Sunday, April 10, 2011

God's Plan for Us -2011

To many, this will not be new news, but to others it will be. If you know Dawn and I even remotely, you know that the plight of the orphan is very near and dear to our hearts. While on our first trip to Vladivostok, Russia, we fell in love with the people and experienced one of those "God Things". Ever since that visit, we have felt a connection to that region and the people. Add to that the family connection we have there with three of our children. It has been nearly three years since we left and to this day I check the weather for that area.

For every year that has passed us, the tug on our heart has grown stronger. So much so, I even looked into immigration laws for Russia. If possible, I would sell our belongings and move tomorrow. Sadly, the Russian immigration law is not as open as ours here in the United States. We have now decided to spend our annual vacation time and resources on working for orphans in the Primorsky Krai region. The last week of this month, we interview with a mission agency. If approved, we will be allowed to do just that under their umbrella.

While on our first trip to Vladivostok, we met a missionary in the lobby of the hotel. Guess what he does? Works with orphans in that region. Coincidence - I think not!! For the past three years, we have kept in close contact with him and his family and even invited them to speak at our church.

The past 12 months have been interesting to say the least. Those of you close to us know what we have been through. For those of you we don't know, let me just say that the devil, yes - Satan himself will use every tool at his disposal to stop orphans from being adopted by loving parents. Try to do more than that and the fight gets a little rougher. We have been through things I would never, ever would have imagined in my wildest nightmare. However, at my side is The King of Kings. We walked through the fire with His help and we walk forward knowing His angels are with us. To God be the glory of all we are able to accomplish in His name.

So, please pray for us as we start this new journey. We will share more info in a few weeks.

God Bless -

Tony & Dawn

P.S.
Our final interview for our last post placement for Polina, Dima and Nastya is tomorrow. It is amazing to see how they have grown!

2 comments:

Tina said...

It is such a blessing to see God working in your lives. You are such an encouragement to those watching as you follow Him as you listen, respond with a "Yes Lord" and move your feet in obedience! :)
Love y'all and praying for you!

Craig and Phyllis said...

That is so great!! Can't wait to hear more. And the final post placement!!! Amazing!

If you want to email me your address, I will send you a book that our friend wrote (he aged out of the Russian orphanage system). I think you would really like it. I just posted about it on the blog Saturday.