Prayer...
 

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- October 10, 2007

We hope you are enjoying the cooler temperatures of fall.  Here in Ekaterinburg, it has already been cold for a while, but we are now experiencing an "Indian Summer", or as it is called in Russia, "Golden Autumn".   It has warmed up a little, the leaves are changing, and in general it is a wonderful time of the year!  Of course, we are glad that the cooler temperatures are coming, because that means the snow is not far off!   YEA!!

It has been quite a while since we sent an update.  During August and September we had five volunteer groups doing various work throughout the oblast.   We had groups representing Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, several locations in Arkansas, and a Korean Church in Dallas.  We also had the Week of Prayer for the Sverdlovskaya--one neat thing about this particular endeavor was that my (Lori's) parents were able to come and participate in the prayer-walking times with us.

Each of these groups was able to minister to the physical needs of the people of our oblast, to encourage the laborers who are working to plant churches here, and to share the gospel in many different ways.   We feel so blessed to know people who are willing to sacrifice to come from the states to work alongside us in reaching our oblast with the Good News!!

Other Praises:

**The Christian Rehabilitation Center in Alapaevsk has received "official" registration from the City Administration

**School got off to a great start, and the girls' school has a new "permanent" director 

**Aleksei (our church planter in Krasnoufimsk) continues to establish ties to local authorities, which has been a positive thing for his ministry there.

Requests:

**Please pray for a group from FBC, Centerville, Georgia, working this week to establish ties in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky.  

**Pray for Rusty, as he has been battling allergies, a major sinus infection, and a cough that will not go away.

**Rusty will be traveling to Moscow for two conferences later this month.  Please pray for traveling safety, and pray that these meetings will be productive and help us as we plan future work.

**I (Lori) have been invited by the new director of the girls' school to accompany her to a teachers' meeting in Moscow during the fall break from school.   Pray that on this trip we would have time to visit and to deepen our friendship, and that this conference would be beneficial for all those attending.

Thank you again for joining us in praying for Sverdlovskaya Oblast. 

Until next time...

Lori for the Harts

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- April 26, 2007

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA
PRAISES
**Luba (one of our dear friends), who was fired from her job for taking too many sick days when dealing with pregnancy difficulties, has found a new job!!

**We recently met with co-workers from this part of the world at our annual meeting in Mikolajki, Poland. While there, we were also able to renew our visas for another year!!

**Grisha, who wife had been praying for him to be saved for a while, recently made a profession of faith just shortly before he passed away. He said that his one regret was that he had waited so long to make this decision.

**During the month of March, we were blessed to have two volunteer groups here working with us. One group worked with hearing-impaired children, and the other group ministered to university students who are studying English.

**Laura (our 11th grade daughter) reports that the situation is much better with the students in her class!

REQUESTS
**On April 22nd, we will be traveling to Moscow for the School of Tomorrow Regional Convention, along with thirty students from our daughters' school.

**Our next two volunteer groups will be coming from The Summit Church in Arkansas (our home church) to work in Krasnaufimsk.

**Sergei and Nadia (our local pastor and his wife) are reaching out to people in the town of Zarechny, where Nadia runs a sweater shop.


Rusty and Lori Hart
ahart4russia@pobox.com

 

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- November 28, 2006

Dear friends--

Happy holidays!! We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We were able to get together with some other families living and working here in Ekaterinburg, and we had a wonderful time. However, if you look out the window here, it looks more like Christmas at the North Pole, because we already have quite a bit of snow!! It's been really cold here (-25C/-13F), but today is a "warm" day--only minus 5 degrees. I guess that just goes to show--everything is relative!!

PRAISES
**This month, Rusty was able to meet with all the Russian members of teamSOAR to share with them some of the things we learned while at our SC Training in Prague, as well as begin to plan for future work. REQUESTS: Please continue to pray for Aleksei in Krasnaufimsk, and for Ilya in Alapaevsk, as they work to plant churches in their respective cities. Pray for Rusty as he works with them in their efforts.

**This past week, Rusty was finally able to meet with the leader of the Russian Baptist Union for our oblast. Rusty was able to share with him our vision for the oblast, and Anatoly (the leader) was very open to what Rusty had to say, and was very enthusiastic about the possibilities of us working together. REQUESTS:
1) Pray for Anatoly and Rusty as they make decisions regarding our work together. 2) Pray for Rusty as he will be able to meet with all the pastors from the oblast during a meeting here in the city next Friday evening. Pray that they will be receptive to the idea of us working cooperatively to plant churches throughout the oblast.

