Fam & Friends, 

June held a number of firsts for me: my first time leading an all-female short-term team, my first time meeting with a lawyer in Russia, my first time playing laser tag in the forest, my first experience on a motorcycle, and my first time at a wedding in Russia.

God is so good! After dealing with one of my trip participant’s canceled flight, we all met up at JFK and the trip was smooth from there on! All our bags arrived with us, we had no major changes to our plans, no one got sick, we even were allowed to visit an orphanage for babies—something that we’ve been trying to do with a Vladimir team for 5 years! Thank you so much for your prayers during this trip. We had a great time with the children in our Seslavskoye center. I was actually able to co-teach the preschool group with one of the women on my team! Though our lessons were simple, at the end of the week each of our six kids knew who God is and that he loves them.  We had a blast!

When I found out that my friend & former teammate (Bethany Johnson) would be getting married in Vladimir just a couple weeks after a short-term team I was leading would finish ministry, you know I had to stay in Russia for the big event.

I spent the next two weeks spending time with our staff, volunteers, and future foster parents.  Although most days were glum and drizzly, there were a few nicer days we were able to get out of the city and enjoy nature.

I spent most of my time with our fantastic volunteers. We planned for the upcoming school year, drank lots and lots of tea, and played laser tag out in the forest…in the rain. I also had several meetings with a Russian attorney to discuss property ownership laws among other questions regarding the Russian Christian Foster Home I’m working on. It was a really great contact to make.

You probably remember my teammate Bethany. She was on my team from 2010-2012 and that is how she met her now husband, Oleg.  It was so fun to celebrate them at their wedding.  Russian weddings typically have a lot of activities and competitions either before or after the ceremony—it was definitely a new and fun experience for me.

Spending time with Sergey and Zhenya and meeting with this attorney got me really pumped about the foster home. I am working on a campaign to raise fund for it right now. This is just to start of what will be lots of church visits and grant proposals. You can follow along with this project at: www.boazproject.org/rcfh

Thank you so much for your support. I couldn’t do what I do without you.

Please continue to pray for my personal support, the situation in Ukraine and with that Russian-American relations, and for the children in our orphanages. Thank you!

With much thanks,

David/Frenchy

P.S. Come to Russia with me in December! I’ll be leading a team to Vladimir to share the Christmas story and deliver Christmas gifts to orphans. Let me know if you’re interested. Applications are due by August 29th:www.boazproject.org/tripapp