The Dean Family

It has been a whirlwind the last few days, but we have arrived in America and are getting settled in. We were quite tired upon our arrival, and it took a few days to get adjusted, but we are doing well. The last few days we visited with my family in Ohio and West Virginia, and I preached in my home church this past Sunday. We also finalized everything on our furlough car. We were able to buy a 2003 Mazda MPV. Following are a few photos that we took while we were in Moscow. I hope they find you well.

We just arrived at the airport in Krasnoyrsk and will be flying out soon. Please pray for us, as we will be traveling the next few days. We had a change in our itinerary which resulted in a 25 hour layover in Moscow. So I thought that I would take the family to see Red Square during that time. And then we will spend the night in a hotel. Thank you, in advance,  for your prayers.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) went very well this year. We held VBS in three locations: the villages of Automoniva and Shila, as well as the city. We had a good group at each of the locations; although in Shila, many of our regulars were away at a summer camp, so our numbers in Shila were considerably lower than I anticipated.  Kids playing after the VBS service I was really excited about the participation of the church members with the  VBS outreach in the villages. It was really exciting to see them putting on puppet shows for the kids, making the snacks, and helping with registration. In general, trying to be a blessing to the young people. This is important, as we want this to be a ministry of the church, and not just something that the missionaries put on each year.   We tried something we have never tried before in the city; we took the  inflatable bounce house to some of the nearby playgrounds and set it up. As the local children played...

Our first week of Vacation Bible School is coming to an end. We were in the village of Atamonova  this week. Today we had an attendance of over 40 kids. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. But most importantly, they heard the Gospel. Leading up to VBS, I was busy with building the game props needed for VBS. I was also able to help missionary David Sterling with his VBS by painting a carnival photo prop for him.  Please continue to pray for VBS, as next week we will be holding it in the village of Shila, where we live.

My family, and the missionaries that we are working with, met last week to discuss the Vacation Bible Schools that we will be holding this summer. The theme is Diving for Treasure. The idea is that we will dive into the Word of God and find    our  treasure. I  look  to  have  a great turnout  in  our  village as  we  have  been working with a group of young people here for over a year now.  They are very excited about VBS. As you may recall, we held our first VBS here last year. Now, a year later, the children are still talking about it and are excited for the one this summer. I am really excited about this year’s VBS, because, after working with the young people of Shila for about a year, many of them have really progressed in their understanding of the Bible and salvation. Our goal concerning the VBS is twofold: First: To bring the young people whom we have already been working with to a place of decision. ...

Yesterday, we had a wonderful day. A group of ladies from the city church came out to the village for a visit, and to see the work here. Many of the ladies have not been out here since before the fire. They were quite excited to see the renovations. a lot has changed since the fire. A few of the ladies expressed an interest in coming out here and helping with Vacation Bible School this summer. This is really exciting for me because this is exactly what we need; more church member involvement.  The more that they can get involved the better, not only for their own spiritual growth but also for the growth of the village ministry. Someday, we are moving further north and will be transitioning out of this ministry; which means that the members of the city church need to catch the burden and vision of this ministry and continue the work. Please continue to pray for the work here.

As many of you know, we had a break in shortly after we moved to the village of Shila. We have taken som steps to prevent this in the future. The local officer in the village highly encouraged us to get a guard dog. He said that it is normal for most village homes to have a guard dog on the property,  and that we should get one soon. So we followed his advice and got a Caucasian Mountain Dog. They are not common breed in America, but are popular  in Russia and eastern Europe, and are commonly employed as guard dogs. They are a shepherding breed, that means that they will both protect our family (their flock) and the protect the territory. In addition to this, we also bought a insurance policy that protects against theft and fire.    Adult Caucasian Mountain Dog. Our Dog at 6 Months Old