Permanent Impact December 2008

. . . a newsletter to keep you up-to-date with Sculley family adventures in Russia and beyond

We're willing to go . . . are you willing to send us?

What's the latest?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We've passed the shortest day of the year, with sunrise at 8:36am and sunset at 3:29pm. Even though the temperatures will likely get colder, we're glad that from now until June we'll be getting more sunlight each day! Living far, far from the equator hasn't been as bad as we thought LOL, though it's definitely strange having sunsets so early in the day. When the skies are clear, it's quite beautiful seeing the sun rise and set very low in the sky. And you can occasionally see the sun below the cloud layer, because the land is so flat around here.

The Friday night Nizhny Vineyard soaking group (lead by our close friends Misha & Larissa) continues to be a highlight of our week, as a huge crowd from all over the city gathers in our apartment to pray and worship together (and there are often a lot of kids, too!). Each week is a beautiful time of meeting with God, who has promised to "reward those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). God always shows up! It's such a blessing to be part of this group of humble followers of Jesus Christ - it's our favorite kind of prayer group, seeking God because He's worthy to be sought. We often hear feedback that it's a time of Holy Spirit refreshing & filling, and encouraging relationships in a peaceful environment. And of course the refreshments are a highlight, too!

Paul and Karen celebrated our 23rd anniversary, and thanks to our American student friend Rebecca, we were able to continue our tradition of just the two of us going away for at least one night. What a blessing from God! While Rebecca hung out with the children (just 2 days before she returned to the U.S.), Paul and I had a wonderful time on the town and spent the night at a lovely hotel by one of the rivers. We are so thankful to God for giving us so many years together, and blessing us in every conceivable way!

P celebrated his 17th birthday this month, with our usual weeklong celebration, and a fun party with friends from youth group and university. P had a great time and especially enjoyed the games and food. P is thriving in his university studies - he finds Russian language challenging, and has been moved up to 2nd year studies for computer programming already. His 18 classmates, 17 male and 1 female, range in age from 20 to 36, and all come from Africa - Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Algeria, and Ethiopia. It's a 2-for-1 cultural experience for P, who adapts so well to everything with his easy-going and cheerful nature. The rest of the family vicariously enjoys all of P's new experiences, too!

Karen had the opportunity to travel to the city of Kazan (7 hrs by car) a few weeks ago to attend a healing conference along with a team of 10 from Nizhny Novgorod (all from the Friday prayer group). About 300 people attended the conference in this strategic city, which is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan and also the center of Islam in Russia. Highlights for Karen were having a weekend retreat with God, hanging out with friends, and an afternoon of prayer walking at the Kazan Kremlin, punctuated by intimate times of worship and God-orchestrated times of praying for one another. The conference was hosted by a mission in Kazan, with speakers from Ukraine, and attended by participants from many churches and cities. There were dozens and dozens of testimonies of God's healing power (e.g. one old woman reported that God healed her left ear that had been deaf for 15 years). Below is a snapshot from the conference, the Nizhny-ites, and some of the views a group of us saw while prayer walking ("all saints" basement side entrance to the Orthodox Church, offices of the President of Tatarstan (included a picture of that doorway especially for our good friends the Tatarsky's back in Atlanta!), Orthodox Temple, Muslim Mosque, and Atheist Temple all within close proximity to one another).

We've had a fabulous Christmas celebration this year, adding some new traditions to our family favorites . . . medical student ministry Christmas party; baking cookies at the Wolf's; preparing Christmas Eve gift bags for all of P's classmates; Christmas Eve international concert at P's university; and of course Christmas Day itself! It is our favorite holiday of the year - we brought our Christmas stockings, favorite ornaments, and the Advent stories we read together each year. We were thrilled to find chocolate advent calendars and a gingerbread house kit here, both of which are essential family favorites, and thanks to our friend Susan, we each enjoyed a chocolate orange in the bottom of our stockings! Amazingly, we had a white Christmas (barely) - according to the locals, snow has been extremely late in arriving this year, but it snowed a little on Dec 23rd, just enough to cover the ground! On Christmas Day we did "Christmas-around-the-world-in-a-day", incorporating traditions from about a dozen countries into our family celebration - e.g. we made paper lanterns (China), made little candy baskets while our oldest daughter "Santa Lucia" served coffee & heart-shaped gingersnaps (Sweden), drew names from the "Urn of Fate" in which twosomes committed to how they're going to treat one another in the coming year (Spain), filled one another's shoes with little surprises (France), recited Christmas poems (Germany), did pantomimes (England), sang carols by candlelight (Australia), memorized Christmas-related Bible verses (Italy). We had a memorable time of praying blessings for one another, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas treats (including pecans, another surprise discovery in a store this week)! God took care of every detail for us to make this a very memorable celebration of God's greatest gift to mankind - Jesus!

