June 18 2002

Hello dear praying friends! 

 God has blessed us with multiple speaking opportunities over the past month; therefore,  we have been on the road much of the time and have been unable to communicate with you.  God has blessed us with many new prayer partners as a result of our speaking tour, as well will new contacts with folks who have a heart for the lost peoples of Bashkortostan.  We have had wonderful times of fellowship and prayer with many new friends and an abundance of old friends.

 Our twin boys are progressing, though there may need to be some adjustments in the amount of medication one of them is receiving in order to stimulate his system a little better.  Both of the boys are over 10 lbs now.  We return to the pediatrician on July 8 for a checkup, and if all is well, we may get to stop using the monitors and reduce the medication levels for a month and then have another check up in mid-August.  If all is well then, we will receive clearance to return to the field hopefully before too late in August.

 The bible distribution project (for which many of you prayed) has been completed with the result of about 10,000 copies of scripture being distributed.  Much of this distribution was done in areas where Bibles have never been seen or personally held by the vast majority of recipients. Pray that God will bless the sowing of His word and bring reap a harvest of new believers, bible study groups, and churches.  Pray for those involved in the distribution project as they plan and envision toward another distribution project into next year, as well as for rehab centers in B-stan, that God would work thru the leaders and that many would be delivered from alcohol and drug addiction and become vibrant church planters for Jesus!

 Many of you have been praying for Larry and Josie Moon, church planter apprentices who will join us in late December.  You will be thrilled to know that Josie (who is from the Philippines) took the oath of US citizenship in late May and is now a full-fledged US citizen!  This was a potentially time-delaying process that went surprisingly well, especially in light of the caution that immigration officials have taken in light of the events of Sept 11.  The Moons will move near Richmond, Virginia in late October and complete orientation by mid-December. They anticipate flying to Moscow in late December and then joining us in Ufa soon thereafter.

 We continue to pray that the Lord would call out other church planters, student evangelism workers, & media development workers to come join our team and fulfill specific segments of our evangelism strategy.  We ask you to go before the Lord and beg the Lord of the harvest to give us the desires of our hearts by sending additional strategic workers to labor with us.

 Pray that the Lord would give favor to a team of American believers who will come to Bashkortostan Aug. 17-27 to assist the local churches with evangelism projects.  It is hoped that there will be 35 participants in these meetings; pray that God would bring glory to Himself by drawing individuals from different people groups into a living relationship with Himself; pray that God would give the participants favor with local government officials and residents of each respective city in which they visit.  Pray that God would cross the participants' paths with 'persons of peace' (Luke 10:1-9) who will make possible hearings for the gospel.

 Pray for the development of initial contacts here in Oklahoma that could lead to several ministry partnerships between local churches and our work in Bashkortostan, as well as leading to the participation of several volunteer mission teams to come help us fulfill specific parts of our church-planting strategy.

 Last pray for our safety as we spend time in the near future with extended family on Eileen's side.  Pray for safety for all of us as we travel.  Pray for us as we have several speaking opportunities thereafter, that God would bless His word and our testimony of what He is doing and desires to do among the peoples of Bashkortostan.

 We invite to communicate with us directly thru email (chrisandeileen@iname.com, OR carr@ufanet.ru) as well as surfing to our website from time to time (www.hope4ufa.com)

 We thank you for being such a strategic part of our work.  Without your prayers, we would have little power and freedom in our work.  Without your prayers, we might have become discouraged and given up long ago.  Thank you for being an encouragement to us, as we push back the edge of darkness in Bashkortostan!

 Much love-

Chris, Eileen, Nathan,Timothy, Heather, Stephen, & Seth Carr

IMB workers in Ufa, Bashkortostan (Russia)