Prayer Warriors!

"Mighty prayer - this is the one great spiritual force that will enable the Lord Jesus Christ to enter into full possession of His kingdom, and secure for Him... the uttermost part of the earth for His possession... A person who can pray is the mightiest instrument Christ has in this world." - E.M. Bonds

There are so many times in my life where I depend solely on myself and  forget to ask God for help. I get so busy with planing, organizing and trying to figure things out on my own. For example, concerning this trip to Russia,  I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to renew my Russian passport because the website was too confusing for me. I kept on trying and trying to the point where I completely stressed my self out. At that moment, I knew I couldn't do it on my own so I prayed, and God blessed me with a family friend of ours who knows Russian really well, she helped me to get the paper work done! 

 I've prayed  a lot about His mission for me in Russia, and trust me He is preparing me for it some way or another everyday. As you know this past summer I've been volunteering at a camp for abused and neglected children. I went through some difficult situations there but God used those trials to help me learn about myself and my heart. I thank God for having me serve at that camp because I now feel much more prepared for the six weeks I'm going to spend with the kids at the orphanage in Russia.

I've learned that in order to have a strong relationship with Jesus, I must talk to him and talking is praying. It amazes me that the Lord of all wants to hear what I  have to say. I love just sitting in my room and talking to Him, it brings so much peace and joy to that day. 

God loves us very much and is faithful to answer our prayers if they are in His will. 

Here are some encouraging verses about prayer.

Psalm 107:28-30 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven

Matthew 7:7 ”Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Mark 9:29  And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Mark 11:24  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it

Acts 9:40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

Ephesians 6:18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

James 5:14-16 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

I ask you to continue praying with me for the following: 

• God's provision & guidance
• For my passport to be ready by September 29th
• For the fundraising I'm going to start up again.
• For me to stay motivated to learn more and better Russian
• For God to use me at my school through this mission
• That I wont feel overwhelmed with the school lessons I'll have to teach myself while I'm in Russia
• That I continue seeking God in every aspect of this mission, and of my life for that matter

Thank you!
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Make a Mark

I'm going to Russia with a mission to impress Jesus's love on the hearts of those orphans. So I thought it would be perfect to sell stamps for a fundraiser.  I have a main stamp that I am selling for only one dollar, it's a key with a heart, to it is attached  a prayer request card:) If you would like to purchase any of the stamps email me at anabanana1@live.com

Here are some examples of the stamps. They were all put together by hand and with love:)

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A Step Closer...

    This past week I was able to serve, again, as a junior counselor at a camp for abused and neglected children.  God moved so much in the hearts of these children, I feel very blessed to have been part of it and witness the Lord's hand at work.   For me, working with hurting kids at this camp is a step towards working with the orphans in Russia. I've learned a lot about how to deal with many different situations, I can tell that God has me working at Camp Alandale for that reason, to further prepare me for His mission in Dom Milaserdia (Russian orhanage.) http://www.domnus.org/
   The highlight of this past week at the camp has been when I shared my testimony with the children, it was so weird....I hardly remember what I said, the Holy Spirit did all the speaking for me. I usually get super nervous and red when I speak in front of a large crowd, but that night I felt confident and joyful about sharing Gods story of my life:) Praise God!

Below is a photo of a fellow junior counselor and me at a tea party for the ladies of the camp.  All the girls were dressed up in beautiful gowns. The event was designed to let them know that they are daughters of the King, Gods precious princesses who are beautiful and created just the way He wants them :)  

We are not suppose to post any photos of the campers on the internet, therefor I can only put this one up.

                                      http://www.campalandale.org/home.html

Throughout  this summer I will be volunteering at Camp Alandale for 4 more weeks. I am really excited for what God has in store. I am ready to be used by Him! 
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Blessings in Disguise . . .

Over  the past couple days, some complications surrounding the timing of my receiving my (new) Russian passport arose.  Rather than bore everyone with every frustrating detail of the paperwork process, I'd like to assure everyone I am still participating in an internship at my former orphanage in St Petersburg, Russia.  Only the dates are changing. 

But, God knew all that ahead of time; He wasn't surprised.  Instead, some other really exciting doors haved opened in the interim:  First, I will be spending several weeks serving (abused and neglected) foster children at Camp Alandale, up in the mountains.  Secondly, I will be helping assist with a tour group of 10 orphans from Kyrgyzstan visiting OC in July.
Both these experiences will help me sharpen my goals for interning in Russia.  Both are consistent with my mission's theme "Love is the Key".  Love, God's love, is truly the key in bringing healing, wholeness and hope to both local foster children and international orphans.  

Besides being able to 'love on' local kids many of whom don't have a concept of real love, and serve the Kyrgis kids, a disproportionate whom are "Russian", some other newly realized benefits (of a winter internship) are:  

1) it provides an opportunity to work with a 'full house' of children as no groups (of resident children) will be away at summer camp and study administrative, housekeeping, culinary support when the orphanage is operating at the intensity of a regular rather than modified schedule, 
2) it affords me the opportunity to assist older, school-age orphans studying English curricula in school, 
3) it allows me to allocate more of my funds raised to programs that directly benefit the children vs merely offsetting travel (costs are half what they are in the summer months.
4) it provides me more opportunity to involve more people in my vision and get them excited about being 'the Key' to transformation in these children's lives.
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Blessed To Bless

"God never intended for us to be mere recipients of His love; He calls us to share it with others. We are not to be reservoirs, but channels by which His love can reach the world. When He pours out His love in to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, He wants us to leak like a sieve.... The whole point of being blessed is to pass the blessing on to others."  —George Foster (Bethany International Ministries)

       I've been blessed beyond belief by God. I practicably won the lottery when I got adopted from a small village in Russia to CALIFORNIA,  the land of glittering dreams.
       It is estimated there are between 143 & 210 million orphans worldwide, not including millions of children that are abandoned, sold and/or trafficked, (recent UNICEF report.) In Russia alone there are 730.000 orphans and only one out of ten becomes a functional member of society. The rest are either lost to crime, drugs and suicide.  I was the one that made it out.  Not only was I given a family but  also their love. That is the key to my healing. 
      You see as a child   I was abused, neglected and  exposed to things that traumatized me. So when I got a family, I was lost. I didn't know what it was like to be cared for by a mom and a dad.  Often I threw temper tantrums, and did weird things like rip up a  family picture and so on. I put  my new parents through so much stress, and pain. But they didn't give up on me! They still hugged me, kissed me,  and wanted to talk to me.    After about a year of constant confusion, and me trying to find my place in the family, I began to realize something..  These people who hardly knew me at first,  chose  ME  to be their daughter.  They actually wanted....  me??? Me!! At that moment  I felt a sense of value. I felt something greatly unfamiliar ... I felt LOVED.  Their love is what healed me from my traumas. It were even the little things like helping me with homework, doing my hair, just spending time with me is what helped me learn that  I also  love them. 
       
      My parents  did just  what  George Foster said,  they shared Jesus's  love with me. 
And I want to do the same, that is why I 'm going back to my former orphanage and bless those children with the same love I am blessed with. 

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