Welcome to Vladivostok!

Hello friends!

     Team Russia (minus Emily) has successfully arrived in Vladivostok, Russia! We left the base on Sunday night in the middle of tornado weather. Our flight was delayed because of the weather so we waited and did a little evangelizing. The flight was 8 hours to Taiwan.

     Because of the delay of our first flight, we missed our original connecting flight, and when we arrived in Taiwan, they rushed us through the airport to a plane that was waiting for us to take off to Hong Kong. Do we still get to say we were in Taiwan, if only for, literally, fifteen minutes? 

     The flight to Vladivostok was about five hours and was basically uneventful. We arrived very early on Tuesday morning and a staff member of YWAM, Vladivostok, picked us up and drove us to our apartment. We had orientation on Tuesday afternoon. Today (Wednesday) they took us into the city and showed us around and we will soon be leaving for dinner at our contact's house.

     Alas, our team will not be complete until, hopefully, Tuesday. Emily's visa was just approved yesterday and she still needs $900 for her ticket. We are praying and believe that everything will be in order for her to leave on Sunday. 

     Please continue to pray for us! Pray for Emily (that the funds would come in and also against the spirit of discouragement), for safety, good communication, and that we would really seek out God's heart in everything we do. 

     Thank you SO MUCH for praying!                                                    

              ~Rachel for the team. 

19 DAYS.

     We are leaving for Vladivostok, Russia, in two and a half weeks - 19 days. That's either an eternity or  no time at all, depending on how you look at it.

      Three of us finally have our visas; Emily does not yet have hers because she didn't have the money to apply, and now that she does, the embassy is closed because their Christmas break is different from ours. We are going to buy our plane tickets this week.

     We met today and asked God how he wants us to pray and how he wants us to ask others to pray for us. Here are some specific prayer points:

         ~ That all of our finances would come in

         ~ Favor with the Russian Embassy and fast processing of Emily's visa application

         ~ Communication between team members

         ~ Unity in the team

         ~ Safety in traveling and for the time spent there

         ~ That we would all have hearts focused on our mission and ready to serve

         ~  Favor for the journey: in the airport, that our flights would be on time and our luggage wouldn't be lost; that it would be a stress-less journey.

         ~ That God would be preparing the hearts of the people we're going to talk to and that they would be open to Jesus!

     We are excited for what God is going to do in and through us and would appreciate your prayers as we continue to prepare. Jesus, this trip is yours! 

           Rachel for the team.