy towel instead of a crunchy one.  And even more so, I would love for Kellye to have the feeling that it is possible to be caught up on laundry. (A nearly impossible task with 5 people in the house.)  But, the fact of the matter is that most people in Russia (missionary personnel included) live perfectly fine lives without a clothes dryer.  Without going into a lot of detail (since it really does not matter anyway), the repair company called later in the day telling us they had found another of the little plastic part we had been waiting for over the past three months.  However, they wanted $300 for the part and another $150 to install it...and that was in addition to the $100 we had already paid for the diagnostic.  So, we thanked them very much for their offer and hung up the phone.  It makes me all the more thankful for the washing machine and thanking the Lord that we are not washing our clothes in the bathtub as some of our other friends and colleagues must do.

A Heart for Russia

I love to travel.  Seeing the world is a great pleasure to me.  A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to spend two weeks in the Czech Republic visiting friends and traveling the countryside.  And it was fantastic.  Wonderfully friendly people and beautiful scenery.  And, I would be lying if I told you that I didn't consider switching assignments to live there.  It would be delightful to serve in that part of the world and to be close to dear friends.  But God has put Russian people and the geographic area of Russia in my heart.   While in Udmurtia this past week I was able to get my first taste of life in Russia outside of the big city...and I loved it.  One of the highlights for me was to be able to attend a small Russian Baptist church on Sunday morning.  There were about 20 people present and I had a wonderful time just sitting and talking with them.  As we were driving back to the larger city, I thought to myself..."God has given me a heart for Russia, I cannot possibly leave this place."  So, though other places in the world may be great places to visit and can be enticing, I thank God that he has placed in our hearts a love for the people we have been asked to minister to.

Engage Russia

We have lived in Moscow for a little over a year now and have spent much of that time studying language, and trying to carve out a ministry with the Russians we have met here.  And, while we have enjoyed most of that time, I have been chomping at the bit to really get to work and to do what I do.  This month I started work on an exciting project we are calling "Engage Russia"  where we will spend the next 8 months or so traveling around the country and creating media pieces which will be used to promote cities and people groups where we do not have any personnel in place.  Our travels will extend as far north as the Arctic Circle, to Siberia, and to the Far East of Russia.  So, it will be an exciting time for me.  During that time I will be on the road for at least one to two weeks a month, so please continue to pray for Kellye and the kids while I am away.  I will continue to blog about my adventures and soon we will have a special website for the project, so stay tuned! 

Udmurts!!

A little more than two years ago Kellye and I took Sarah Beth to Oklahoma to attend a missionary conference.  At that time, the emphasis for the IMB was on a people group known as the Udmurts.  They are located in the western foothills of the Ural Mountains and their religious background is mainly shamanistic.  Well, Sarah Beth fell in love with the Udmurts.  She would leave us notes around the house reminding us to pray for them, she would talk about them and would often joke about adopting a "little Udmurt baby."  So when I found out that I was headed off to Udmurtia for one of my media trips I just had to take SB with me.  We had a great time traveling together and were joined on the adventure by my project partner, Tim, and his teenage daughter, Rachel.  The girls spent much of their time laughing and giggling at nearly every turn.  And the Daddys enjoyed watching our daughters develop a heart for the Russian people and share their faith with them.  It was a very special time and one I will treasure for years to come.

Well, I have had to amend the title of this blog to Part One.  The children are up and going and the house is abuzz with activity.  Today is a great football day, so it is time to run to the store to get the fixins for chili.  There are more reflections yet to come...

Blessings,

Marc