Today Ed, Robin and Alex (Losha) arrived home. Some friends and family threw them a “welcome home” party. Although tired from the long travels and change in time zones, they had enough energy to eat lasagna and cake. They took the opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers and support.

We rejoice with them as God has proven His faithfulness and graciousness to them during this long journey.

God be praised.

Ed sent a quick note and included some pictures.

We are well, submitted paperwork today for Alex’s Passport which we hope will be issued tomorrow, (Friday). Am sending some pics. Hope you can pick them up. We look forward to being home. God has been so good and thank everyone for all the prayers!

Ed

Joel just sent me a quick update for me to pass on to you.

Good News!
There is officially a new Foster Kid!
Mom and Dad and Alex just made it through the Russian Court.
God has bountifully blessed us and answered our prayers.
I will send a fuller update later when I get the details. Just wanted to let everyone know.
Praise the Lord!
Thanks,
Joel

Joel spoke with his parents today and forwarded me an update to share:

“They (Ed & Robin) went to Nishi Malov (I don’t think that is spelled correctly) on Monday and had an interview with the Director of the Ministry of Education, the director of the orphanage, and a social worker, all of whom endorsed them. All went well, they had a safe but wild ride they said! They are having an interesting time trying new foods.

Losha might have to stay at the orphanage until the court date because he has lost so much of his russian language, but Mom and Dad really want him to be able to stay with them. I think he is kind of nervous. They would appreciate prayer for that. They also need prayer that they will be able to remain in Penza until the court date. There is some ten day restriction they are trying to get past.

On Tuesday they visited eight doctors, had an amazing nurse who helped them get through, they are all done with their russian medical checkups. They say they are doing fine, just waiting now. They hope to be able to do a little sight-seeing.”

Let’s continue to be praying for our brother and sister as they are in Russia.

We are on our way home. Praise the Lord for the safety that He has given us so far! [As of 8:45pm Thursday ET], we are in Miami waiting to board our plane for Chicago. We are bracing ourselves for the snow and cold! We have been getting used to 75-85 degrees…now we’ll have to adjust back to the frigid Illinois weather.

We praise the Lord for a successful trip. Thank you again for all of you who have been faithfully praying. We finished Violet’s roof, electrical, and outside bathroom. Violet was extremely thankful for the work that was accomplished. It is a great feeling to give a “cup of cold water” in the name of Christ.

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” It is Global Grace’s privilege to fulfill this mandate to His honor and glory.

A special thanks to Terrell Goodwin, Jason Kors, Bill and Nancy Hunt, and Mike Moore for their hard work this week.

Praise the Lord for the safety and guidance that He has given us so far while here in Jamaica. We have definitely felt the Lord’s presence with us and the prayers of the saints as well. I know that many of you have been praying for our team. Let me give you some brief updates.

Saturday was our play day. We had to take advantage of the beautiful weather so we traveled northeast to Ocho Rios and spent about 5 hours at the small swim area and Dunn’s River Falls. We climbed the falls! It took us — Nancy, Jason, and Chris — about an hour to climb from bottom to top. We had a blast!

Sunday was a great day which we spent with the believers at United Evangelical and Missionary Outreach Church. What a sweet time of fellowship we had together! We worshiped together in singing and in ministering the Word. I had the privilege to preach to the people of Pastor Perkin’s church and our own group. In the afternoon, we traveled to Hope Worship Center in Old Harbour, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Top Hill. We sang “My Jesus Fair,” and Bill Hunt prayed a great dedicatory prayer asking God’s blessing upon this new ministry. It is such a joy to fellowship with the universal Body of Christ around the world.

Today (Monday) we went back to Violet’s house to pull the cement forms and clean up. The Lord gave us another productive day free from injury! Violet is full of smiles and hugs…she is overwhelmed with gratitude for all that we are doing.

It is overwhelming to us to be used of the Lord to meet the physical needs of one who has experienced such damage from Hurricane Dean. I can’t help but think of Matthew 10:42 – “And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” We also, I believe, are preparing the way for future ministry in the country of Jamaica for the glory of Jesus Christ. Please pray that we will continue to build relationships with the people of Jamaica.

We have also been experiencing some interesting Jamaican dishes. Tonight we enjoyed Oxtail Stew. It was delicious! What a blessing our sisters Joy (from Jamaica) and Nancy (one of our own ladies from our church) have been in preparing the daily delicious meals. Tonight we are off to Junction, the closest town to Top Hill, to pick up some needed groceries and to get internet service to give updates about our trip.

Please continue to pray for our team as we work to finish this project. If you would like to donate to this project, please visit the main Global Grace website for more information.*

Serving a Sovereign Lord,
Chris Metras

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* Learn more about Global Grace at the main Global Grace website. If you would like to donate directly toward the continuing hurricane relief and ministry work in Jamaica, you may do so by sending a check to Global Grace, or initiate a tax-deductible monetary gift by credit card, online bank transfer or PayPal via the PayPal venue.