**We received word this week that we have four more churches that are interested in potentially forming partnerships with cities in the oblast. REQUEST: Pray for the leadership in these churches, as they seek to make decisions regarding these potential partnerships. Pray for us, as we work here to do all that is involved in getting these partnerships set up. Pray for the City Administration in our targeted cities, that they will be open to letting these groups work in their cities.

**I (Lori) was finally able to start back working in the English classes at the girls' school. REQUESTS: Pray that I will be able to help them understand and internalize the principles that we will be studying, and that the classes will be more than just "learning to speak English".

**Please pray for Hannah, and she continues to minister to Dashu (a student in her fourth-grade class who is Hindu) through their friendship.

OTHER REQUESTS
**Please pray for a group of seven pastors from Arkansas who will be coming to lead a Church Leadership Conference, and also explore the possibility of leading their churches to partner with us in our work throughout the oblast.

**Please pray for us along with our co-worker as we meet together December 11-13 for fellowship and planning for the future.

**Please pray for Rusty and me as we continue to work on planning for 2007.

One last thought-As you prepare to celebrate Christmas there in the states, we want to remind you that this is the season for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. This offering is very important to the funding of international missionaries like us (serving with IMB), and it is a way that you can be directly involved in missions all over the world! Many mission agencies require their missionaries to raise their support individually and directly, but because of this offering we are not required to do this. The funds from this offering are used to provide our salaries, our living expenses, and our ministry expenses, so that we can focus our attention on ministering to the people where we live, rather than have to spend our time raising support. Please be obedient to the Lord in your giving! It is your faithfulness and obedience that makes it possible for us to serve here! If you are a member of a Southern Baptist Church, you can give directly through your church. If you are not a member of a Southern Baptist Church, and would like to contribute to this offering, please let us know, and we will tell you how you can be involved.

During this Thanksgiving season, we want to tell you again how thankful we are for each one of you, and for your involvement in our ministry. We know that it would not be possible for us to live and work here without your constant prayers on our behalf.

Until next time...
Lori for the Harts
 

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- October 10, 2006

Dear Friends--

Greetings from the Czech Republic!! We are currently in Prague attending Strategy
Coordinator Training. We have already received a lot of great training, and will be here until October 20th. While we are in our meetings, the girls are being taken care of by a wonderful team of volunteers from the states, who are helping them to stay "on track" with their schoolwork, as well as taking them on all kinds of field trips and leading them in other fun activities. They are especially enjoying their time with other MK's from all over Central/Eastern Europe.

Please pray for us as we continue to attend the training sessions, and also as we work to finalize our strategy for reaching the people of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast with the Gospel.

Other praises/requests:

Last week I (Lori) went to the doctor for a check-up, and to make sure that I am still cancer free. PRAISE: ALL THE TESTS CAME BACK NEGATIVE--which means I have been cancer-free for six years!!

During the month of September we had two volunteer groups working in Ekaterinburg. The first was an audiology group from Vanderbilt University. This group worked in three schools in Ekaterinburg, as well as one school in Nizhny Tageel. At these four schools, they were able to give approx. 115 students new hearing aids, as well as providing new ear molds to approx. 200 other students. The second group went to these same four schools to do follow-up work with the children, as well as to help us build a foundation for future work in these schools.

While these groups were working at the school in Nizhny Tageel (which is one of our targeted cities for a church plant in 2007), a reporter from the local television station came and interviewed members of each group, along with Rusty. The local minister of education came to the school with the express purpose of meeting Rusty, and invited him to come back and meet with the mayor and city administration to explore the possibility of setting up a partnership with the city for future work. This is a major praise, because before these groups went there to work, we had not met anyone in the city, and we were praying about how
to go about laying the groundwork for a new church plant. REQUESTS: 1)Pray for Rusty, as he plans to meet with the city administration in Nizhny Tageel sometime in November. Pray that he will have wisdom to know how to approach this meeting, and that God will be glorified in all that is planned. 2) Please pray for Alexander, who is the director of the school in Nizhny Tageel. It became obvious to us that he very quickly considered Rusty to be a good friend, and he said that he is hoping that our families can also become friends. Please pray that we will be able to share our faith as we develop this friendship. 3) Pray that as we continue to work at these schools, that we will be able to share the Good News with the students, and in the same way they are better able to hear physically, that their
"spiritual ears" will be opened.

