Dearest Friends,
A TATAR VILLAGE SCHOOL
We are having the most encredible opportunities. Today come we drove about 80 kilometers to reach a village school. For quite a dustanse we followed behind the manure truck. The man who was driving for us said that he had grown up in a farm so he did not mind the smel. He said it made him think of home. The rest of us were praying to pass the truck.
The director and his wife gave us a very warm welcome. They knew that we were christians and we had been very honest in telling them that we would talk about Jesus Christ, God touched their hearts. Even thought they were Muslims, they were happy to have us come to the school, they prepared tea and lunch for us, they even gave us a Tatar hat to use in our program. These children were hearing about the good news of the Gospel for the first time. This place was very far from a major city and required traveling some poor roads. Please pray for these children to think about the story they heard today. We told them how they could invite Jesus to be their Savior. Please ask God to call these children to faith tonight.
Food
Schuk Schuck is a favourite Tatar food. It reminds me of rice crispy squares that i ate as a little girl only better. It is noodles that are stuck together with lots of honey and is a special treat.
The first day that we were here, some little boys told me to be sure and eat Ish bish muck. It is a pastry stuffed with meat, onions and potatoes. The boys said it was delicious and they told the truth!
Training the New Puppet Team
Tonight was our first opportunity to meet with our Tatar friends that will become the new puppet team in Kazan. They were very enthusiastic and were willing to try everything. We will meet again next Monday. Please pray for these friends and ask God to give them a great desire to do this work. One young man, came up to me after the teaching and was really wanting to learn more about storytelling. However he will be out of town next week and unable to attend the class. He was so desperate to learn that we agreed to give him a special class over the weekend. I am very excited about how interested everyone is in learning these skills.
Prayer Requests
Tomorrow we are leaving for another city and will make stops along the way doing puppet shows. Our driver for this part of the trip is the director of childrens ministries for summer camps. This will be a great opportunity to work with him and also learn from him. Please pray for us as we are traveling. This is a Muslim country and we have already been told that if we were staying here for a long period of time that we could not do what we are doing. We are attracting allot of attention and we need you to pray that we would be able to finish our work without any outside interference.
Love in Jesus,
Linda for
Sam Shaw – Assistant Director
Silvana Shaw
Oksana
Masha
Oleg