Karen's Russian studies often include special outings, and this month teacher Anna took her 8 students to visit 3 schools for a special Christmas / New Year program with cultural games, stories, songs, and interactions - 7th graders, 1st graders, and music school students. C, E, and K really enjoyed coming along to help out! We were accompanied by a TV news crew on one of the visits, and landed a article in a local newspaper, too.

The Sculley girls decided to start a girls' club to do crafts, Bible study, and other projects together. They meet every week, usually when Paul and the boys are out bowling. Here's one of their recent creations - pom pom dolls.

Thanks for all your prayers, encouragement, and support! We love you and appreciate you!
Our contact information:

local U.S. number that will reach us in Russia: 678-389-9379
Russian apartment phone #: +7-910-432-81-77
facebook: Karen Sculley

snail mail: (print this out and stick it on the envelope)
RUSSIA
603093 Г. Нижний Новгопод
Ул. Родионова
Д. 180/1 Кв. 23
Sculley family

Financial Partnership Opportunities:
We'd like to offer you a variety of opportunities each month . . . let us know if you'd like to partner with us in any of these ways. THANK YOU for your support . . . it is a joy to walk this road together with you!
• Sculley Family support
o Our current support level is 75% of our financial needs through June 2009 - praise God!
• Resources for Russians
o We've purchased copies of these books in Russians to lend out to the many believers who come to our home. We're always on the lookout for resources that would be helpful to other believers. I am delighted to have found some of my favorite authors translated into Russian. The very first week we put them on our shelves, 3 people found and borrowed some books from our small library, even though I forgot to mention it!
 "After God's Own Heart" (Mike Bickle)
 "In His Image" (Paul Brand & Philip Yancey)
 "The Sacred Romance" (Brent Curtis & John Eldridge)
 "Love Must Be Tough" (Dr. James Dobson)
 "Through Gates of Splendour" (Elizabeth Elliot)
 "Agents of God" (Rick Johnson)
 "He Chose the Nails" (Max Lucado)
 "Do Not Fear" (Joyce Meyer)
 "With Christ in the School of Prayer" (Andrew Murray)
 "The Power of a Praying Wife" (Stormie Omartian)
 "The Power of a Praying Parent" (Stormie Omartian)
 "The Glory of Christ" (R. C. Sproul)
 "Ever Increasing Faith" (Smith Wigglesworth)
• Ministry partnerships
o We'd like to offer you the opportunity of partnering with a Russian believer in ministry:
 Prayer Journeys to other Russian cities. There are teams from several Vineyard churches going on prayer journeys to other Russian cities, in the hopes of beginning Vineyard churches there in the near future. We would love to invest in these "ground-breaking" and "foundation-laying" teams as they go in to prepare the spiritual soil for future church plants.
 March 5th - 7th, 2009 - Russian Vineyard National Conference, Perm. This annual conference will have an emphasis on evangelism in addition to its usual focus on equipping, envisioning, and encouragement. It's also a big family reunion as the 7 Vineyard churches in Russia are geographically very spread out, from St. Petersburg to Siberia (over 3500km apart)! We would love to help some of our brothers and sisters in Christ from the Nizhny Vineyard to join our family as we journey to the city of Perm, 17 hours by train east of Nizhny Novgorod.
We trust God to provide everything we need to do all that He wants us to do in and through us. If you would like to invest what God has given you in Kingdom activity, through financial partnership, here's how (all financial contributions are 100% tax deductible in the U.S.A., and are processed through the Atlanta Vineyard, our sending church to whom we are accountable):
• automated giving (automatic monthly deductions from your checking or savings account - click here for the form - be sure to write "Sculley - Russia" in the space under "recommended giving"). Once you print out and fill in the form, please mail it to the address indicated at the bottom of the form.
• online giving via PayPal (www.atlantavineyard.com — just mention “Sculley - Russia” on the online giving comment line)