At the beginning of December, we will be holding a church leadership conference for the pastors and church leaders of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast. This conference will be led by a group of pastors from Arkansas. We will be giving you more details and requests as the time gets nearer, but right now please be praying for each member of this group as they prepare for the conference, and also as they take care of their travel arrangements, etc. Please pray for Rusty, as he works on taking care of all the local planning (logistics, enlisting interpreters, etc.). Please pray for each pastor/church leader who will be attending this conference, that God would speak to them through this conference.

As always, we are so grateful to each of you for your prayers for our ministry, and your prayers for the people of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast.

Until next time...
Lori for the Harts

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- September 6, 2006

Read the short version below or see the full text of this newsletter HERE.

PRAISES
**We were able to work for two weeks at the orphanage in Loseeny, doing renovations. We were also able to have Kids' Club/Worship times with the children there!

**We had three volunteer groups from the states who worked in our city/oblast during July. They were from Gainesville, Florida; Macon, Georgia; and Nashville, Tennessee.

**We were able to spend a weekend at the dacha (summer home) with Vasily and Nadia,(husband and wife), two of the vice-mayors in Krasnaufimsk. It was a VERY cultural experience (we even experienced the Russian banya!!)

**Patrick and Janet Goodman (our IMB co-workers) were able to move from Krasnodar to Ekaterinburg.

**We were able to travel to St. Petersburg for a family vacation. While we were there, we were able to see many of the sites that are important to the history of Russia, spend some time with friends who live there, and get some much-needed REST!!

**The girls started back to school last Friday (September 1st). Yura (one of our friends from church) is teaching at their school.

**Since Hannah's birthday is this month (the 3rd), she was included in the MK Prayer Calendar for Girls In Action (GA's) and Children In Action (CA's). She is also featured for the entire month as the "MK of the Month" on the WMU website. Go to www.wmucia.com, click on the link for "MK of the Month", and you can see her story!!


REQUESTS
**Please continue to pray for Aleksei, and the continued work in Krasnaufimsk. Pray for us, as we investigate to possibility of new areas of ministry there.

**Please pray for the churches in the states who have agreed to partner with specific cities in the oblast.

**Please pray for the teachers/workers at our school, as they begin another school year. Pray for the director, who is currently visiting schools in America.

**Next week (September 14-16), we will be participating in a Marriage Retreat, along with our co-workers in the Urals/Siberia area of Russia. Pray that this will be a beneficial time for all involved.

**We will have two volunteer groups in September. The first will be a group of audiologists, who will be working at several schools for children with hearing problems. They will be assessing the needs of the children, and will be providing hearing aids for those children that need them. The second group will work at the same schools, doing follow-up work, with an emphasis on building relationships and introducing Biblical principles to the children, their parents, and the workers at the schools. Pray for these two groups, that their work here will be effective, and that they will not only minister to these children physically, but also spiritually.

**During the month of October, we will be traveling to Prague for Strategy Coordinator Training. This month, we will be working on finalizing the strategy for reaching the people of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast with the Gospel. Pray that God will give us wisdom as we work on this.

**Please pray for Patrick and Janet Goodman, and their daughter, Talitha, as they continue to get settled into life in Ekaterinburg, and as they continue full-time language study.


As always, we are so grateful for your prayers!!

Until next time...

Lori for the Harts


RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- July 8, 2006

Dear Friends-

We hope you are having a good summer. Ours has been really BUSY (and that's why it has been so long since our last update)!! We have a lot to share with you about what is going on here in the Sverdlovskaya Oblast, so I'll get right to it!!

PRAISES

The last week of May/first week of June we hosted a group of volunteers from The Summit Church in North Little Rock, AR (our home church). This group consisted of twenty-three people, including my (Lori's) parents. Their assignment was to begin a partnership with the city of Krasnoufimsk. God opened the doors for a great relationship with the mayor and city administration, which paved the way for work in local orphanages, schools, hospitals, and ministries. Nightly services were held at the House of Culture and saw numbers of attendees increase each night. During the last night, the mayor and city officials attended a farewell dinner and expressed great desire to see the partnership develop and grow.

During the next two weeks in June we hosted members of the sanctuary choir from First Baptist Church, Hot Springs, AR. The choir was able to perform multiple concerts, minister in orphanages, work with homeless children, and encourage local pastors and church leaders.

Requests:

**Please pray for Aleksei Maksimov, our team member living in Krasnaufimsk, as he tries to build on the relationships begun within the city, with the goal of planting a church there.

**Please pray for these volunteers (both as a group and as individuals) as they seek to determine God's will concerning their next step in ministry here in the oblast.

