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Al and Dolly King just left after a three week visit. Al seems to be doing well in spite of the effects of his cancer and the medicine he must take. It was a blessing to be around them. They hope to come back for a visit in May and an important meeting with some guests from the US.

Please keep praying for Al’s health and for Dolly and the rest of the family during this time. I could not imagine what their life must be like. Al is uncertain about the extent of his life. Dolly is uncertain about her husband’s life and her own destiny and ministry. They have both labored for 10 years here in Simferopol., and now nothing is certain. Yet God is in the midst of all of our circumstances….

We have had an eventful month. Even with the Kings here, we had to travel by train to Kiev to get our new passports and pick up our letters of invitation for our visas. After that we travelled to Fastov and Zhmerinka. You can check our blogs for details of these trips and pictures. We had a great time in spite of the hours we spent on the train. Last week the Russian church in Simferopol celebrated its 7 year anniversary. There were 30-40 people in attendance for the service and many tears of joy for Al and Dolly’s presence. It was a blessing just to sit and watch. After the service we had a traditional dinner of plov, which is a popular rice dish – very delicious.

Tomorrow is a very special day for us – Lydia’s 18th birthday. Few people can fully understand the selfless sacrifice missionary children make for the sake of the ministry. Our kids have done it without a moment of regret. There is not much comparison to a teenager’s life in America versus the rest of the world – especially the former Soviet Union. But our children are such a blessing and testimony to us every day and think nothing of the American life they are missing by being here. Thanks to those of you who sent cards and packages for Lydia. We received one package today (actually, the only one we have received so far, but we are waiting for others that we are told have been sent) from Lydia’s High School Bible study group at church. It was a real blessing to her! (Prov 25:25) By the way, Lydia is doing her Senior year of home school, so in a few months she will ‘graduate’. No, there won’t be any graduation parties, cap and gown pictures, or anything like we do in American culture. She will just quietly finish her 12th grade curriculum. She plans to start college in the States in the fall of 2009.

Please continue to pray for our housing situation. We looked at a house yesterday and will look at a few more in the coming week. The question is whether to buy or to rent. Crimea is the vacation destination of the entire former Soviet Union, so land and housing prices reflect that – especially the closer you get to the sea. We have limited financial resources (for the slow folks, that means we don’t have much money) but we want to be good stewards of what we have. Buying allows some build up of equity but requires more up front money, while renting doesn’t require any up front money but the rent paid is never recovered. We pray for wisdom in this matter. We also need to purchase a car. We are welcome to stay in the King’s home for the time being, but we would like to have something settled by the time we get our visas. I just bought plane tickets for us to fly to London in April and get our visas. This was another unexpected expense but we have a church in London that supports us and we look forward to seeing them and spending a little time there.

After we obtain our multi-entry Ukrainian visas and return to Simferopol, we hope to get tourist visas for Belarus so we can travel there and get the household things we stored there out of Belarus and into Ukraine.

Please pray for all of these life issues and details.

I wish I could tell you we have clear direction in ministry here. We hoped to have a greater sense of clarity and direction after spending time with Al and Dolly, but it seems we have more questions now than before. I am the interim pastor of the Russian church in Simferopol and there are plans to go ahead with the destruction of the old building and reconstruction of the new building which will house the seminary. I am already scheduled to begin teaching three men, maybe more, in the seminary beginning in September. The church needs outreach and growth, physically and spiritually. We are praying God sends us some help in the form of like-minded missionaries who will partner with us to reach Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, and the Chinese and English speaking students who attend the universities in Simferopol. For the older crowd (like myself) who remember Saturday morning cartoons, one of my favorites was the Road Runner and Wile E Coyote cartoon. Do you remember all of those times Coyote would set a trap only to have himself in the place where a huge boulder, intended for the Road Runner, would come crashing down on his head, driving him into the ground? Recently, I was sharing my circumstances with friend, dear brother, and fellow missionary Mike Ireland. He told me of once living in similar circumstances, and someone showed him a couple of verses in Isaiah, which he shared with me.

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. this shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. Isaiah 50:10-11

I felt like Wile E Coyote. I had just been hit by a huge boulder that drove me into the ground. Glory to God! It would seem only logical to kindle a fire, create some sparks, if you are in the darkness – right?

But when we are exactly where God has put us, and we can’t see like we would like to see things, then our only choice is to trust His name and stay upon him – nothing more, nothing less (see 1 Cor.1:25-31). If God’s Word is true (and we believe it is, by the way!), then we can trust him even when he makes us walk in darkness.

Dear brothers and sisters, please continue to pray fervently for us and the ministry here. May God bless you all richly!

Pressing toward the mark,

The Nebel Family

Missionaries to Russian Speaking People

www.teamnebel.org