Praise Reports:
• for bringing people to us every week that He wants us to reach with His love. God is so faithful! The very thing we asked you to pray for last month has come to pass again and again - as we invite people into our lives, God touches them, and He always blesses us too. His ways are amazing! Thanks for praying!
• for God's blessing on P in his studies - he's doing very well! Also, Karen has graduated from "elementary" to "beginner" level in her Russian studies - I think I can converse quite well now with Russian preschoolers LOL
• for God's clear direction in our lives - we are so thankful for the many ways God has lead us and confirmed His word to us over and over. It's so freeing not to have to figure things out ourselves!

Please pray for us:
• for God's wisdom and revelation in speaking into the lives of those who come to us for counsel (mostly young leaders).
• for God's heart and plans for the gatherings and groups that we're involved with.
• for Paul's exit visa to be processed in a timely fashion - at the end of January, he is taking a brief visit back to Atlanta to do taxes and other paperwork. Now that we're residents of Russia, there's a new process to go through to be able to leave :)

We pray for you, too - please let us know your specific prayer requests. It's such a joy to pray for one another! We have all of our email and facebook friends' names written on our prayer wall in the kitchen.

Our vision:
• mobilize prayer
• promote unity in the body of Christ
• raise up leaders

We appreciate your prayers so much! Thank you!

“The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Samuel 30:24)

In Russia with love,
Paul, Karen, P, J, M, C, E, & K Sculley

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (that's Jesus!) (2 Corinthians 9:15)

moves of God – key to revival #3 – focus on God

True moves of God are initiated by, sustained by, and centered on, God. Yes, we have a part to play, because God has given us certain conditions to fulfill in order for Him to come. 2 Chronicles 7:14 begins with “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then . . .” There is a conditional “if” that hinges upon our choices. We need to pray, we need to seek His face, we need to turn from evil, we need to be humble. But the focus should not be on what we can or can’t do, what we have or haven’t seen or experienced, what we do or don’t have. In our lives, both privately and when we’re together, we need to be very careful to keep the attention on God, to give all the glory to Him. God describes Himself as a jealous God, who will not give His glory to another.

God gives us many reminders to keep our focus on Him and His Word. We are so easily distracted, especially in this market-driven era where we are constantly being wooed by things that are new and glittery and exciting. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2)

Father God, help us to keep our eyes on You. In our lives, relationships, work, study, ministry, let the focus be solely on You. Keep us from being wowed by anyone or anything, and to reserve all adoration for You – You alone are worthy to receive all power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! In Jesus’ name.

moves of God – key to revival #2 – humility

When God is in the house, we become more aware of our inadequacy and insufficiency, and of our dependence on Him. The Bible says that “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Numbers 12:3 also tells us that “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth”. The more we see of God, the more we want to see of Him, and the less we want ourselves to be seen. Anything that exalts a person or group is a violation of the 1st commandment. An examination of history shows that when God moves, His Spirit is not confined to any particular group. Notice that when Israel took over the Promised Land, God used all of the tribes to win the battle! God’s work requires all parts of the body to be active. We need to be very wary of any claimed move of God which draws undue attention to an individual, church, or ministry.

John the Baptist knew Jesus all of his life, since they were cousins. But God gave him fresh revelation as to who Jesus was at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. His response was, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)

God is looking for those who are available to Him to be used any way He chooses, not for those who are great in their own eyes. He can do anything through people who are humble and weak.

God gives us a specific warning about people who talk too much about themselves or their ministries or what they’ve experienced.

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head . . .” (Colossians 2:18 – 19)

As John the Baptist said, God must increase; we must decrease. God calls us to be humble, and to follow those who live lives characterized by humility.

