teamnebel.org

Dear Friends, Co-laborers, Fellowservants,

Have two months really passed since I sent out a newsletter?! Wow! Where does the time go? Since our last letter we have traveled, bought a house, Josh and Sophia have begun college. But in all of the busy schedule and hard work God has continued to bless us beyond any expectations.

Since our last letter a lot has happened. During the month of August and part of September, I picked up my union card and went to work. This money helped us offset some of the college and living expenses we incurred over the summer. It also put me in touch with many of my pipefitter buddies, which gave me opportunity to tell them the Gospel and share with them what we are doing as missionaries. During this time we also visited the church of a friend of mine, Pastor Allen Seimers, in LaCygne, KS. I worked for Allen when I was in High School at the Youth for Christ Circle C ranch. He pastors a church now and has a heart for souls in Russia – he has and continues to go there on missions trips. In September we were in Iola, Kansas for a conference at Harvest Baptist Church. Pastor David Shelby is a close friend and we have a blessed history together. David went to Croatia with me in the early 90’s, and he and his wife Kathy partnered with us when I began pastoring the Russian ministry at KCBT. God has led him to Iola and they are doing a great job there. We enjoyed our time with them and their five kids, and the folks at their church were such a blessing to us. Also in September, I attended a men’s retreat sponsored by First Bible Baptist Church of Blue Springs. It was at the Lake of the Ozarks and was a great time of refreshment, fellowship, and spirit-filled preaching. September finished up with our missions conference at KCBT – Live the Great Summit. It was another fantastic week of preaching, teaching, and fellowship with old and new friends.

In October, Annabelle, Lydia, Anita, and I traveled to Monmouth, IL for a Vision Conference for Maple City Baptist Church. We had a lot of fun with Pastor and close friend Mike Blake, his wife Becky and two daughters. It was also great to spend time with my old buddy Pastor Shane Crawford (Missoula, MT) and to get reacquainted with friend and Pastor Tony Godfrey (formerly of Iola KS, now in Whitehouse, TX). It was another great time of fellowship and preaching. A special thanks to the Franks for their love and hospitality to us. From Monmouth we traveled to Elkhart, IN to Northside Baptist Church. What a blessing Dave and Val Singel were to us as we stayed in their home. I enjoyed preaching to both the American church congregation and the Russian congregation. Elkhart has quite a Russian population and we got to visit with many of them while we were there. Pastor Carl Henry and the folks at Northside were and are such a blessing to our family.

We traveled from Elkhart back to KC for a significant milestone – Sophia’s 21st birthday. Let me briefly fill you in on what’s going on in Sophia and Joshua’s life. Since my last letter, we have found and purchased a small home for Sophia and Josh to live in. Once we got possession, we scraped, sanded, scraped, then scraped some more (are you getting the idea?!) to remove multiple layers of paint and wallpaper from the walls. Then we painted and fixed a few things so they could move in. They spent their first night there last Friday. So you could say Sophia and Josh are experiencing their first “out of the nest” experience. They are both attending school full time and working part time. These next few months will be a huge transition for all of us.

I am writing from a hotel room in northeastern Pennsylvania. We were at Jackson Baptist Church last Sunday and last night participated in their annual venison dinner (ah yes, the sufferings of ministry!). Seriously, this is an annual outreach ministry of the church and they hosted over 200 ‘non-church’ folks for the dinner last night. The speaker was Charlie Alsheimer who is a world renowned whitetale deer expert and photographer. He is also a Christian and finished the evening with a clear presentation of the Gospel. I heard there were 21 professions of faith but I don’t know if that is accurate. Anita and I remarked last night what a blessing it was to see these local church people sponsor and selflessly work to put this event on just so people could come and hear the blessed Gospel. It was a beautiful picture and example to us of ministry done right. Glory to God.

From here we travel to other churches in this area, then back to KC just long enough to get on a plane a head to the Idaho/Montana region. Many people wag their heads when they hear of the traveling we do but we consider ourselves to be blessed by God to interact with so many wonderful people serving God in the context of their lives. We are not out “raising support”. From the beginning we have left our lives in God’s hands and He has blessed us continually and met every need – because HIS WORD says He will! All praise to God alone!

Here are the things you can pray specifically about:

1. For the spiritual and physical growth of the church in Ratomka, and the maturing of Sergei as the pastor. As I have told you before, the church is without any American presence for the first time in its history.
2. Pray for Annabelle, Lydia, Anita, and myself as we prepare to return to Belarus in January. We are currently attempting to obtain visas to enter the country. We are praying for multi-entry visas which will allow us to cross the border freely. Pray also for God’s clear direction for ministry involvement. There are many needs and opportunities – we seek the Lord’s will and not ours. Pray that we will stay healthy, and that the Lord will provide us with the money needed for plane tickets, visas, housing and transition, and a vehicle once we hit the ground in Belarus.
3. Pray for our family during this time of transition. Our children are all best friends so it will be hard for Lydia and Annabelle to be separated from Sophia, Joshua, and Jennifer. Pray for mom and dad, too! It will be our second time as parents to be separated from children but a little different from the first time as Jennifer has a husband. Pray for Sophia and Joshua as they learn together to live independently. Pray for us as we learn to live apart from them.

As we travel across America, the color and splendor of Autumn is spectacular. The hand of God paints such wonderful beauty for us to enjoy. We have so much to be thankful for – our salvation, the Word of God, the beauty of God’s handiwork, the privilege of serving Him, and each other. We thank God for our family. We thank God for the people and churches who pray for us and support us. We look forward to the coming holiday season – what a time of joy and happiness to be with family and friends. But let us not forget those who don’t know our joy of salvation – there are so many who have no hope. I encourage each of you to take every opportunity to share the Gospel with those the Lord puts in your path. Pray that God will give you the opportunity to affect someone’s eternity. Time is not our friend.

Pressing toward the mark,

The Nebel family