Dear partners, especially prayer partners!
Please pray and praise your way through this letter.
I trust you have been praying for our ministry, our team, our travels, our packing, our finding a way to get our stuff back to the US, our health and LaVerne’s pain management, and my meetings with VIP about the takeover of the former CAC building (CIU/IIIC).
Here is a nudge to be faithful in prayer for these things.
Pray for my meetings with the people who would like to buy our CIU/IIIC building, though it was and is occupied by those who allegedly were granted by the Crimean government the right to take it from us, with no court order, with no document of any kind. They said that even the head of the government is subject to the law, and if we have ownership papers, we are the owners. Right.
The city already answered our letter: the building in question is not on our balance sheet, so please go to the police or prosecutor and … God bless you.
The police were to have responded to the complaint long ago but have not and probably will not.
We will discuss next week whether or not to go to the prosecutor’s office or if the party interested in buying the building has a more effective means of getting what they want and we want.
I wish I could tell you more… and maybe I will … sort of….
I was talking to our Ukrainian/Russian bookkeeper and found an interesting parallel to something that happened recently.
YS worked for a bank in Simferopol in the early 90s. She gave out credit (loans) and then the economy tanked. The bank demanded that she personally get the lendees to repay the money — or she has to repay it. She was expected to go out and get the money or else something would happen to her and her family. The threat came from the thugs who were the [behind the scenes?] ‘founders’ of the bank.
As the French quoted as saying: The more things change, the more they stay the same. And that is all I can say about that.
BTW, as a foreigner, and particularly as an Amer ican, I assume that my emails are read or may be read at any time.
In some ways we are behind in packing, but on the other hand we have met with two realtors, managed some POAs, moved Andrei Taran’s boxes from our basement to his place, and taken care of some other business. I have only been with staff for Friday staff meetings, and a few brief meetings with some of them.
I will preach for next two Sundays. (Yeah, just what I needed, something else to do.)
SCC is half its size from a year ago, down to 30 adults last Sunday.
We have to do some serious packing over the next ten days so that I can have some more time with my staff before we leave.
We had two Tatar students come asking to stay in our House on the Hill, so the staff talked with a room that had three in it and asked them if they would accept two more if their rent was lowered. They said yes. I think we have 21 now. Two of the residents recently approached Natalka about personal issues, opening the way for a relationship that could be a bridge to the gospel.
Natalka is wrestling with staying with us or going to Moscow to work in a ministry that is primarily an English language school for all ages. Pray for her. The staff does not want her to leave, but she senses that this is what God wants her to do, though she is happy, or reasonably happy, where she is.
I instructed the staff on making video for supporters and would-be supporters. I look forward to sharing that with you when it is ready.
We are enjoying warm October weather but this weekend there will be a transition to cold October weather.
BTW, we went to another grocery story last night and it was huge and there were not too many empty shelves, though most of the shelves were not densely packed either. It had much more than the store we first went to. Interesting that it had a lot of products from France. But then again, so is the
store. (But a few days ago another store retrieved the French butter that they just rang up!) Prices ranged from surprisingly low to surprisingly high. Bread was less expensive than when we left Crimea. The aisles are wide … and sparsely populated.
All is well, but full of uncertainties and stresses, with so little time to get things done.
Your prayers are appreciated,
Georges and LaVerne
Simferopol
