Category: Updates

From Russia to Montenegro

3 Comments

Last week we made the drive from Russia to Montenegro. We traveled in two cars with our friends Sergei and Christina and their twin girls. Here is a photo record of the trip. (You can see a slideshow/video of a previous trip here).

We started early in the morning from dacha in Russia. Sergei said his goodbyes to Olga’s grandfather, Orest Grotten.

Olga posed for a portrait with her grandparents, Orest and Ludmilla

Orest said goodbye from the kitchen window

We packed up our cars and headed out!

The sun came up as we headed South, past Pskov to the Latvian border. Continue reading →

A Postcard from Estonia

1 Comment

I (Mike) have just seen the fulfillment of a dream. For the past two years we’ve thought that it would be great to send children from Russia to a Christian camp in Estonia. Well, it’s come to pass: MIR, in partnership with Love Russia UK, have sent 43 foster children and 6 Estonian orphans to Camp Gideon, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. A team of about 30 from the UK met the children and have been running a two-week camp. Interpreters from Russia are also serving there. The foster parents also went to camp, and it’s been a GREAT help to them to have a holiday in Estonia.

Russians have a saying — the first pancake is always a mess. So, while things have not been as smooth as we would have liked, the Brits have already committed to doing the camp again next year.

The Russian government changed laws making it more difficult for MIR to send children from orphanages out of the country, and this is one reason we had to stop the hosting program to the US. However, we are able to work with orphans in foster families. This looks to be a fruitful part of MIR’s work from here on.

MIR has several new things coming up and yet is going through a tight time financially. We’ve been in the situation before: hard times that are accompanied by new growth.

Please keep us in prayer as we discern what God has next for MIR and the ministry in Russia.

A Postcard from Russia — Life at Elama

Leave a comment

This was nice: All Nations Church had their camp at Elama last week. They posted this picture online with the following message —

We would like to thank Michael and Olga Cantrell and Sergey Tovstopyat for help in providing the place for this wonderful camp. We were truly blessed, we had a good time in prayer, studying the Bible, fellowship and relaxing.

Sergey Tovstapyat certainly deserves thanks; he is the camp administrator and has spent many hours making Elama a place of warm welcome. He’s been a great help to many people.

Thanks must also go to the many people who have donated time and funds to make Elama into what it is today. Looking at the picture, we give thanks for those who gave money for our mowers, we give thanks for the people who painted the buildings, we give thanks for the owners of the land who graciously let us use it. Elama has received help from Russians, Germans, Finns, Brits, and Americans. The list is long.

Elämä is the Finnish word for Life, and we want that place to be filled with God’s life through His people. It was great to hear that All Nations celebrated a baptism during camp — new life in Christ.

A New Project in Belarus

Leave a comment

This is one example of the work our organization does in Belarus. Please contact me if you’re interested in knowing more or supporting this very worthy project.

From the Stoneworks International website:

We are very excited to announce our next project in Belarus: a home for young men we hope to open this Fall.

In 2009 Spring of Revival and Stoneworks opened the Minsk Family Home, a home for young ladies who are leaving the orphanage system and need help making the transition to life on their own.

Timothy House is a natural extension of this ministry to graduate orphans.

If you would like to donate to help establish this home, please send a check to Stoneworks or donate online.

You can see and download a brochure here: Timothy House Brochure.

Here is an open letter from board member Jill Tyson:

Dear friends,

From the first days when I met Olga Goncherenko in Belarus I understood immediately that hers was not a casual relationship with the orphans in her country. I knew from the way the children smiled and hugged her while we were there that what she and her team were building special relationships that would last through the years.

Indeed, the commitment of our dear Christian friends has yielded much fruit in the lives of 100s of orphans in Belarus. One result of their discipleship and devotion to the children was the beginning of the Minsk Family Home in the fall of 2009, a home for Christian women who have graduated from the orphanage system in Belarus and want to continue their studies in a safe place.

Spring of Revival and Stoneworks International now announce the next step, the founding of a home for men. We will call this home Timothy House, because we feel these young men will truly become Godly examples in Belarus.

Please see the attached brochure, and pray about your involvement in this endeavor. We are committed to raising 80% of one year’s support before we give the “go – ahead” to begin in fall of 2011. A Christian Belorussian couple is willing to parent the home, and we already have several young men in mind to live there. If you are able to help distribute the brochures or raise awareness for the need, we would sincerely appreciate it, and we would also be grateful for a one-time gift or commitment for monthly support in any amount.

We are excited to be a part of revival in Belarus, one life at a time. Belarus is under-served in World Missions from the USA, partly because no American missionaries are allowed to live there. The environment for ministry is hostile to Christians, and no private orphanages are allowed. The government watches everything, especially foreign help which makes legal cooperative efforts at times impossible without God’s working miracles (which He has done on a regular basis!) Praise God that He doesn’t depend on rulers or laws to accomplish His will!

With a thankful heart for your interest and concern,

Jill Tyson

Christmas Day on January 1?