Father God, give us humble hearts that are focused solely on You. Help us to see You as You really are, and to see ourselves the way You see us. We acknowledge our weakness before you – help us to completely rely on You and Your strength. Help us to trust You more. According to Your word, we humble ourselves before You, we seek Your face, we pray, we turn from sin, and we ask that You would forgive our sin and heal our land. In Jesus’ precious name.

moves of God – key to revival #1 – repentance

We’ve looked at some warning signs. Although obviously God cannot be put in a box, there are certain characteristics that seem to accompany genuine “moves of God”, as recorded in the Bible and in church history. I am grateful that the people of God took the time to record the moves of God throughout the history of the Body of Christ. It’s fascinating reading, and I encourage you to research it for yourself. We spend time every Friday morning as part of our school curriculum reading stories of how God has moved at various times and places in church history. It is very inspiring reading! I believe it is important to consider some keys to revival when wondering if something is a move of God or not.

Every movement of God is characterized by a profound awareness of sin. Repentance of sin and revival are inseparable. When God comes down, when He reveals His presence in a greater way, there is a heightened awareness of His holiness. This is a hallmark of revival. The fear of God comes upon people, leading to repentance. Every revival in church history has involved large numbers of people repenting of their sins, not only giving their lives to Christ, but also being added to the churches. During true revival, many lost people are suddenly swept into the Kingdom of God. The first such case is recorded on the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church –

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:37 – 38)

On that single day, 3000 people were added to the group of Christ-followers.
Repentance also occurs among believers. There is an increased delight in God’s excellence, holiness, and truth. Christians have a greater sense of their own utter insufficiency and the hateful nature of their own sin.

Genuine repentance is always followed by changed lives, a turning away from sin. In some communities, there is destruction of illicit materials. Acts 19:19 lists an example of this – “A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas” [which was equivalent to approximately 140 years’ wages!]

During the well-known Welsh revival, there were reports of entire towns having empty prisons and a zero crime rate. The local police force, having nothing to do, formed musical groups to pass the time. True revivals always have a powerful effect on society as a whole in turning back the tide of immorality and vice. True revivals are bad news for alcohol, drug and gambling industries. True revivals will bring down the divorce rate and heighten society’s view of the value of life. We can be greatly encouraged that in our day, in the last ten years, God has completely transformed the nation of Uganda – over 75% profess Christ, the percentage of Muslims has dropped from 35% to less than 5%, the AIDS rate has dramatically dropped, and the president rewrote the constitution and dedicated the country to God in the name of Jesus Christ! If God can transform that nation, He can transform our city and nation!

Father God, would You give us a profound awareness of sin – our own and that of our city and nation. Make us holy as You are holy. We humbly repent for – confess and turn away from – of everything that is displeasing to You. Help us to live pure and holy lives before You. Take away our lukewarm attitudes and make us passionate for You. We invite Your Kingdom to come, Lord, in our lives, our cities, and our nations. May the name of Jesus Christ be glorified!

Permanent Impact November 2008

. . . a newsletter to keep you up-to-date with Sculley family adventures in Russia and beyond

We're willing to go . . . are you willing to send us?

What's the latest?

It's all about relationships!

Connecting people to God and people to people. That's been the "slogan" at our home church (the Atlanta Vineyard) for many years, and it's how we try to live our lives. Whether we are working or playing, studying or serving, celebrating or sight-seeing, skyping or facebooking, whatever we're doing . . . it's all about relationships! I love how Saint Francis of Assisi put it - "preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words!" This is an especially good thing to keep in mind when you aren't fluent yet in the local lingo. It's our desire to spread the love of Jesus Christ to every person God brings into our lives, letting our lives speak . . . in practical ways, praying, serving, spending time together . . . and occasionally with words :) Here are some relational glimpses from this past month . . . All this is made possible because you, our dear family & friends, pray for, encourage, and support us! Thank you for your faithfulness in partnering with us in the Kingdom of God, for the glory of Jesus Christ! Oh, and happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!

