Off She Goes
Well, actually, she’s on her way tomorrow. Traci begins a 3 day, 60 mile/96 km journey tomorrow morning at Stone Mountain Park east of Atlanta. It will conclude on Sunday evening just south of downtown at Turner Field. A lot of prayer, preparation and investment on your and our part has gone into this. We thank so many of you who have given so that Traci may walk. We now ask you to pray for Traci as well as her team (Overcomers) made up of Jessica, Allison and Kim. May God give them strength, health and joy as they journey together celebrating Traci’s freedom from cancer while helping many others overcome theirs.
He Is Here
Yesterday afternoon at New York’s JFK airport, Ruslan Asadov arrived into the U.S. He will be in New York until Tuesday and then here in Atlanta until early November. St. Louis is excited to host him there the first week of November and he’ll be back in Atlanta on November 11 for two very special events you’ll read about in just a minute. Ruslan is one of our most passionate and visionary leaders in Russia. He and his team there are actively establishing a mentoring presence in a growing number of orphanages and cities around Novosibirsk as well an entirely new country which we will talk more about in upcoming updates. Ruslan is not only a mentor to orphans but he is a leader of leaders. I count it a joy to work with him and am excited to see him here in the U.S. again.
John Is Coming
John Lahutsky, featured earlier this year on NBC’s Dateline and in the book, The Boy From Baby House 10, will be our guest on Friday, November 11, in Norcross, GA, at the Campus Church beginning at 6 p.m. Advance tickets are $10 each (tables of 10 are available for $100) and tickets at the door are $12. A Chick-fil-A dinner is included in that ticket. Learn more, watch the Dateline video and buy tickets here.
Cake Is Great
You might remember the amazing experience that our church had last year hosting the first ever Cake Auction to raise money for orphan sponsorships. You can read about it here. The cake auction works simply like this – you, your wife/mom, your family, your daughters, your sons, even your husband/dad, bake a cake. It can be a box cake, a traditional family recipe or something you’ve been curious to try but have yet to attempt. Bake it and bring it with you on Saturday evening, November 12, to Community Church’s gathering which will be held on campus at GACS in Norcross, GA. We’ll lay your cake out and take 45 minutes or so to visit while silent auctions for the cakes will take place. After that period of time is over an auctioneer you might know and possibly tolerate will commence to generating additional bids for each cake. As you read in that link above, it gets funny and crazy just how much money will pay for a cake when the cause is worthwhile. Once all cakes have been auctioned off we will share our winning cakes with each other. The goal is not to go home with a whole cake. The goal is to let other enjoy the cake that you just bought. Last year we raised more than $6500 and we are praying this year for $10000 as a result of this event. We need your help though. Bake a cake and bring it if you can. If you want to bake a cake or give funds but can’t be there personally, then let us know and we’ll work out getting the cake/money to the auction ourselves. Set aside some funds that you can use to bid generously that night for cakes. One family in our church had a 3 day yard sale to generate funds they will use to bid for said cakes. Others have been saving pocket change for a year. Talk to your small group, your Bible study class, your team or your co-workers. Collect money from some who can’t come but want to help. Bring that money with you and use their funds, along with yours I hope, to bid on cakes. The idea is to be over the top generous for this very good cause.
Two Prayer Requests
As you know this email outlet has never apologized for making you aware of personal issues as well as ministry issues. We appreciate so much all of your willingness to stand with us in all areas of our lives…not just ministry. Two things we need you to pray about. Both involve cancer patients. One is Caleb. He’s 6 years old and has Gliomatosis cerebri. Caleb is blessed to have Godly parents, grandparents and an absolutely huge community of faith around him. Even so, he and his family need God’s very direct intervention in his young body. Please pray for Caleb Kinnersley and his parents Kevin and Jana as well as his younger sister Anna Beth. They live in LaGrange, GA, and you can follow some of his journey at www.team-caleb.com. If the Lord so calls you to help them then note on that page how you can do that. If you have other ideas then write us and we’ll help you discern how best to share that with them.
Just this morning we learned that a super close friend of our niece Allison has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer that has metastasize into her liver. Katie Wagner is 16 and has a very challenging road ahead of her. Her aunt loved on Traci big time during her fight with cancer and Traci was able to meet Katie and all of her family back in the spring in Phoenix just before we left for Russia. Like many of you, our hearts are just super sensitive right now to anyone who has to go through cancer treatment. We can’t do for everyone all that we wish we could but we have decided we will do for these two what we wish we could do for everyone – love them tangibly, encourage them regularly and pray for them constantly. As you remember to, please pray for them as well.
Hope to see those of you in the Atlanta area on either November 11 or 12. If you come to both, that’s even better. However, life is such I know that coming to one will be challenge enough. Seeing you there will be a blessing to us and the ministry for sure.
With deepest love and appreciation,
Rob for Traci, Benjamin, Nate, Aidan and Anna
