Last month Olga Gonchrenko, our director in Belarus, posted this as part of her update:

We were given 2 wheelchairs that were a great blessing to 2 women who were in great need for the chairs. Valentina, the first woman, got into a car accident 2.5 years ago. She can’t move her lower part of the body, she lives all by herself and she is praying for a computer, so that she can keep in contact with the outside world as well as work part time on the computer.

One of our supporters, Erin, was touched and gave money to purchase a computer for Valentina. Erin’s Bible study class gave money to pay for the first year of internet service (which is very considerate).

To me, this is an excellent example of how the Lord uses living stones (1 Peter 2:5), the body of Christ, to express His love to those in need.

Several people in the Stoneworks family fulfilled their roles; Mary Jean Preece, the Stoneworks Administrator, handled the transaction well, Olga Goncharenko guided the ministry, others posted news on the website and in the newsletter, and Valentina’s prayers have been answered.

And perhaps best of all, Valentina and Erin (with the help of Google Translate) are now in direct communication.

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Since our last Postcard we’ve been all over Europe. At the end of August we drove from Russia to Montenegro (you can see a photo record of the trip here). The picture above was taken when we gassed up in Augustow, Poland. We spent almost a month in Montenegro, visiting family, friends and ministry partners. Valerie had a GREAT time, especially at the beach (here is a video of her first experience of the sea).

Then we drove from Montenegro to Rathenow, Germany, the town where Olga lived for a couple of years when her father was stationed at a Soviet military base in East Germany. Olga has many good memories of that town, and it’s where she and her mom first heard the gospel preached; this happened just as the Soviet Union was collapsing. The commander of the base surprisingly allowed a group of Christians to share their testimonies.

From Germany, we went to Estonia. Olga and Valerie returned to Russia while I applied for my new Russian visa and spent time in Estonia and Finland. The picture below is of Finland in Autumn.

So, in the span of about 6 weeks we were in these countries (in order): Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia and Finland. It was quite an adventure.

Valerie is doing very well. She’s growing like a weed and speaking better and better all the time. She’s a good kid and we all love each other. We are gathering documents necessary to petition the court to terminate Oksana’s (Valerie’s birth mother’s) parental rights. We think this will happen in a few weeks. Then we can then move to adopt Valerie, however there is a six-month waiting period after termination of parental rights before we can adopt.

The ministry continues. You can see the most recent Stoneworks update here. Several projects are in various stages: we’ll host a mission team of 40-60 who will minister in Russia and Estonia; two teams from Georgia will go to Montenegro; we continue to work on Sunbeam (the center for children with disabilities in Estonia) and I hope to have some good news about that soon.

Even though the world faces difficulties and we are affected by those forces, our hope is not in the things of this world; our hope is in Christ who is a good shepherd. Remember, He has prepared good work in advance for you to do. His best is always in the future.

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I’ve been in Finland for a few days, staying at a little cabin called Koppero. The weather has been great, and I’ve been tucked away working. It’s a mix of high-tech and low-tech: no running water but an internet connection.

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For those who don’t know, I am the Executive Director of Stoneworks International, a small American mission organization that has projects in Russia, Estonia, Belarus and Montenegro. I’m also the chairman of the board of МИР (MIR), a Russia charity I helped found about 11 years ago. And, I’m a founding board member of Päikesekiir (Sunbeam), an Estonian charity that’s in the process of establishing a day center for children with disabilities in Northeast Estonia.

Here in Montenegro, I’ve recently done some preliminary planning for a mission team we’ll host in May. I’m spending time with ministry leaders and co-workers, as well as with Olga’s sister’s family. In the past, I’ve helped several short-term mission teams run summer camps here; I hope we’ll run another this coming summer. And, having an internet connection, I continue to communicate with partners in other countries.

In Russia, our ministry faces a variety of challenges, including financial short-falls and a staff in transition; I’m in regular contact regarding budgets, staffing, vision, etc. MIR has just finished a successful summer, and we’re thankful for that. I’ve also been helping a couple, Yan and Nadya Boldyrev, as they transition their orphan ministry to work more closely with us. I’m also in talks with Teen Mania about a 40-person mission team they plan to send to Russia and Estonia next summer.