OTHER PRAISES:

The last week of June we were able to join with other IMB workers who serve in Central and Eastern Europe for our Annual Meeting in Poland. As always, this was a great time of fellowship, training, and spiritual renewal.

While in Poland, we were able to obtain our new visas, which allow us to continue living and working in Russia for the next year.

Laura and Megan have finished getting their braces put on their teeth, and we can already tell a difference (yea!!). Thankfully, their speech has not been greatly affected, which is a BIG praise, since they are working as interpreters for the summer. Request: They still have some pain, so pray that this will go away soon.

In our last update we asked you to pray for Laura as she was taking the state exams for Russian school. We are happy to report that she passed all her tests with A's and B's, and after an interview with the director, was approved to continue for her last two years at the same school.

In our last update, we also asked you to pray for the teachers and administrators at our school, as they were going through the process of renewing their educational license. We are happy to report that the school passed with flying colors, and their license was renewed for the next five years!

OTHER REQUESTS

Tomorrow (Sunday, July 9th) we will be taking a group of young people from our church here in Ekaterinburg to work at the orphanage in Loseeny (about 20 miles outside of town). We will be staying at the orphanage until Friday. During that time, we will be working during the day on repairs to the building, and at night having evangelistic meetings in the community. Pray that all will go well with our work there this week.

On Saturday, July 15th, we will begin hosting a volunteer group from Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida. We will be returning to the orphanage in Loseeny, where we will be doing a Kids' Club for the younger kids in the mornings, and in the evenings we will be having special programs for the teenagers. We will also continue with repairs to the building. Pray for this group as they finish their last-minute preparations this week. Also, pray that they will have safe travel, and that their time here will be effective.

During the month of July, we will have two other volunteer teams working in the city/oblast. One of these teams will be coming on an exploratory trip, to finalize plans for a group of audiologists who will be coming in September to work with special-needs children at several orphanages in the city (fitting them with hearing aids). The 2nd team is a group of dear friends from Macon, Georgia, who come each year and work alongside the city administration here in Ekaterinburg. Please pray for these groups as they make their final preparations, and pray for us as we try to make sure that everything here is ready for them.

Please pray for Patrick and Janet Goodman, fellow IMB workers who will be moving to Ekaterinburg later this week. Pray that all their belongings (which they have already shipped via train) will arrive soon, and that they will be able to quickly settle in to life here. Pray for Rusty as he makes all the arrangements for their language study. Pray for Talitha (their two-year-old), as she adjusts to yet ANOTHER move!! Also, they recently found out that they are expecting another baby, so pray for good health for Janet!!

As always, we are so grateful for your prayers!!

Until next time....

Lori for the Harts
 

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA- May 11, 2006

To see the full text of this newsletter/prayer requests, click HERE

Dear Friends--

At long last, spring has FINALLY arrived in Ekaterinburg. The snow is gone, the grass is beginning to turn green, and it is somewhat warmer. On Tuesday we celebrated Victory Day (in celebration of the Russian's defeat of the Germans in WW II), and we had a great picnic with friends from church. It is really nice to be able to go outside and not freeze!!

We have had a busy month, and the next one promises to be just as fun-filled, so we'll get right to sharing our praises and requests:

Visa Renewal--Rusty is going tomorrow morning (it will be Thursday night in the states) to try to find out if the school has been approved to invite us for another year, and if so, to turn in our applications for Letters of Invitation. Pray that our applications will be accepted (both for our family and the Goodman family), and pray that the LOI's can be processed quickly. This process usually takes 4-6 weeks, and we have to leave the country by June 21.

New Team Members-- Ilya and Nadia Obvintsev, our co-workers in Alapaevsk, recently had a baby. Also, Yura and Katya Kulikov, co-workers here in the city, are expecting their 2nd child, and Katya will be induced tomorrow. Pray that all goes well for tomorrow, and please pray for these two families as they strive to raise their children in a Godly manner.

English Convention in Moscow-- On April 21, a team of 29 students and five adults (which included our entire family) traveled to Vladimir for a weekend of sightseeing, and then on to Moscow for the School of Tomorrow convention, where students from Moldova, Ukraine, and Russian competed in English language events during the week. Our school was very successful, and learned some valuable life lessons!

Krasnaufimsk--In our last update, we asked you to pray about an upcoming concert in the city of Krasnaufimsk. We had about 60 people at the concert, with about half of those being unchurched people. Pray for Aleksei and his family as they build on these new contacts, pray for these people who heard the Gospel message, and pray for the city of Krasnaufimsk. Also, prease pray for a volunteer group from The Summit Church in Little Rock who will be arriving on May 26 to work alongside Aleksei in this city. .

