CIS Prayer: December News

[CarlaSun@aol.com]

Greetings from the CIS Field Office!

Winter has hit us with a vengeance.   The snow is already piled high and we've had days where the high has been -15C.   We are grateful that today we're having a heat wave and it is just near freezing.   
I stopped at the grocery store the other day with three very hungry teenage girls.   It was that afternoon that I realized how much these girls had been influenced by living in Russia.   Our two daughters, along with one of their friends began picking out things they thought I should buy.   Oh my, that dried seaweed sure looked good as a snack.   Was it salted?   How about the shredded beet salad?   Finally, the all important question -- did we have enough smetana (sour cream) at home.   It seems that nothing can be eaten without sour cream.   However, simple sour cream is not enough, it has to be the creamiest with the highest fat content you can find.   42% fat is the preferably variety.   Christy is already lamenting going to college in the US where she has yet to find decent sour cream.

Well, as you can see life goes on all around the world.   Soon we will be involved in the holiday season.   One of the benefits of this part of the world is getting to celebrate all the holidays -- twice.   We begin with New Christmas on December 25, followed by the New New Year on January 1, followed by Old Christmas on January 7, followed by the Old New Year on the 14th.   

Please pray for our churches in the CIS as they minister to people during this time of year.   This is always a special time to be able to minister to individuals that would not normally go to church.   Many of our congregations will have special Christmas and New Year programs.   

Please continue to pray for a peaceful resolution to the situation in Ukraine.   There will be new elections on December 26, and we pray that things will go well.

Please continue to pray for Colleen Skinner.   She has not yet regained her strength and needs to rest and recuperate from her illness.   

Please pray for a young lady named Lena Kwan.   She was originally our youth director at our church in Astana, Kazakhstan.   She moved to Moscow this last year and has been working here.   About 2 weeks ago she was hit by a car as she was walking down the street.   We don't know the details of what happened but she is in a coma and on a respirator.   Her parents have arrived from Kazakhstan to be with her.   She is a special person to both our church in Astana and Moscow First.   

Please pray for the ministry in Armenia.   The Lord has opened many doors for ministry but it is at times difficult to resource the needs.   Our kids' clubs (child development program) are doing well and we have an incredible number of children that would like to attend.   However, we are limited because we can only support those children who are sponsored through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Child Sponsorship.   Just last week Roxanne, our NCM coordinator received the following news from Gyumri, Armenia:

My dear Roxanne, I have a question.   I have already exhausted all the funds for the kids' club.   Day after day we have more children.   It's already winter here and very cold and we can't work in our office without heat.   We need heat. We also need money for electricity.   We need to feed the children in kids' club.   Roxanna jan, I ask you, for your help, so that our kids' club could continue to function.   With blessings, your sister in Christ -- Anna Jan.

December is the month for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.   If you would like to do a special project, please consider sponsoring a child from a CIS country.   We have a number of children on the waiting list for sponsors.   Please ask for a child from Armenia, Ukraine, Russia or Tadjikistan.   We would be grateful!

Please pray for special needs in St. Petersburg at this time.   This is probably the most difficult location on our field because of its proximity to the Arctic Circle.   It is hard on those that minister there.   

Please pray for our NTS students.   There have been some glitches in paperwork necessary for them to return to the January session.   Please pray that God can help to work these things out.

Thank you to you all for your prayers and concerns for the Field.   We know that you have been praying for God's work in this part of the world.   He does hear and answer prayer!!!

Blessings,

Carla Sunberg -- for the whole incredible CIS Team!