Dear Co-laborers and Fellowservants,Where did the last month go? It flew by in a blink! We have been in Crimea two and a half weeks, and are just beginning to figure a few things out. We praise God for all of you who prayed for our travels and transition – believe me we can sense it! Please continue as we still have a lot of things to work out. If you have been following our blogs (I invite all of you to check them out on our website www.teamnebel.org) you already know we seem to be swimming in a sea of uncertainty. But we know the author and finisher of our faith, and that has been enough. Just another easy lesson in patience – right!Ministry UpdateThe first Sunday we were here we were anxious to attend the Russian service. We are living in Al and Dolly’s Kings home (pic on my blog), which is one half residence and the other half church. There is also a newer, separate church building on the property. So we headed around to the other side for church. There were only a couple of people there – and no pastor. So, we sang some songs together, prayed together, and read some Bible together – a real sweet time of fellowship in Russian.Apparently the Russian pastor, Andrei, has been absent for a few weeks and feels the Lord directing him back to the ministry of a church in his home town about an hour from here. We have talked since then and I arranged a telephone conversation between him and Al King, who was naturally quite shocked to hear about this. So Andrei is moving on and I will be preaching in the Russian service starting next week as an interim pastor. Pray for Andrei and the church as we will need to move forward.We pray God will give us new opportunities to witness and invite people to church, as well as contacting and bringing former members back.I also spoke today to Pastor Vladimir, who pastors the other Russian church in Alushta. We haven’t had the opportunity for a face to face meeting but hopefully that will occur soon and hopefully we can get down there and visit his church service.
The Chinese Ministry is doing well and I had dinner with the pastor, Tommy, the first week we were here. Most of the students are from
Malaysia, but there are also a few from Mainland China. I will be preaching there tomorrow morning and will add Chinese to a long list of foreign languages through which I have had the opportunity to preach through a translator. I am looking forward to it.
The Tatar Ministry is also doing well. They meet on Saturday and I had the chance to visit them last Saturday. Pastor Misha’s wife, Tamara, teaches a small group of children while Misha teaches the adults. This is a difficult ministry – taking the Gospel to Muslims. I invite you to Google Crimea and Crimean history to educate yourself about the Tatar people who once lived here, and are now returning. Stalin deported them to central Asian countries like Uzbekistan, and many are returning.
The International (English speaking) Church meets on Sundays at 1PM, so we enjoy attending that, too. Missionary Kevin Payton oversees this ministry and has a real heart for student ministry. There are English speaking students from all over Asia and Africa who attend this service.
The Kings
I talked to Brother Al the other day and he sounds real good, as always.
He told me he was able to get the IV removed so he is no longer tethered to that. He also told me his doctor has given him the go ahead to travel to Simferopol, so he and Dolly plan to be here during the month of March.
Pray for his continued improvement. Many people here are anxious to see Al and Dolly, as you can imagine.
Family Life
We are somewhat settled living in the King’s home. On one hand, it is really nice to have a furnished home to live in, with everything you need, as soon as you arrive. We were laughing the other day about when we first went to Belarus, and lived in the church. We cooked on a hotplate and washed dishes in the shower (and there were 6 of us!).
Fortunately that only lasted a couple of weeks. On the other hand, we would like to find a place of our own but are not certain how soon we need to find it, what location would be best, etc. Factors such as Al’s health, future involvement in the ministry here, seminary, etc. all figure into the decision making process. But we know the Lord is still on the throne and He will make every path clear. Transportation is another issue. We have the King’s car available for us to use, but I cannot get a power of attorney to drive it until late February. We plan to buy a vehicle but I need to wait for my income tax return (probably March) in order to have enough money. Locally, we can use public transportation to get around, but we would like to venture out and do some exploring.
Anita and the girls have adjusted well. The girls do their homeschool and Anita continues her tireless study of the Russian language. I am taking advantage of the time by getting my seminary studies done. And we have been venturing out in to the town and surrounding neighborhoods to get a feel for our surroundings. Every day gets a little better.
We have some travelling to do. We will have to go to Kiev (18 hours away by train) to take care of our visa applications, get a letter of invitation and other documentation. While we are there, we plan to visit fellow missionaries and dear friends, the Irelands. Mike and Robin have been in Ukraine for 13 or 14 years and have planted 5 churches in the Fastov area. I met Mike back in 97 when I was in Kiev teaching in a mini institute. Anita and I got to spend some time with them when we were here back in March. They are out of First Bible Baptist Church in Rochester, NY. The pastor’s name there is George Grace, but no one has probably ever heard of him – ha! Pastor George is a dear friend, too!
We also plan to travel out to Zhmerinka and visit Pastor Valera and the church there. I have already talked with him and they are anxious to see us, and we them. It will be fun for Lydia and Annabelle to see and meet these people, too.
Then in April, we are planning a trip to London. We have to leave the country in order to get our visas, so we will visit Steve Baker’s church in London. For those of you who know Steve, he just turned his church over to a national pastor (brother Mark Jackson), and has returned to the States for furlough, with plans of returning to London to begin a new work, Lord willing. So Pastor Mark has already welcomed us to London.
By the way, this church supports us, which is quite incredible to be supported by a non-US church started by another missionary. Only God does cool stuff like that! Anita and I and the kids were there for a missions conference back in 2005, so we are looking forward to seeing our friends there once again.
I have also been in contact with Vitalic in Belarus. I also spoke with the director of an organization who just had a missionary removed from Belarus, so they plan to ship all of his belongings out. We will be able to use their knowledge and experience to (hopefully) get our belongings shipped out of Belarus. Once we get our Ukrainian visas, we plan to try to get tourist visas to return to Belarus for a visit.
Please keep praying for us! Pray for the ministry, opportunities to witness, the Kings, direction, housing/location, a vehicle, continued good health, and Sophia, Josh, and Jennifer and Matt back in the US.
Sorry for the length of the letter – I try to keep them short! We love you!
Pressing toward the mark,
The Nebel Family
Missionaries to Russian Speaking People
PS For those of you who are “geographically challenged”, here is a map of Ukraine. You can see Simferopol at the bottom in Crimea
Posted by: David
Categories:
2008 Newsletters
