Permanent Impact February 2009
. . . a newsletter to keep you up-to-date with Sculley family adventures in Russia and beyond
We’re willing to go . . . are you willing to send us?
What’s the latest?
Prayer, praise, and people
We’re still in the throes of winter here, but often one of the family will comment, “Wow, it’s so warm today – only -5!” It does seem really warm when the temps hover around freezing, and we’re grateful for the mild winter here. Snow is so much fun, especially when we get to go sledding!
The Nizhny Vineyard soaking group continues to meet at our apartment on Friday evenings, with 30 to 40 adults and a pile of kids coming together to worship God and pray together each week (from over a dozen different churches). In our other cultures, our living room might only accommodate a dozen people, but Russians are easy-going when it comes to personal space (as anyone who has ridden a mashrutka bus can testify!) It’s a huge blessing to host this meeting, and God never fails to show up (“Call to me and I will answer you . . .” Jeremiah 33:3). We often hear testimonies of healing, encouragement, and learning to hear God’s voice. Sadly, few Russians have experienced healthy relationships with their earthly fathers, and it’s a joy to see them receive more of their heavenly Father’s unconditional love for them. It is a huge answer to prayer that so many a growing number of men are passionately seeking God. Many people from the group attended a recent “River” conference in town – in the slideshow below are some shots from one of the worship sessions.
We’re delighted that Karen has begun teaching regular prayer seminars to a group of enthusiastic believers from a few local churches – we are so encouraged that God has opened this door of opportunity!
Seven core members of the soaking group stayed really late one Friday for a “night of prayer”, well until 3am anyway 🙂 The Lord blessed us with a powerful time of united prayer and an outpouring of Holy Spirit revelation, speaking very clearly to each one who came.
We’ve enjoyed lots of gatherings since our last newsletter – youth white elephant party, J’s 15th birthday (bowling / pizza / sleepover / movie marathon), E’s & K’s 9th birthdays (Salon Sculley – gorgeous gowns, nail parlor, happy hair, fancy faces, lotion lounge, glamor shots), and sharing life with many dear friends!
P’s univeristy studies are going well. One of his math instructors has figured out that he’s already mastered the material, and now gives him tailored assignments (here’s a story for our fellow math lovers – one day the homework for the rest of the class was to solve a system of simultaneous equations; P’s assignment was to prove that there are an infinite number of primes LOL). In the slideshow below is a glimpse at a typical day at the Sculley Academy for the rest of the gang.
Karen continues to greatly enjoy her Russian studies, which includes many varied field trips (to schools, concerts, cultural events, and recently to a blini [pancake] masterclass in honor of the Russian celebration of Maselnitsa that precedes Lent).
Paul spoiled all of his sweethearts on Valentine’s Day 🙂 and we were blessed by the many goodies sent by dear friends in Atlanta that made this day very special for the whole family!
Here’s this month’s slide show:
Thanks for all your prayers, encouragement, and support! We love you and appreciate you!
Our contact information:
local U.S. number that will reach us in Russia: 678-389-9379
Russian apartment phone #: +7-910-432-81-77
facebook: Karen Sculley
snail mail: (print this out and stick it on the envelope)
RUSSIA
603093 Г. Нижний Новгопод
Ул. Родионова
Д. 180/1 Кв. 23
Sculley family
Financial Partnership Opportunities:
We’d like to offer you a variety of opportunities each month . . . let us know if you’d like to partner with us in any of these ways. THANK YOU for your support . . . it is a joy to walk this road together with you!
• Sculley Family support
o Our current support level is 90% of our financial needs through June 2009 – praise God!
• Resources for Russians
o We’ve acquired many great books in Russians to lend out to the believers who come to our home. Dozens of people are using the resources on our two-shelf library. Let us know if you’d like to contribute to supplying more resources to help Russian believers grow in faith.
We trust God to provide everything we need to do all that He wants us to do in and through us. If you would like to invest what God has given you in Kingdom activity, through financial partnership, here’s how (all financial contributions are 100% tax deductible in the U.S.A., and are processed through the Atlanta Vineyard, our sending church to whom we are accountable):
• automated giving (automatic monthly deductions from your checking or savings account – click here for the form – be sure to write “Sculley – Russia” in the space under “recommended giving”). Once you print out and fill in the form, please mail it to the address indicated at the bottom of the form.
• online giving via PayPal (www.atlantavineyard.com — just mention “Sculley – Russia” on the online giving comment line)
Praise Reports:
• for many prayer mobilization opportunities. God is so faithful! Thanks for your prayers!
• that God has provided ample financial support for us, such that we’re able to help 23 Nizhny Vineyard-ites attend the March 5th – 7th Russian Vineyard National Conference in Perm (17 hours by train east of Nizhny Novgorod). This annual conference will have an emphasis on evangelism in addition to its usual focus on equipping, envisioning, and encouragement. It’s also a big family reunion as the 7 Vineyard churches in Russia are geographically very spread out, from St. Petersburg to Siberia (over 3500km apart).
• for the frequent opportunities God gives us to pour into the lives of young believers and emerging leaders in the body of Christ.
Please pray for us:
• for the prayer groups and prayer training that we’re involved with, that God’s plans would be accomplished
• for God’s guidance and direction in everything.
We pray for you, too – please let us know your specific prayer requests. It’s such a joy to pray for one another! We have all of our email and facebook friends’ names written on our prayer wall in the kitchen.
Our vision:
• mobilize prayer
• promote unity in the body of Christ
• raise up leaders
We appreciate your prayers so much! Thank you!
“The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Samuel 30:24)
In Russia with love,
Paul, Karen, P, J, M, C, E, & K Sculley
“every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (Romans 8:28, The Message)
