Ronald and Rachel Winkler: January and February 2007
Dear Praying Friends,
Greetings once again from Siberia, Russia. My family and I arrived safely back to our home in Russia on January 14 after a very exhausting trip. It took us several days to get adjusted back to the time difference, but are now fully adjusted. We Praise the Lord for the "warm" winter we are having. Last year at this time we were averaging -40 degrees. When we arrived in Moscow it was 33 degrees with a soft rain coming down. When we arrived in Krasnoyarsk it was just a degree or two below freezing. We were thankful for this since we were dressed in our California winter clothes. God is good.
CALEB'S DOCUMENTS
Please be in prayer that we can get all the documents for our new baby turned in and that we will not have to take him out of the country after his visa expires in April. Many of you remember when we first arrived in Russia in 2003 that we came here on a three month visa. During those three month we turned in an application and many other required documents to obtain a "green card." After we turned in these documents they extended our visas for six months and we never had to leave the country to renew visas.
Since Caleb was born in America, he is now having to go through this same "green card" process. I have all his documents ready to submit to the authorities this week and we are praying that they will extend his visa here in Krasnoyarsk while they go through the 6 month approval process. If they do not extend his visa, we will have to take him out of the country to renew his visa. That means a trip to the Russian embassy in Mongolia. Please pray that we will not have to make this trip.
VILLAGE OF SHELA
Please pray that we can finish raising the needed funds to build a church building in the village of Shela.
We praise the Lord for the great response to our need for about $30,000 to construct a church building in this village. So far we have had 11 donations come in for a total of $14,850. Another $1,000 has been committed. If you would like to be a part of what is going on in Shela and want to help us put up this building, you can send your gift to our mission agency. We are grateful for each church and individual who has given toward this need.
Please pray for a young teen girl named Sveta. During our furlough, Sveta (pictured below) made a decision to accept Christ as her Savior! She is the first young person to accept Christ since we began meeting in this village about a year ago. Others I believe are close to making a decision to accept Christ as well. Please pray that we will see more decisions in the coming months as we diligently share the gospel with them.
Thank you all so much for your prayers for us. We appreciate the investment you are making on behalf of the Russian people. It is our privilege to labor together with you all in the common cause of bringing people to Christ.
For Siberian Souls,
Ron Winkler and Family