Our Latest Prayer Letter

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ! The Lord has been good to us beyond measure these past few months. We are excited about the work that He has been doing in our lives. The summer was filled with a plethora of events which we’re anxious to tell you more about on these brief pages.

We have now officially set a departure date of August 1, 2007 for Russia! We are very excited about this. Lord willing, we hope to officially leave on that date next year to begin our work full-time over there.

The month of June brought with it a very busy schedule. There were activities at the church, Bible studies, a mission trip, etc. And as if that weren’t enough, we had several surprises come our way. We received a phone call one afternoon in June from one of Isaiah’s doctors stating that a recent CAT scan showed that his shunt was not working as well as it should and that he was going to need to have it revised, which would require surgery. As you can imagine, this was a little discouraging to us, but the Lord was good to calm our fears. As it turns out, this is a relatively common procedure for people with shunts, especially infants and babies. This all happened the week of June the 11^th, the week right before Thomas was to take the youth down to the Gulf Coast for a mission trip. To further add to matters, Cristy was suddenly struck with a kidney stone late on the evening of Saturday the 17^th, resulting in us having to rush her to the hospital.

In the midst of all of this, we were reminded of God’s sovereign control over all things. Though we would not have planned all of these events, the Lord’s hand of providence was at work. Many pages could be devoted to all the details of what happened, but suffice it to say that all “worked together for good.” Cristy was able to get pain medicine. Others stepped up to the plate so Thomas could leave the mission trip Wednesday night to be back for Isaiah’s surgery that Thursday.

Isaiah’s surgery went smoothly and fixed the problem with the shunt. And Cristy’s problem … well … was resolved Friday night the 23^rd. Saturday morning we left for North Carolina. Whew!

After such a busy schedule, our time in North Carolina visiting Cristy’s family and old home church was refreshing. We were able to rest and enjoy some time with Cristy’s family and friends. Both Cristy and Thomas were able to teach Sunday school at Beacon Baptist, and Thomas was able to preach for their Wednesday night service while Cristy spoke to their youth.

We returned home to Yazoo City on Friday, June 30^th. Thankfully the month of July proved to be a bit slower than June.

But slower doesn’t necessarily have to mean dull. July, though, proved to be a month of winding down from the very active summer. Summer Bible studies at church began to end, kid’s programs finished and the youth began to get ready to go back to school. The end of July also brought another change to our lives.

Some shifts of responsibilities have taken place in Thomas’ life. The end of the month of July brought an end to Thomas’ job as Youth Director at church and the beginning of a new position at Covenant Christian School in Yazoo City co-teaching the 6^th grade class there. Monday through Thursday Thomas teaches the class Bible, History and Science. This change of jobs brings with it a bit more flexibility in our family’s schedule to allow us to pursue fundraising and preparation for the mission field for next year. We’re very excited about this opportunity.

And now we find ourselves already through the months of August and September. School has started and the weather has backed down from the 100+ days that hurt so badly. By the time we get through with a Mississippi summer, we find ourselves saying “You know, -40 really isn’t that bad!”

We have a number of goals set for ourselves over the next few months. Thomas has been asked to speak at a pastor’s conference in North Carolina on December 4^th. As it stands right now, we have about 43% of our support raised. We hope to be over 50% around Christmas time. The Lord has really been blessing us with supporters!

Please take a moment sometime and visit us at our website, www.siberiangrits.com, send us an email or write us. We’d love to hear from you!

In Christ,

The Slawsons (Thomas, Cristy & Isaiah)