Permanent Impact March 2008
. . . 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?
Warming, waiting, and working!
Even though it is officially spring in the northern hemisphere now, the snow continues to fall occasionally in between periods of melting. The weather forecast promises some continuing warming this week (as high as 10 Celcius / 50 Fahrenheit), so maybe we’ll see some leaves soon! Green grass is starting to peek out next to some of the sidewalks / footpaths! It really is beautiful weather here, especially when the skies clear. We’ve been accustomed to usually seeing only a tiny piece of sky in Atlanta, due to the amazing plethora of trees there. Here, the sky seems huge, and you can see clear to the horizon, making for gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.
We’re relieved and thankful to have finally completed all the paperwork necessary for our long-term visas, and have been told to expect them to be issued in July. We may well have been among the last ones to turn everything in, due to the many delays we encountered along the way. But God is so much bigger than any obstacle – what a miracle! Meanwhile, we’re waiting on God, trusting Him to move on our behalf again and open the doors for us to stay past the time that our current visas run out.
Current Russia statistics . . . In this nation of 142,000,000 people, there are 10,000,000 alcoholics; 10,000,000 drug addicts (including 4,000,000 children); 800,000 orphans; 6,000,000 homeless children; 7/10 of pregnancies end in abortion; 31,000,000 people live below the poverty line; the death rate is more than 1.5 times the birth rate. We believe God is ON THE MOVE and working here in Nizhny Novgorod, and in the nation of Russia, and these statistics will change . . . “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Pray with us . . .
Here’s a readers’ digest randomly ordered peek at our lives . . . loving God, hanging with new friends, missing old friends, email, facebook, Russian language lessons, daily bus rides, ice skating, slinging reusable grocery bags over our shoulders, learning to walk on icy paths, clothes lines in the kitchen, Sculley Academy, English-language DVDs, one-on-one family dates, Sunday morning set-up and tear-down, student ministry, youth group, youth Easter choir / band, children’s ministry, prayer walking & prayer bus-ing, making care packages, blessing our neighbors, celebrating Western-Easter, editing & publishing a Russian-English pre-Orthodox-Easter-devotional-booklet written by individuals in the church, prayer groups, church leadership group, hosting afternoons of food & fun, serving the body of Christ, family devotions, praying at the Agape Center, encouraging believers, exploring the city, solving Russian crossword puzzles, squeezing in at the kitchen table since we often have a big jigsaw puzzle in progress on the table in the living room . . . Everywhere we go, and in everything we do, we are aware that despite being very ordinary people doing ordinary things, we are carriers of God’s presence, and daily pray for God to direct our steps and give us opportunities to display the love of Jesus and to welcome the Kingdom of God! We want to be faithful in sowing the seeds He entrusts us with . . . now for some recent pics . . .
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!
* Sculley Family support
Our current support level is 60% of our 2008 financial needs – praise God!
* Resources for Russians
Anyone who’s hung out with us knows we LOVE books, DVDs, and CDs to help us learn and grow! A donation of any amount will help purchase much-needed resources to encourage Russian-speaking believers in their walk with God. The cost of living here is very expensive – many people do not have ANY disposable income, so things like books and DVDs are few and far between. (Incidentally, a long-term dream of ours, which will require a big chunk of change, is to help finance the translation of more resources into Russian.)
* Sponsor a Student
$30 will sponsor one student to be able to attend the April 5th student retreat our whole family is participating in. The retreat will include students from all over the world (mostly African and Asian), who are currently studying in Nizhny Novgorod, away from their homes for anywhere from 6 months to 6 years. The student retreat will include times of worship, teaching and prayer, and also a chance to enjoy some gym and outdoor recreation, something that is not readily available in the city (we’re really looking forward to that part, too!) Many of them are strapped financially, like students everywhere! It broke our hearts to hear one student whom we invited to our apartment comment with tears in his eyes that “this is the first good meal I’ve had in 2 months – I’ve been living on potatoes.” We have an amazing window of opportunity to help prepare these passionate young people for the future, as many will return to predominantly Muslim or Buddhist home countries as ambassadors for Jesus!
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 (http://www.atlantavineyard.com/resources/online_giving.html — just mention “Sculley – Russia” on the online giving comment line)
Praise Reports:
* Praise God for His grace, favor, direction, provision, and protection in our lives! We are very thankful for His goodness to us.
* Paul, Karen, P, J, M, & C have all begun Russian lessons with our friend and tutor, Valya.
* God has given us many wonderful opportunities to pray with, encourage, and spend time with others. We’re thankful for the people God has brought into our lives, each one a special treasure.
Please pray for us:
* Pray that God will continue to open doors for us to do all that He has for us to do in Russia. We trust God for His timing, plans, and provision. Our current visas expire at the end of April – please pray that God will make a way for us to stay in the country while waiting for our long-term visas to be issued.
* Pray for the Easter devotional that is being written by individuals from the Nizhny Vineyard (we are editing and publishing in Russian & English). It will be used as a devotional guide by the whole church for the two weeks leading up to Easter (April 27th, because the Church here uses the Julian calendar to calculate Easter, in case you were wondering!).
* Pray for the Student Retreat on April 5th, that each one who attends will encounter Jesus Christ in a special way, be refreshed and empowered, and ready for what’s ahead!
* Pray for the Vineyard National Conference in early May that is being hosted here at the Nizhny Novgorod Vineyard, and will be attended by people from all over Russia, the U.S., and several other nations. Pray for all the many preparations that are currently underway, provision, and unity in the body of Christ. We are so excited that some of our very own Atlanta Vineyard friends will be here for this, along with some dear friends from other cities in Russia and beyond!
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 each of your 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)
Visit our blog (updated weekly):
In Russia with love,
Paul, Karen, P, J, M, C, E, & K Sculley
“Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:9 – 10, New Living Translation)
“May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.” (Ephesians 1:2, NLT)
