April 5, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Christ is risen! We rejoice in our risen Lord! It has been a very trying time since we last wrote to you. We have held on to the truth, Christ is risen!

Al and I began packing all of our belongings right after Easter, realizing that we needed to get out of the apartment earlier than we had planned. The situation with the landlord and his wife grew increasingly unpleasant, reaching a crisis this past week. In the midst of the crisis, I had to depart for the States for a new visa (my visa expired last Thursday). Fortunately, our friend Jeff Koning had flown in from Perm to help us, so I left feeling that Al and Jeff could finish the packing and the cleaning and get everything out by the weekend. Meg’s best friend and her mom also jumped in to help us with packing.

On Thursday, the crisis reached a new high. From the States, feeling completely helpless, I started contacting everyone I could think of to help Al and began relaying messages between Al and the staff in Louisville. The folks in Louisville have been wonderful, holding us in prayer and supporting us completely. Jon Chapman, Elaine Matthes, and Gary Payton have stayed in contact with us throughout the crisis and done everything they could to help us. Donald and Laurie Marsden stepped in to help in Moscow, as well as the director at Hinkson Christian Academy (the school Al teaches at and our girls attend), his wife, another teacher, three students (including Jeremiah Marsden), and Mikhail Chekalin, the senior presbyter of Moscow and a dear friend and partner. It was a terrible day, but with the help of all these friends, Al was able to get our belongings out of the apartment and into storage at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. At the moment, he is staying with Donald and Laurie. Emma was whisked out of the situation Thursday night to the Marsdens and has been with a friend from school since. Meg has been in Uganda on a mission trip and, we hope, blissfully unaware of what has been happening. I have been with my brother and sister-in-law in Philadelphia. They too have been wonderfully supportive.

We do have a new apartment to go to, but it will not be available until the end of the month. The Baptist Union has offered us housing at their seminary, and Father Simon at the Anglican Church has also offered us housing in the parsonage. We have been surrounded by the love and prayers of many friends and feel blessed by their support.

We thank you all for the prayers on our behalf in these difficult weeks. We have heard from many of you. We know that it has made a huge difference. We are tired, but feel peace returning. We would ask you to pray for our landlady, who is a very unhappy person. May she find peace. We thank God for all of you and for the privilege of being a part of a large and wonderful family.

Let us rejoice. The Lord is with us always!

Peace and blessings,

Ellen and Al

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 158