At last! I found an internet cafe where I can access wireless internet! Just a brief update of our trip:

We arrived in Montego Bay airport Tuesday evening at about 9:30 after two flight delays, but nothing serious. We had a little trouble going through customs, but we could feel the presence of the Lord and the prayers from back home. Each officer wanted to see the leader of the group (oh, boy!) and ask him questions about the visit. After a little more information, they allowed us to go through. Pastor Perkins met us, and we loaded up and travelled the 2 1/2 hour road trip down to St. Elizabeth. Again, the roads were very bumpy, and, after a long day of travel, our group was exhausted.

We began prep work on Wednesday by laying sheeting and nailing up the forms for the cement. It was a tiring day after a long day of travel, but the Lord gave us grace. Thursday was a long and hard day. We worked about 11 hours, and it was probably the hardest any one of us had worked for a long time.

We are feeling the aches and pains of mixing concrete, carrying buckets, and lifting the buckets on the roof. They do everything by hand. We had no electricity and made all of our cuts with one handsaw! We praise the Lord for the 4 Jamaican men who helped us! After working the long day, we felt a sense of accomplishment when we looked at the completed roof.
We will take Saturday to do some sightseeing, and Sunday to attend services; but then we will go back to work on Monday. Please pray for continued finances for the rest of the trip.* We know many of you are praying for us…please continue to pray! There has been great fellowship among the group, as well as with the Jamaican people.

Today we visited the children at the First Step Basic School. Our group sang for them, they sang for us, and I talked to the children for about 5 minutes about how they can please God, even from age 2 1/2 to 6 years old! It was a sweet time of fellowship for the group…we even held hands with some of the Jamaican children while they sang a song to us about meeting together again in heaven someday. Hopefully, we will see them again in August, since we are planning a VBS, Bible Conference, and medical missions team to minister in August in that same area of St. Elizabeth.

Grace and Peace to each of you!
Chris

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* If you would like to donate toward the continuing hurricane relief and ministry work in Jamaica, you may do so by sending a check to Global Grace directly, or send a tax-deductible monetary gift by credit card, online bank transfer or PayPal via the PayPal venue.

The Jamaica team has begun our trip. We are headed for Top Hill, St. Elizabeth, on the southern coast of Jamaica. The prep work has begun and all of the materials are there waiting for us. Our flight left from Chicago, O’hare airport at 1:00 PM Tuesday, and our Montego Bay arrival time will be at about 8:30 eastern time, although our flight out of Miami was delayed. We were going to attempt to take the 2 1/2 hour from Montego Bay to St. Elizabeth, arriving sometime around midnight–but we’ll see how it goes!

Please pray for our entire team as we travel to Jamaica as well as form and pour a concrete roof for Violet, a widow who attends the Missionary Outreach church in Top Hill. We want to be an encouragement to Violet, her family and the congregation under the leadership of Pastor Bill Perkins. We are anticipating good work weather there on the island. I have been keeping a close look at the possibility of rain on the island which would bring our work to a standstill.

We will be working the old-fashioned way: Mixing concrete by hand, filling 5-gallon buckets with concrete, and pulling the buckets on the roof…of course, by hand. This will be some intense physical labor. Please keep Nancy & Bill, Jason, Mike, Terrell, and myself in your prayers over the next 10 days.

Please also pray for continued financial support for this project. Please also consider whether God might be enabling you to give toward something like this project, if not now then maybe in the future.

God is a merciful and gracious God, and we are grateful for this opportunity to serve Him in this way! May the fame of His name be spread abroad, especially in the country of Jamaica this week.

Alexey Kharlamov (otherwise known as “Lyosha”) is a Russian orphan who came to the United States through the Hope Project in order to receive medical help, familial care, and spiritual teaching. Now there’s a family in Illinois waiting to adopt Lyosha, and Hannah’s Heart would like to help.

Read more about Lyosha’s hope:
http://globalgracemissions.org/blog/lyoshastay.html

We are currently attempting to finish our Global Grace mobile counseling center.  We had an RV donated to us many months ago, and we are currently roofing, painting, and upgrading it so that we can use it for the next trip.  This has been an ongoing project that we really need to finish.  We would like to be better prepared as we potentially face an upcoming disaster, wherever that may be.  Please pray for us as we finish up this project.

 In light of the tornadoes that occured in Lady Lake, FL as well as many other cities, I have contacted four different emergency disaster hotlines to see how Global Grace could be involved to help assist in the efforts of clean-up.  I contacted the state of Florida’s disaster hotline as well as the hotlines of two of the counties that experienced the worst of the storms.  Both directed me to the United Way which was coordinating all of the efforts. 

 I did have a great conversation with one of the directors (who, by the way, thanked me for calling instead of just “showing up on her front porch” as many others did and were then turned away) of the United Way.  She said that all was under control, and that they had all of the items and help that they needed.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to work on some behind the scenes efforts.

 Again, thank you for your support of the Bixby’s through your generous donations to Hannah’s Heart and the Corban Fund.  Corban was experiencing some complications and was rushed to the hospital last week with a pretty severe infection.  He was admitted to the hospital for 4 days and was treated with antibiotics.  Praise the Lord that he is back home and doing well!