March 16, 2007

Jeff & Gelya Whitney, Russia

 

 

Dear Prayer Partners,

 

As always I want to thank you for you faithfulness in praying for my wife and I and our ministries in Russia.  We are blessed to partner with you in ministry.  Here are a couple items going on this week for which we would appreciate your prayers:

 

After having gone nearly 3 years without a wedding in our church in Vladimir, we have recently seen a number of weddings (including our own).  Tomorrow will be the 5th wedding to take place in the last 9 months.  Katya Komarova and Pasha Gibner will be married here at the Tokareva Wesleyan Church in Vladimir at 2:00 pm tomorrow, Saturday March 17.  You might recognize Katya's name as she is one of our Russians who is preparing for mission service.  For a number of years she has also served as the church's Home Group Coordinator, leading her own group and meeting regularly with the other Home Group leaders, and as the Missionaries' main Russian Language tutor.  Pasha has been part of the church for a number of years and has served at several of our camps and other ministries.  He also feels a call to missions and the couple hopes to serve in Germany in the not to distant future.  Please pray for the ceremony tomorrow and for this couple as they officially begin there life together.  Pray also for their future ministries, especially that God will continue to open the way for them to serve in missions.

For the second year, a team from Cedar Falls, Iowa is coming to Vladimir to minister to us, the missionary team.  On Thursday, Pastor John Miller, his wife and 2 others from his church will "treat" our team to 4 day long weekend retreat for Spiritual Rest and Renewal.  Having experienced ministry burn-out himself, Pastor John has a passion for ministering to others in high-stress ministries, hoping to prevent them from having similar experiences.  With that in mind his church has partnered with our field.  Please pray that these days will truly be a time of rest and spiritual renewal for Gelya and me and the rest of our mission team.  Also pray especially for Gelya as once again she will be plunged into an English-only setting, which in and of itself can be draining and stressful.