All our pictures are in one batch this time - scroll down for descriptions that might make some of them make sense :)

As an excuse to invite a lot of people over, we celebrated Karen's birthday with a big birthday brunch. It was a fabulous time of connecting with the 60 or so who came to the all-day brunch, munching on novelties like nachos & spinach dip, and Paul's famous pancakes :) We were delighted that friends of all ages came from every arena of our lives, including churches, universities, and our neighborhood. It was a memorable day that was all about relationships, new and old, being built. Paul and Karen are both sorok-pyat years old now . . . you'll just have to find a Russian speaker and ask them how young that is :)

We are delighted that pastor Dave asked us to host the Nizhny Vineyard's weekly "soaking group" that Misha & Larissa lead. It is a prayer group with an emphasis on seeking God's face, worshiping Him through music, and praying for one another. About 25-30 people from 7 churches usually come - such a beautiful time of unity in the body of Christ. God is really blessing this group, according to His promise ("How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! . . . that's where God commands the blessing", Psalm 133, The Message). It's so neat to us how God has orchestrated this, as Paul & I have felt that God's purpose for us in coming to Russia was to pray, mobilize prayer, promote unity in the body of Christ, and raise up leaders - we are so encouraged to be able to participate in each of these elements right here in our living room.

We celebrated the marriage of our friends, Artyom & Valya, last Saturday. They had a lovely ceremony with a very fun Russian-style celebration afterwards . . . food, dancing, songs, games, challenges for the groom . . . one frequent custom is that every time someone calls out "Gorka!" the bride and groom have a prolonged smooch :) We know that God has some amazing adventures in store for this young couple - they are very gifted leaders and God's hand is obviously upon them.

P, J, M, C, along with the rest of the Nizhny Vineyard youth band lead worship one Sunday at the Vineyard, and the following Sunday night at the local Baptist church youth service. We love how God is bringing more and more unity to the body of Christ here - four youth groups came together for the worship service and afterwards for a big birthday bash for Olya, the Vineyard youth leader.

Our friend Yanna and I have joined the children's ministry team at the Nizhny Vineyard, and I am thrilled to see Yanna in her element! She's a natural with kids, high-energy, creative, loving, and fun, as she engages their hearts and minds in learning God's word and loving Him and one another. I get to enjoy helping her and being the mama who bakes yummy treats.

We were so blessed by a visit earlier this month by a weekend visit from our Perm friends, Eddik & Alyona & Nastya . . . we missed Vanya, as he is serving in the Russian army at the moment . . . this is the first family our family met in Russia 8 years ago. For the first time we were able to communicate well with one another without a translator! We had a very sweet time together as we shared our joys and struggles with one another. It was really neat for us to show them around the city, as it was their first visit to Nizhny. What an amazing family they are, and a joy to know!

P has begun his information technology studies at the University of Nizhny Novgorod and has dived into intensive Russian classes along with his 10 or so classmates, all of whom are from Africa. Pictures coming soon . . . I (Karen) have been studying Russian language & culture at the Linguistic University, and have especially enjoyed the creative teaching methods, special excursions, and interaction with my teacher Anna's other students. We had an "open exam" a few weeks ago - conversed in Russian with two professors who came to test us (and evaluate our teacher), dramatized a Russian fairy tale, sang Russian songs, and explained the ethnic cuisine we each prepared.

Sculley Academy is now 1/3 of the way through our school year . . . highlights include family reading (e.g. Ben Hur, Stonewall Jackson bio, Science & Lore of Trees, Funky Fridays!) and special projects (e.g. Pilgrim's progress diorama, Lebanese dinner, "Garden" game, Jumanji pop-up books / paintings / inventions, Foster & Sousa music) . . . Jonathan is zooming through his final high school courses with flying colors . . .

Although many of our friends are Russians, we also have the blessing of many international university students in our lives. Nizhny has a lot of universities and institutes, which draw students from all over the world. We enjoy providing a home-away-from-home for both Russian & international students, a listening ear, a home-cooked meal, and a family environment. Many of them seem to especially enjoy all our children, who bring so much joy and laughter into their lives. Karen recently had the privilege of teaching at the CF (Christian Fellowship) group again - P and J attend this weekly Bible Study at the medical institute.

Thanks for reading this far . . . if you made it to here, you are a true friend!

