Greater Portland Baptist Church

Adam and Angela Young: March 2008

Dear Fellow Laborers,

Praise the Lord for the exciting things He is doing in Russia!

Furlough Lengthened
Last month I wrote that we would be taking a three month furlough because I thought that this was the longest amount of time we could stay outside of Russia and keep our residency. I am happy to say that I was wrong. The longest amount of time we can spend is actually 6 months. This gives us a lot more flexibility with our furlough. However, government regulations are not our only concern. Although we could take 6 months, while we are gone there will be no one to take our place, leaving the people with whom we are studying the Bible without any one to guide them. The closest Independent Baptist Missionary is 16 hours away by train, and of course he has his own people to worry about. I feel like the Lord would have us come back this time for only 4 and half months. This will give us enough time to see most of you that we have not seen for 5 and a half years, while hopefully not being too detrimental to the people we are serving here.

This might not look like very much, but this document gives us the freedom to live in Russia for five years. It can be renewed 8 times for a total length of 45 years. Lord willing, we will be here that long. It also allows us to travel freely to and from Russia. It also acts as identification, taking the place of my American passport while in Russia.

Scheduling Meetings
We are giving priority to those who we have not reported to in the last five years, but unless schedules work out perfectly, we will miss a few of you. I am sorry about this, and we thank you for your understanding. Everyone of our supporting churches will get a copy of our presentation on a DVD whether or not we are able to visit your church in person. We will be contacting everyone whom we have not seen in five years, but if you would like to contact us to try to make sure we leave room for your church, please do. We have a stateside phone number that connects to our computer, on which you can leave a message, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. The number is [removed]. You can as always reach us at our e-mail address, adamyoung2russia@juno.com as well. Also keep in mind that our next furlough, Lord willing, will be in 2011 or 2012 depending on the state of things here. Thank you again for your understanding.

Yours in Christ,
Adam, Angela, Alex, Amelia, and Alisa