Well, well. Autumn is here and we put on winter tires just in time; we’ve just seen the first snow of the season. Many of the leaves have now fallen. It’s been a glorious Autumn.

After a tremendous amount of travel (Central Europe, Germany, Montenegro, Estonia, Finland and Norway), we are now at least settled in the same general area. I’m in Estonia for a few days taking care of some business (like putting on winter tires) and head to Russia tomorrow.

On Friday we had a board meeting of Sunbeam, the center for children with disabilities in Estonia. That program is doing very well (but is in need of financing, as is often the case). The director, Ursula, is a very good leader, and more children are joining the program. In addition to the wonderful paid staff, we also have two interns from the USA serving for several months. The leadership team is pictured below.

One VERY good outcome of the meeting is our intention to open a Christian kindergarten in one wing of the building. I hope to have more news about that in the coming months. This was Artur’s idea, and we all agree that it will be a wonderful thing to have a Christian school there, starting with a kindergarten.

I’ll be in the States early next month for a Stoneworks board meeting and will meet with many ministry leaders as we plan projects in various countries. Speaking of, it looks like Stoneworks needs to add Norway as our fifth country of ministry (in addition to Russia, Belarus, Estonia and Montenegro): Yura Belonozhkin is expanding his men’s ministry into Norway, and he has many good relationships there. The doors of opportunity continue to open.

Valerie is (as always) doing great. She’s studying piano and dance, and recently she’s been asking to play my mandolin. She is memorizing Scripture and often asks to pray the Lord’s Prayer. Olga is also doing well as she continues to home-school Valerie, which is showing great results. Our lives are full almost to overflowing; the Lord promised abundant life, and we’re thankful for it.

As I write this, a thought comes to mind. Perhaps it will be meaningful to one or several of you: ‘speak softly, speak with respect, and wait for the Lord to open the door.’