Our contact information:
local U.S. number that will reach us in Russia: 678-389-9379
Russian apartment phone #: +7-910-432-81-77
facebook: Karen Sculley
snail mail: (print this out and stick it on the envelope)
RUSSIA
603093 Г. Нижний Новгопод
Ул. Родионова
Д. 180/1 Кв. 23
Sculley family

Financial Partnership Opportunities:
We'd like to offer you a variety of opportunities each month . . . let us know if you'd like to partner with us in any of these ways. THANK YOU for your support . . . it is a joy to walk this road together with you!
• Sculley Family support
o Our current support level is 72% of our financial needs through June 2009 - praise God!
• Ministry partnerships
o We'd like to offer you the opportunity of partnering with a Russian believer in ministry:
 Prayer Journeys to other Russian cities. There are teams from several Vineyard churches going on prayer journeys to other Russian cities, in the hopes of beginning Vineyard churches there in the near future. We would love to invest in these "ground-breaking" and "foundation-laying" teams as they go in to prepare the spiritual soil for future church plants.
 March 5th - 7th, 2009 - Russian Vineyard National Conference, Perm. This annual conference will have an emphasis on evangelism in addition to its usual focus on equipping, envisioning, and encouragement. It's also a big family reunion as the 7 Vineyard churches in Russia are geographically very spread out, from St. Petersburg to Siberia (over 3500km apart)! We would love to help some of our brothers and sisters in Christ from the Nizhny Vineyard to join our family as we journey to the city of Perm, 17 hours by train east of Nizhny Novgorod.

We trust God to provide everything we need to do all that He wants us to do in and through us. If you would like to invest what God has given you in Kingdom activity, through financial partnership, here's how (all financial contributions are 100% tax deductible in the U.S.A., and are processed through the Atlanta Vineyard, our sending church to whom we are accountable):
• automated giving (automatic monthly deductions from your checking or savings account - click here for the form - be sure to write "Sculley - Russia" in the space under "recommended giving"). Once you print out and fill in the form, please mail it to the address indicated at the bottom of the form.
• online giving via PayPal (www.atlantavineyard.com — just mention “Sculley - Russia” on the online giving comment line)

Praise Reports:
• our long-term visas are completed! We're very glad to have this paperwork behind us :)
• there are two new Russian families at the Nizhny Vineyard after the two recent weddings (Misha & Larissa, Artyom & Valya). This is a huge praise report and a testimony to God's faithfulness and provision.
• God continues to bring people to us, literally every week, that He wants us to reach out to with His love in some way. We're learning more and more and are very thankful to God that He's just looking for ordinary people like us who are available for Him to pour His extraordinary love through. Life in Christ is a daily adventure!

Please pray for us:
• for God's wisdom and revelation in knowing what to devote our time and energy to - there are so many good things we could be doing, but we only want to do what we see the Father doing, as Jesus did.
• for P's & Karen's university studies - that we would do well, learn all that God wants us to learn, and share the love of God with our fellow students and teachers.
• we are planning several gatherings over the next few months, around normal family celebrations. Pray with us for God's heart and plans to come forth. We want to live out what Jesus said to do - "The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You'll be—and experience—a blessing. They won't be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God's people." (Luke 14:12 - 14, The Message).

We pray for you, too - please let us know your specific prayer requests. It's such a joy to pray for one another! We have all of our email and facebook friends' names written on our prayer wall in the kitchen.

Our vision:
• mobilize prayer
• promote unity in the body of Christ
• raise up leaders

We appreciate your prayers so much! Thank you!

“The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Samuel 30:24)

Thanks for all your blog visits!

In Russia with love,

Paul, Karen, P, J, M, C, E, & K Sculley

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." (2 Corinthians 2:14)

moves of God – warning sign #5 – counterfeit gifts

In Acts 16, the apostle Paul had an encounter with a girl who accurately predicted the future and followed him around telling everyone something true about him, that he was a servant of God and preached the way of salvation. But Paul did not endorse something evil, just because there was correct information being given. He discerned between the spirits.