In Belarus, I primarily help in decision-making regarding the future of the ministry, and I help assure that reporting (financial, ministry) is going smoothly. Other Stoneworks board members are active in helping the ministry in Belarus. Of course, the staff of our sister ministry, Spring of Revival, is great and serve selflessly. Recently, I helped our co-workers there get Estonia visas, and I look forward to the time when our friends in Estonia will meet and partner with our friends in Belarus. The ministry staff in Belarus are facing a difficult time these days; the culture is under siege and the financial markets are very unstable.

My work in Estonia continues to grow. The biggest project is Sunbeam, a center for children with disabilities we plan to build in Johvi. Right now, the city is working on zoning changes for the land they will grant to us. I’ve had several meetings with the architect, and his designs are nearing completion; it’s going to take a while to build it, but it will be great when it’s all done. I’m also in early planning for a project to build a missionary guest house in Estonia, a home where Christian workers from Russia and other ex-soviet states can take a break and be refreshed. We’ve identified a building at Camp Gideon that we hope to renovate for that project. Our relationships with people there get better and better all the time. We also now have an apartment in Estonia (our home is still in St. Petersburg), and our car is registered there, so our connections in Estonia are increasing.

This update has the word “I” quite a bit. It must be said that everything I do is in partnership with many wonderful people. In Russia, I commend Masha, Katya, Tatiana, Tanya, Yan and Nadya, Zhenya, Dima, Marina, Lyle, Peter and Liz; in Estonia, I tip my hat to Artur, Liana, Erkki, and Andres; in Belarus, the work is carried out with love by Olga, Yasha, Alesya and Masha; in Montenegro, my co-laborers are Vladimir, Marijana, and Violeta; in the USA, I depend very much on Mary Jean (who is the best!), Dave, Larry, Jill, Dan, Kirk and Phill (who is actually in South Africa). These people and many more are my co-workers for the sake of the gospel.

God sets us together as living stones, and I am very happy with the ‘stones’ among whom He has set me.

So, that’s a quick run-down of what I do. I’m also enjoying being a new father, as Olga and I are in the process of adopting a little girl who is living with us now –  a 4 year old named Valerie. And Olga and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary in November.

As I write this, I’m sitting in a flat overlooking the Bay of Kotor, on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro. Another day, another beautiful view. . . .

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Here’s the activity as we waited in line to cross the border from Russia to Latvia:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s part of our drive through Latvia:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Driving in Poland:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Driving in Slovakia

Click here to view the embedded video.

Driving in W. Serbia

Click here to view the embedded video.

Driving in Montenegro 1

Click here to view the embedded video.

Driving in Montenegro 2

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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.

We got fuel (cheap in Russia) just before crossing the border

And we had a three-hour wait for the border crossing, the Russian side took a long time, the Latvians were quick. How to fill the time but to do your hair?

And this greeted us as we entered Latvia

She’ll kill me for this when she’s a teenager; Valerie fell asleep mid-munch–

And in no time we were in Lithuania:

A picnic lunch along the way

And next was Poland; here’s what you see each time you enter a country (speed limits are in km/h)

Another rest stop; it’s funny that we have a Dodge Caravan and a Chrysler Voyager. The Dodge came from the US several years ago and the Chrysler is the European version (diesel with a 5-speed manual transmission).

A Polish portrait

We spent the night in Biaylostok and continued on our way.

And then we are in Slovakia

We drove through Central Slovakia, through the Lesser Carpathians

Next is Hungary, but we drove through it in the dark, so you get to see what we saw:

We crossed into Serbia late at night and got a hotel. The next day we started by driving through Voivodina down to Belgrade, crossing the Danube River near Novi Sad:

And we got into the mountains south and west of Belgrade

If you look closely, you’ll see the remnants of an old fortress wall on this hilltop:

And then into Montenegro, the Black Mountains

Wearing my hat!

So we arrived in Montenegro after three long days, about 2500 kms covering eight countries. I’ll post some videos from the trip soon.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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