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February
2004
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Dear friends and family, A belated Happy Valentine's Day to you! As always, I pray that this letter finds you doing well. I decided to start writing a monthly update now since it seems like so much happens in a month's time. Again, if any of you do not wish to receive these updates for whatever reason, please let me know and I will take you off the mailing list, though I hope we would still be able to keep in touch. Anyway…let's get on to the update. I am happy to give a report regarding the apartment situation. Olya's friend and former classmate visited us the other day and told us her plans for selling the apartment. Apparently, she hasn't put it on the market yet and won't do so until sometime around the weekend of March 6th. She also told us that she would put a condition in the selling agreement which would give us 2 months to find a new place after the closing of the sale. So, at the minimum, we will be able to stay in this place until the middle of May. I can't tell you how big of a blessing this is. We have been looking for a new apartment to rent, but haven't been able to find anything reasonable. We see how God is answering prayers and providing for us. We have had His peace in our hearts and all of our necessities are taken care of. We praise Him and we also thank you for praying for us. Please continue to pray that we would find the right apartment when the time comes. On the 4th of February, I started teaching science for the three children of one of the missionary families here. There is a 5-year-old boy and two girls, aged 8 and 11. The highlight of the first lesson was that the 5 year old, Josh, fell asleep at the table about 2/3 of the way through the lesson. Actually, the real highlight was seeing him wake up at the end with a confused and slightly aggravated look on his face. The fact that he fell asleep didn't make me feel too bad since Josh has never actually had a science class and usually naps in the afternoons anyway. Still, it motivated me to try and make things more interesting in the future. One of the biggest challenges I can see is trying to teach the same topic at three different levels at the same time. The solution for the present is that Josh is now my lab assistant and helps me prepare experiments for the girls. The second class was much more fun and exciting. It was such a neat feeling to see all of them react with astonishment at one of the experiments. Anyway, as always, your prayers are coveted. Olya's break finished up and she started teaching again. God has given her more confidence and a care for her students. It has still been a challenge, but she is enjoying the time more. It doesn't take her quite as long to prepare for her classes now and she has a better feel for teaching the material. During Olya's break we had a chance to visit some friends in another city for a day. These are the same friends that I went through the Missions Training Program with last winter and spring. Sasha, the pastor, and his wife Anya are happy and healthy and now have a 2-month-old baby girl. Ksyusha, the other girl from the program, is also doing well. They have a core group of 15 youth, who attend their meetings. They have had problems renting a hall for services though because of opposition by the city administration. If you can, please pray that God would provide a hall for their services. They currently have all their services in Ksyusha's apartment. Our home group is going well. We continue to meet weekly and usually have 7-9 people. We have been blessed recently by the willingness of a couple group members to help serve. One girl has volunteered to come early and help clean up the apartment. Another girl has volunteered to lead worship every other week. I believe that as the weeks go by, others will also see how God would want to use their gifts in the home group. It is exciting for me to see God using this small group time to form a close sense of community and to grow people in ministry. I pray that God would help me, as the leader of the group, to see the gifts/talents of others and encourage each person to use them. Some of you may have heard about the terror act in the Moscow subway a week and a half ago. Though we are about 130 miles NE of Moscow, I can't help but be a little affected by the news. The subway station where the bomb went off was one that we have been through several times in the past year. This sort of thing reminds me of the shortness of our lives and the need to know Jesus now. I hold on to the promise that God will some how use this tragedy to accomplish His purposes, glorify Himself, and bring more people to repentance. Well, that about sums up everything I wanted to say. For those of you who made it through the whole update, thanks for your time! Please let us know how you are doing. For me personally, it is a huge blessing to hear from back home. Shalom, Dave Erho |