Early in the summer when we were back in the U.S., I was walking along a beach over 360 miles (600 km) from Atlanta. As I went along, I heard our family name, “Sculley”, spoken from a group of young women who were talking and laughing together. At first I thought maybe I had just heard the wind blowing. But then as I passed right in front of them, one of them looked me in the face and said, “Karen Sculley.” I scanned their faces and didn’t recognize any of them, but knew in my spirit that something was wrong with the situation. I did not let on to them that they had named my name, but calmly continued on my way. I somehow knew that if I had said anything, some kind of false prophecy would have ensued. It was clearly demonic. The Lord used this experience to impress upon me the importance of being discerning about spiritual gifts, especially those that are outwardly impressive. Supernatural encounters are often what attract people to any purported move of God. It’s good to be hungry for God, but let’s be sure we are hungering for the real thing, and not an imitation.

I love prophecy, I’ve participated in and organized prophetic groups, God occasionally gives me prophetic words or insights, I’ve received life-changing prophetic words . . . yes, we should be eager to prophesy and carefully listen to prophetic words that come from God. But we need to use discernment. If someone says or does something that does not have 100% alignment with the Word of God [a.k.a. The Bible], run away, run away fast! There are a lot of false prophets around; often false teaching is very subtle. The enemy seems to frequently use impressive counterfeits to lure people away from the simplicity of seeking God and studying His word. We wouldn’t consider eating cake if we knew there was just a little dirt mixed into it; why would we feed our spirits with anything less than truth and purity?

moves of God – warning sign #4 – isolation

It’s so easy to live lives of isolation and disconnection. 1 Peter 5:8 says that the enemy is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. In the animal kingdom, lions, hyenas and other predators will wait and select a victim to attack, by noting which animal in the herd is beginning to stray away from the group. We need to guard against isolation because that makes us more vulnerable to being drawn away by false teaching.

We need to be closely connected with others in the body of Christ who seek God, study the Bible, and walk through life together. It’s been said that the Christian walk would be so much easier if it weren’t for the people – just me and God, yeah! The reality is that good relationships are both valuable and costly – it takes a lot of effort and time to build healthy relationships. Each of us, regardless of age or stage in life, needs close relationships with other believers, to encourage one another, pray for one another, hold one another accountable, spur one another on. God created us for community, to live and function in the context of authentic relationships. The world says that we can be independent and be our own person. But God created us for relationship, with Him and with each other.

Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another . . .”

If you’re not already committed to a small group of believers, I urge you to find one this month and begin meeting regularly with them. You need them and just as importantly, they need you! We are the body of Christ, an interconnected living entity that is complex and beautiful and diverse. God says we belong to one another (Romans 12:5). This idea was conceived in the mind of God – and He says that when we’re working together properly as a body, we can change the world. No part can survive, let alone thrive, in isolation.

moves of God – warning sign #3 – misplaced priorities

Jesus told us that two commandments summarized what God requires of us – to love Him and to love others as we love ourselves. It’s interesting how the second one is worded. When our priorities are out of order, we tend to not take care of ourselves properly. We don’t eat a balanced diet; we don’t get enough sleep; we take on too many responsibilities. We tend to believe all kinds of lies when we don’t take care of ourselves physically or emotionally. Our thinking becomes skewed, often anxiety creeps in, and we tend to make decisions that we later regret. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was so run down that he couldn’t think of any option except sitting down and praying that he would die, when all he needed was some food, water, and a good night’s sleep. Almost everyone I know struggles with balance in their lives – we live in a crazy world that is pulling us in 1000 different directions at once. We need to be in the habit of resting in the Lord and strengthening ourselves in Him. That will prevent us from falling into error, and then also we’ll have something of value to give others – we can only give what we have received. Jesus understood that we would be tempted to live unbalanced lives, and encouraged us in Matthew 11:28 – 30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I want to encourage you to make time with God the number one priority in your life. Not out of a sense of legalism or obligation, but as a way of saying, “God, you have first place in my life, and I want to invest in my relationship with You.” It’s been said that what we value the most is what we will devote our time, energy, and finances to. Find what works best for your personality and situation, and go for it. For me, if something is not on my calendar, it doesn’t get done. I have discovered that there is a lot more freedom in my life if I put the most important things on my schedule and tackle those first. I also leave a lot of space in my calendar and am learning that God seems to show up more often “along the journey” than at planned times. But if I didn’t have anything scheduled at all, I could easily spend all my time dealing with one crisis after another – there is always someone or something pulling on me. No matter how busy life is, I get alone with God every day to read the Bible, pray, and worship Him in song. These are precious times! Spending time with the Lord is primarily a relationship, but it is also a discipline. The same could be said for any relationship – if we want our relationships to grow, we need to invest time and energy into them. In our family we schedule time each week for Paul and me to be alone together, time for Paul and I to be with our children one-on-one, and family time. These are too important to be left to chance, because other things will always encroach on our time. How much more valuable is our relationship with our Creator and the Lover of our souls. Incidentally, I have found that as I order my priorities, discipline myself, and dedicate the first and best part of each day to God in an unhurried manner, I seem to be able to complete the day’s tasks with greater ease, because God gives me wisdom and strength and everything else I need.

