HI,

Arrived in Simferopol with no problems.

 

Guess I had better get with the Moscow time zone and get to sleep! It is going on 1:30 AM.

 

Was great being back with staff today — they took us out for my belated birthday dinner. 

 

The Center looks great!

The varnishing of the exterior windows and doors at the Center look great. 

The center was spotless. 

There were 20 in the guest rooms, now 19. We are completely full at 20, using the guest room for residents. 

Staff is doing well. Stressed, but doing well. Olya said she feels like a load has been lifted from her leadership shoulders even though it is only for a few weeks, and I will not be in the office that much.

I did not have my camera with me to shoot the 5 pm class on Christian Doctrine/Systematic Theology, but was glad to see a good though small group (7?) attending that. Will get photos another time. 

I will catch Shannon’s English and Bible class sometime, too.

I have been asked to teach a lesson or two (in English) in a school for exceptionally bright children, where one of our grads works. Hope to work it in.

I have been asked to preach all my Sunday’s here but doubt I can prepare for that. Not just yet anyway. 

I am about to arrange my various meetings with VIP.

Packing is a priority, though. 

We will try to get our place presentable for a realtor to look at it and put it up for sale after we leave, but there is a lot of packing and disposing of things to do first. The actual ability to properly register sales is not there yet, though people are doing it by one means or another. All is supposed to be in place for that by the end of October. We’ll see.

Three weeks is not nearly enough time for what we need to do, but we thought we were going to close on a house Nov 4. The deal fell through a few days before we left, and I signed the cancellation of the contract yesterday to get our earnest money back, scanned and sent by email.

We will resume house hunting when we return. Want to be in our own place by Christmas!

Pray for Andrei’s mom– looks like she needs surgery or her cancer may spread. She is not up to chemo. Radiation did not help.

Pray for Andrei — his visa (US status) situation has not been resolved.

Blessings,

Georges