2 Comments

We celebrated Christmas on New Year’s Day because Valerie wasn’t with us on the 25th. She’d never celebrated Christmas like this (or maybe ever), and I don’t think she’s ever opened a Christmas gift. It was great fun to watch her learn what it is to open a Christmas gift. There was a sled waiting for her under the tree.

We read the Christmas story from the Bible and later Olga’s mother and some friends came to visit. We cooked a turkey and had a good meal together as a family. And the two grandmothers got to talk on Skype.

We start with Valerie opening a gift from her American Babushka:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjzoJbpGxCk?rel=0&showinfo=0

A Postcard from Russia — Home Again

Leave a comment

Each month, MIR hosts a prayer meeting (above) attended by people who give their lives in Christian ministry. It was great to attend after missing the past few meetings. MIR is facing some challenges just now, so your prayers are appreciated. A friend once told me that choosing a life of ministry means choosing a life of poverty. There’s truth in this.

These saints refuse to pursue worldly wealth and achievement; rather, they lay down their lives in service. They serve orphans, print Christian literature, help local churches, manage projects, provide counsel, fix computers, minister to college students, and more. Our fellowship and prayers reminded me of the greatness and comfort of God’s kingdom; we are His family, united by His Spirit, even though we come from varied cultures and life experiences, speaking different languages. These are good friends and valued co-workers.

New opportunities are on our doorstep. For instance, we hope to help open a center for disabled children in Estonia. In Russia, we will hold a pilot Ecological Camp at Elama where a British ecologist will teach children about the beauty and diversity of God’s creation.

Now a closing thought from Olga: This year’s fall has been specially beautiful. I think I don’t remember such glorious October as we are having now. And even though the fall means that the nature is falling asleep, it hold a promise of new life in it. And for me that is what I feel. There is a promise of new life. God has something in store for us. And not only for us, but all of His children. His plans are good, His plans have a future. We may not understand this, we may not see it, but He does.

A Postcard from Russia — Back Home

Leave a comment

We returned on Sunday to a beautiful St. Petersburg, Russia.  The weather has been perfect, and it has been great to start reconnecting with family and friends after such a long stay in the US.  Olga took the picture above, in the park across the street from our flat.

We are thankful for the many people who have expressed their love and support for us after the loss of our unborn children.  It’s been a very real blessing to receive so much encouragement in so many ways.  Thank you.

Even as we battle jet lag, we face a busy schedule.  Today I (Mike) was at Elama while Olga was with her sister Alla who is visiting from Montenegro.  Elama is looking very good — the buildings have been painted, interiors have been remodeled, the pavilions are ready for use, and bunk beds are being built.

While we’ve had quite a few people working at Elama, in three days our first camp begins.  We’ll have 30 children from Novodvinsk and 10 adults as counselors.

In a week I go to Montenegro where I’ll meet a mission team from Athens, Georgia; we’ll run a teen camp there. Then I go to Estonia to meet our first mission team to that country. That team will minister in a summer camp with Estonian orphans and will also do some fact-finding for future mission teams.

We are very thankful for the many blessings we continue to receive.

Bugs

Leave a comment

Our apologies to anyone who visited our site over the past few days. We got spammed.

Thomas Umstattd worked for many, many hours to fix the problems. Thank you, Thomas.

Over the next several days I’ll be working to re-build the site. A few posts have been lost, but overall pretty much everything was preserved.

Onward we go —

A Postcard from Georgia — Springtime

Leave a comment

athens_springtime

We arrived in the US about a week ago, just in time for some beautiful spring weather. We are also very thankful to have beat the volcano eruption that has stranded so many people in Russia.

koppero_fin_iceJust a week before we arrived in the States, we were in Finland, which was quite a different setting.

We have news about our embryo adoption: We’ve met with the fertility clinic, and the people there are all very nice; it’s a good clinic.

The adoption process continues to take longer than we would prefer, but we’re content to wait. We’re still waiting for the donor family to finish up some paperwork so the embryos can be transferred to our clinic in Atlanta. We don’t know how long that will take.

If the embryos arrive in Atlanta before May 15, then we can do the transfer in early June. If they arrive later, then we’ll have to wait until July.

sunday_club-2The past week has been filled with fellowship with our many friends here. It’s so nice to have time with Mike’s parents, and our Sunday night home group has been a particular encouragement to us.

I (Mike) am talking with several people who are considering being missionaries with Stoneworks. I’ve been praying for the Lord to send workers to the field, and it’s great to see these prayers being answered.  And work continues as we prepare to send mission teams to Russia and Montenegro this summer.

We’re very thankful for the abundant life that God has given us.

Tromping Snow at Elama

Leave a comment

Sergei Tovstopyat, John Bull and I went to Camp Elama today to look things over and make a few decisions about the upcoming work.

Sergei is building brick stoves in cabins 2 and 3, so we took at look at that work.  We also were deciding how to upgrade the water storage system, where to install the new(ish) water heater, where the work teams will sleep, what to do on an upcoming work day, and how best to start building a fence.  It was a good day.  It’s always great to have fellowship with those men.

The snow was chest high a few days ago, and now it’s down quite a bit and really melting quickly.

Spring is here!