I (Mike) was in the States for two weeks attending a Stoneworks board meeting and having good time with family, friends and ministry partners. Sadly, I wasn’t able to meet with everyone I wanted, but we should have opportunities:

Several months ago we filed paperwork with the US government to get green cards for Olga and Valerie. We intend to get US passports, and this is the first step. At some point we will (hopefully) be in the States for an extended visit as we finish up the process. We do not intend to live in the States full time but sense that we should now get US citizenship for Olga and Valerie.

We are already planning mission trips for next year. As the Lord wills, I’ll be in Montenegro with a team in May, and in July we’ll have teams in Russia, Montenegro and Estonia. (Anyone interested in leading a team to Belarus?) We are moving forward in our plans to buy land in Montenegro to open a Christian camp.

Interestingly, we don’t yet have the money for the purchase, but everything else is in great shape: good relationships, much unity among the leaders and a clear dependence on God’s guidance and provision. We will need money when the time comes to buy, but we’re not quite there yet.

And now from Olga: It is hard to believe that Mike and I have been married for 12 years! It seems just like yesterday, and I keep thinking what a young and inexperienced girl I was then. Now my life is so full! I continue homeschooling Valerie, which a great fun, though it is challenging at times. Next year according to Russian system Valerie has to start school, and we  are hoping we can home-school her here. The Russian law has been changing on that. Also, it is far less common here to educate your children at home, and pretty often now I get into conversations about it with various people. One of them was my dad. When I first told him about our decision to home-school Valerie he was very negative, but as we talked more he actually admitted that it made a lot of sense. So we are on this fun and hard road, and we love every bit of it. Valerie keeps making progress and loves discovering new things and new skills!

In Christ,

Mike, Olga and Valerie Cantrell