FPO Week 1 Recap

Wonderful yet a little nervewracking are the best 2 ways to describe our first week at orientation! Other than a small weather related delay at the Atlanta airport, we made it to Virginia safely. We got settled into our quad shortly after arriving on Monday night (we are in a building with 4 apartments). "The Farm" as some refer to it is about 7 miles from the nearest town, but we're enjoying the secluded environment. There are approximately 140 trainees (some short term, some long term) and we've gotten to know some wonderful people. We were in meetings good portions of the day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on everything from child safety to spiritual preparation. We also have assigned tasks, with David on the Cross Cultural Worship Team and Chara on the Library Team. We're excited about what God has planned for next week, stay tuned for more and send up a prayer if you think about us!

What have we been doing??

Well . . . the better question is, what haven't we been doing? We have sold David's truck, worked on our house,  preached and presented our missions presentation at Pine Forest Baptist Church near Beaumont, TX, and visited with our family as well as retired missionaries.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, but we are looking forward to the new challenge that awaits us 1 week from Monday, when we fly to Virginia for Field Personnel Orientation (FPO). Stay tuned for more . . .

What is the Gospel?

We know that some visitors to this site may be confused about the Gospel, so here is an imaginary situation to help you understand it better:

Let's imagine one day you willingly drove through a school zone going 100 miles per hour, killing an innocent child.

You go before the judge and say, "You know, I helped hundreds of children throughout my life. Can you just let this one fault slide?"

Only a corrupt judge would do that, right? 

A good judge would sentence you to either life in prison or maybe even the death penalty.

Let's say you got the death penalty and are lying on the gurney about to get lethal injection, when suddenly that same judge stepped up and said, "I love you so much I am going to take your place!"

If you ALLOWED him to take your place, would it change the way you lived going forward? You probably would spend your life going around the country and helping to prevent innocent kids from being hit in school zones, right?

Well, that is similar to what God wants to do for you. You have sinned (broken God's laws), right?

-- Have you ever lied?

-- Have you ever stolen anything?

-- Have you ever taken God's name in vain?

There's others too . . .

All it takes is one sin to be a sinner, and after you die, you must give an account to God for every sin!

You may ask, "God, can't you just let it slide?" A corrupt judge certainly would, but not a good judge.

A good judge would require that you pay for your sins in hell.  

But God took off the judge's robe, came down in the person of Jesus, lived a perfect life (never sinned once) and suffered on a cross to take the punishment for ALL your sins -- 100%.

But here's the catch: He won't force you to accept it. He waits for you to repent willingly and turn to Him in faith, and then He will forgive you and apply your sins to the cross in exchange for Christ's perfect righteousness.

So spend some time thinking about your sin, and then think about what you will tell God when you stand before Him.

There is still time to turn!

Should you decide to make the u-turn and receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, pray this simple prayer:

Jesus, I am sorry for my sins and I trust that Your work alone on the cross is sufficient to forgive me. I trust You with my life from this day forward!

How's the weather???

Novosibirsk sits in a humid continental climate, which means it has warm summers and cold winters. Whereas temperatures can go as high as 95 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer, they have been known to drop as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit in winter (although these extremes generally only occur a few times per year). Snowfall is generally light and steady, with snow falling about half of winter days. Sun is also quite common even during the winter, although the temperatures tend to be a little higher when it is cloudy and snowy. Although we know the weather will be much different from what we are typically used to in Texas, we know that the God who calls will also provide the grace and strength we will need to develop new routines. However, we can always use additional prayer for the transition to the new climate! 

Where are we going????

Up until orientation, we’ll try to post every few weeks about various things you may or may not find interesting.

Many of you probably think of Siberia the way we thought of it a few years ago: A vast, cold, snowy region of the world where dog sledding is the only form of transportation. Right? Well, truth be told, a fair amount of Siberia fits that description, but there are also some big cities, especially sitting along the Transiberian Express. Novosibirsk, the city we’ll be serving in our first term, has over 1 million people. It has a Subway (both the restaurant and the underground versions), an IKEA, and a beautiful opera house among other things. Imagine a very large city in the United States without skyscrapers or interstates, and you’ll have a decent mental picture of Novosibirsk.

Greetings!

Hello, Blog Readers!

Well, this is our very first communication! We started becoming interested in missions about 2006. While travelling in Vietnam, we wandered into a bakery run by missionaries who shared the gospel by employing deaf youth. We wondered then if God was possibly leading us to share the gospel among the unreached. In 2007, we started an ESL class at our church (Fairview Baptist in Grand Prairie, TX) and experienced the joys of working together in cross-cultural ministry.

When we contacted the IMB in 2008, we had no clue where God wanted us to go, but He continued to clarify our direction. We are scheduled to serve our apprentice term in a city in Siberia (which is in Russia) starting early 2012. See our schedule for more details.

As of this writing, we have completed appointment week and are looking forward to Field Personnel Orientation (FPO) in Virginia starting in July 2011. We are excited about the direction God is taking us, and we hope you will journey with us as we seek to be God's instruments to reach the unreached in Russia!

More to come soon!

David and Chara

Our Schedule

Here is a brief summary of our tentative schedule:

Start	End	Activity	Location
July 25, 2011	September 21, 2011	Field Personnel Orientation (FPO)	Richmond, VA
September 22, 2011	October 16, 2011		Grand Prairie, TX
October 17, 2011	January 21, 2012	Urban Training	Vancouver, Canada
January 22, 2012	January 23, 2012		Grand Prairie, TX
January 24, 2012		Leave for Field	Novosibirsk, Russia