Thank You, Lord, for a Great Year!

Here we are at the end of another year and the end of a decade - 2010 awaits, and I am so grateful for God's grace this past year. Though this year wasn't without difficulties, I found God's grace to be sufficient for each week and each day with all the challenges that came. Through it all, I could see His faithful hand of provision and truth, and it is with joy that I thank Him for all He has accomplished! I saw the Lord follow through on a promise He gave me last spring, found in Psalm 40:3 - "...many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." It trust Him to continue it!

Here's a short list of some big praises, things for which I give God thanks!

• My class has continued to grow closer together, and prayers for them to love and fear God at an early age are being answered! Some are hearing God's calling on their lives, even at the age of 10 and 11. Others are stepping out in faith to help others. One has asked me to help her develop her speaking skills as she wants to be a missionary some day!
• One of my students, for whom I have been praying for months, gave his life to Christ in late October! I have the honor of walking with him through the early stages of his Christian journey!
• The English Cafe continues to grow and flourish. We have new Russian friends come every week, as they usually hear about Cafe through word of mouth. God has given us the creativity and resources to plan and facilitate fun evenings filled with meaningful conversation, and we have been able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ very clearly on a number of occasions, with mixed reactions to it. We continue to meet regularly with 50-60 Russians twice a month, and the most common feedback we receive is how encouraging the Cafe is to those who come; they are so grateful for what we do and the atmosphere that the Cafe has. All glory to God for that!
• One Russian friend, Sasha, recently told me how she has decided to give her life to God and follow Him; her journey to the cross became much more clear to her through additional Bible studies that we held last Spring in response to a number of our Russian friends expressing interest in learning more about God. She said that finally the words of the Bible really came alive to her, and she knew the direction in which she should go!
• Our pilot-run of the Alpha Course went very well. We had 3-4 regular Russian guests who came on a weekly basis to explore the beliefs of Christianity, to learn what it means to follow Christ. Three of them came with us on a weekend away, a weekend of really developing relationships and seeing the life God has intended for us. Two of our friends, Katya and Gregory, came with us to church and are interested in continuing. One man, Thomas, has expressed that he knows he is missing something in his life, and he doesn't know what it is. However, he said that for the first time in his life, he believes he has found a group of people who have what he is missing!
• God has surrounded me with tremendous friends and family who love, support, and encourage me. I am especially grateful for my friends around the world and in my apartment, as we are able to regularly keep each other accountable to walking closely with God. In working overseas, I have learned just how crucial this is!
• My visa for reentering Russia in January was just processed successfully, which is a huge answer to prayer!
• God has blessed me tremendously with my girlfriend, Lindsey, who is a fellow missionary and teacher at the school. I am amazed by her grace, her encouragement, her service, and her friendship. I love sharing so much of this journey with her. God has made clearer and clearer the path He has for us, and many exciting things could be on the horizon!

I've got plenty of pictures for you to enjoy, so check out the links below:

Here are some really good shots of the past two months of school:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lukedanielhays/113009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNv9hd7pg_CoVA#

Check out these pictures of the English Cafe and Alpha Course:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lukedanielhays/EnglishCafeAlphaCourseI?authkey=Gv1sRgCOXlm_X5yJfaxAE#

What are some ways you can pray for me and my ministries in this coming year? First of all, please pray for our school to gain a much-needed quota card. I have modified a notice that we received a couple weeks ago:

IMPORTANT PRAYER REQUEST: We recently received notice that the status of our teacher visas is changing. This change has the potential to create some very big problems in the spring when many of our staff’s visas need to be renewed or extended. We will begin to submit paperwork in January to correct the problem. Please pray that our paperwork would go through quickly and that our request is granted. The process needs to be completed by the beginning of March.

In addition to the quota card, please pray for me in the following ways:

• For wisdom, strength, love, and patience as I teach my fifth graders
• For direction in making decisions for commitments and ministries next year
• For the many who attend the English Cafe and the many millions in Moscow, that those who don't know Christ would hunger for Him and hear His voice, and for those who are walking with Him to grow stronger and stronger in their faith
• For Thomas and others who will be coming to the Alpha Course this spring, that they would see their need for Jesus and would commit their lives to Him in repentance

Thank you for staying in contact with me and desiring to be a part of God's work in Moscow! May the Lord bless you and keep you in this new year! Please feel free to e-mail me (lukehays7@gmail.com) with any praises, prayer requests, or updates from your lives. I would love to hear from you!