Teacher Appreciation Reception in Loseeny--Next Friday (May 19), we will be hosting a teacher/worker appreciation reception at the orphanage in Loseeny. Pray for us this week as we make all the preparations for this event, and pray that the teachers and workers. Pray that God would continue to open their hearts to the Good News.

Russian State Exams--Prior to the last two years of high school, all students in Russian schools are required to take a series of exams. Their performance on these exams will determine if they can continue to study in a college-prep program, or if they will be "transferred' to a trade school. These exams will take place the first two weeks of June. This year, since she is completing the 10th grade, Laura (our oldest daughter) will be required to take these exams. Pray for her as she prepares for these exams.
 

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA--April 5, 2006

A Very Special Birthday
Although it seems hard to believe, today is Laura's SIXTEENTH birthday!! She had a great day at school--she even received roses from several of her friends!! Of course, we have a big blowout planned for this weekend.
 
PRAISES AND REQUESTS
***Volunteer Groups- We had three different groups coming to work with us this month.

***International Music Festival-Last week Rusty and Hannah were able to participate in an International Music Festival that was held for three days throughout our oblast.

**This Saturday, we will be traveling to Krasnaufimsk to do a concert. This is the first "outreach" that has been planned for this city, and will be a time for Lyosha (the local Russian pastor) to gain some exposure in the community.
 
**Rusty is working on setting up a meeting with some of the City Administrators here in Ekaterinburg. Pray that they would be willing to help us in establishing relationships in these cities. Pray for Rusty and Sergei, that they would have wisdom in knowing how to approach these officials, and would know exactly what needs to be said in these meetings.

To see the full text of this newsletter/prayer requests, click HERE.

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA--MARCH 7, 2006

PRAISES
**Olesya (our co-worker in Children's Ministry) and Dima were married on February 11th

**We have FINALLY received all of our boxes from the states that were mailed before we returned from Stateside Assignment

**I (Lori) have resumed volunteering in the English classes at the school that Laura, Megan, and Hannah attend. I am doing oral Bible lessons on the life of Jesus

**We have started a class for those interested in interpreting for our volunteers this summer

**Pasha, a young man who has visited our church a few times with his girlfriend, was saved while "sitting in" on our interpreters class!!


REQUESTS
**Pray that the students at school will understand the stories from the Bible

**Pray for the students from our school who will participate in an English competition in Moscow. We are using contemporary Christian music for the musical presentations. Please pray that as we work on the music, that the children will not only learn the "language" of these songs, but that they will also understand the "message" of the music.

**Pray that we will have wisdom to know how best to train those who will be working as interpreters for our volunteer groups this summer.

**Pray for three English teachers (who are not believers) who have expressed an interest in working as interpreters for our volunteer groups, that their hearts will be open to the Truth of the messages that they will be interpreting

**Pray for the volunteer groups that will be working in Ekaterinburg and the surrounding areas during the month of March.

**Pray for our family members in the states as they deal with various health issues.

Thanks for your prayers on our behalf!!
Lori for the Harts

To see the full text of this newsletter/prayer requests, click HERE.

RAZORBACKS IN RUSSIA--January 21 2006

PRAISES
**MK Retreat in Poland was a great experience for Laura and Megan

**Our orphanage ministry received the "blessing" of an administrative commission
that was checking out the work of Protestants in the orphanage at Loseeny

**Olesya and Dima were able to schedule their wedding for February 11th

**Nadia was able to find an affordable place to open a clothing store

**Conference for Protestant church leaders on strategic planning

**Physics tutor for Megan

REQUESTS
**Continue to pray for a new church-start at the orphanage at Loseeny

**Pray for Dima and Olesya as they plan their wedding

**Pray for Nadia as she ministers to her co-workers and customers in her shop

**Pray for our family as we work to build a relationship with the Gorbich family

**Pray for Rusty and other church leaders at they work to plan strategically how to reach our city and region for Christ

**Pray for Megan in physics class

**Pray for Lori and English teachers as they work together at school

**Pray that boxes mailed from the states will arrive soon

**Pray for the volunteer groups that will come to work with us, and all that is involved (both here AND in the states)

As we have told you MANY times in the past, we are SO GRATEFUL that you have chosen to partner with us, as we seek to share the TRUTH with the people of Ekaterinburg, and now also in the Sverdlovsk Oblast. Until next time....

Lori for the Harts

To see the full text of this newsletter/prayer requests, click HERE.