The Dean Family

Missionary Matt Northcutt and I are planning an advanced survey trip to the North. We plan to visit the village of Vanavara toward the end of this month (September.) Vanavara is located in the Evenk Municipal District, which is home to both Russian and Evenki People. The total population of Evenkia is 16,284 people. Vanavara represents 3,154 of the population. Vanavara is one of the three major support centers of Evenkya. It supports four other smaller villages. Also, Vanavara has a  Home for  the Elderly and Disabled, a Children's Rehabilitation Center, and a children's home. I first became aware of this village while I was on furlough. It was then that  I learned that one of the faithful church members from Krasnoyarsk moved to this village due to work. She is a single lady with no other believers with whom to  fellowship. Please pray for her as she stands as the lone witness in this village, and for Brother Northcutt and I as we seek direction from the Lord. ...

So far the U.S. economic sanctions have not effected our wire transfer to Russia. It has, however, effected some. My understanding is that a simple wire transfer to a Russian bank is not a violation of the U.S. economic sanctions, however it is scrutinized very closely. Because of this scrutiny, some U.S. banks have chosen to not process any transactions to the Russian banks listed in the U.S. economic sanctions. This is done as a risk management measure. This has left many missionaries in Russia and the Ukraine without money. Some have been able to rely on their credit cards, but it should be noted that Russia is very much a cash based society, especially in the villages.  Fortunately our wire transfer went through this month, but we do not know how long our U.S. bank will continue to process our wire transfers. One possible solution that we are looking into is opening a bank account with a German based bank that also operates in Krasnoyarsk. Such a bank would comply with a...

We had a wonderful week of VBS in Shila, with an amazing turn out! We registered  34 kids, which is an amazing number for our village. 23 of them were first time visitors. In addition to this, we had 2 grandparents and 1 parent sit in on some of the fun. This allowed us to get acquainted with them.   This week was also a great encouragement to our faithful neighbor, who spent much of her time giving out invitations and talking with parents and grandparents about VBS. It was such a great blessing for her to see the fruit of her labour.  Some of this week's highlights were: 34 New Testaments Handed Out! Singing! Games! Bible Lessons and Missionary Stories Snacks! Crazy Hat Day! Prizes! Medals 

Tomorrow we start VBS in Shila, the village where we live. We have spent the last few days getting the property ready, and making sure everything is in place. Today we transformed the garage into a castle, using the same props that we used in the city VBS. We plan to hold the lessons in the garage as it is much cooler then trying to hold it outdoors. The games and activities will be held in our yard. My heart was touched as I watched my neighbor, who has faithfully attended the services for some time now, giving out invitations to VBS and talking with parents and grandparents about the upcoming VBS. It is exciting for me to see her get excited about the work of the Lord. Please pray for us and the work in Shila, as the Sunday School attendance has been up and down lately. I am praying that VBS will help us to reconnect with some young people who have not been in awhile, and to bring us into contact with some new people we have not meet before.

VBS went very well in the village of Atamanova. We had a good group of kids. They had a good time in playing the games, listening to the stories and doing other activities. Most importantly, they heard the Gospel preached. Please pray for our church family that lives in the village of Atamanova, as they follow up on the children who came to VBS, and continue to hold a Sunday School in this village.

First week of VBS in the city of Krasnoyarsk is over! The Lord truly blessed. So thankful for a wonderful group of missionaries and church members to work with to make this all possible. 3 more VBS' to go, please keep them in your prayers. We start in the village of Atamanova this Wednesday. A special thanks to Amber Pranger for making the video recap of the week. We hope you enjoy.

We were able to get a garden in this year. We wanted to last year, but we needed to build some fences, and get the property prepared first, as it has been some time since the land has been worked.  The garden has proven to be an opportunity to help build friendships. One of our neighbors came over to help us plant. We were also able to  help her with some things in her garden. Some of our other neighbors gave us some starts to plant. On another occasion, one of my neighbors waved me down one day while I was outside working, to give me some pumpkin seeds that she had dried; because she had heard that we like pumpkin, and we can make some kind of unusual American pie with it??? Such friendships could open the door to presenting the Gospel. There is a little bit more going on here then building friendships though; a garden is an important part of village life. To live in a village and not put a garden in would be very abnormal. It could even give you the reputation of ...