God is after our hearts! The two greatest commandments are all about allowing Jesus to rule and reign in us personally, so that His Kingdom comes in ever-increasing measure and His love spills out of us into others. Let’s put our priorities in order and watch God move in us and through us, for His glory!

moves of God – warning sign #2 – coasting

If you’ve ever skated, stepped onto an icy path, or had children help you push a shopping cart across a parking lot, you’ll know that sometimes you can exert energy to move forward, and sometimes you can just coast or glide. Coasting seems ok initially, but when you’re coasting, you lose control and you’ll lose speed pretty quickly. Coasting is like trying to get by on past victories. King Saul’s life is a warning to us all. God anointed him to be king over Israel, but He lost God’s anointing because He stopped seeking, listening to, and obeying God. Saul started out very aware of His weakness and lack of importance. But Saul started coasting when he grew big in his own eyes and trusted himself instead of God.

We must continually walk with the Lord, listen to His voice and obey His word. We cannot rely on past experiences and presume to know what the Lord would have us do in a given situation. I’ve learned the hard way that the worst plan for any given situation is what worked last time. It might be, but we cannot presume to know God’s plan. None of us will ever arrive at a level in our Christian walk where we can kick back and relax. We are all unfinished masterpieces! We need to get fresh manna every day from God, and continually keep our eyes and ears attuned to Him.

I had an experience recently where an influential person gave me a personal prophetic word. It was framed in a very negative way, was not edifying, and neither Paul nor I felt it was from the Lord. We also asked several of our accountability partners about the word. Every one of them gave us the same counsel . . . the word was erroneous, so disregard it. We did. We prayed for forgiveness for the person. We realized that they had probably gotten out of the habit of seeking God, allowing other things to replace intimacy with God, and yet they tried to cling to their title and position. This is a dangerous place to be – much damage is done in the body of Christ by this kind of loose cannon shooting. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 instructs us to encourage and build one another up.

Just like an out of control shopping cart in a parking lot, coasting can damage both the individual and those around them. It’s a temptation to relax wherever we’re at in our Christian walk. We can kid ourselves by thinking we know God well enough, thinking we’ve done enough Bible study for a lifetime – we can take it easy for a while and focus on ministering to others. It sounds ok in a way, because it’s good to minister to others, but if we’re not actively seeking God, we’re actually living in a place of pride, trusting in our own experience, learning, strength, or gifts instead of depending on God. That is a dangerous place to be.

moves of God – warning sign #1 – seeking experiences

Are we more concerned about seeking an experience than seeking God? It’s wonderful to feel thrilling things happen. I’ve been slain in the Spirit, shaked and quaked and experienced many other physical manifestations, had wonderful emotions while in the presence of the Lord, experienced dramatic physical healings, words of knowledge, seen dreams and visions, heard God’s audible voice . . . But as exciting as they may seem, those are just signs pointing to God. They’re not the destination! We cannot focus on experiences; we can’t live for experiences. It’s a huge mistake to base any part of our beliefs on our own or someone else’s personal experience. Can we examine our hearts and see if we can honestly say to God – “if I never feel Your presence again, if you never give me another blessing, I will still worship you because of who You are. You are worthy! I will still love you. I will still serve you. I will still devote my life to you.” Our feelings are not trustworthy; God is completely trustworthy! Jeremiah 17:9 says that “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” We need to keep our focus on God and His ways, constantly, in every situation. We need to daily seek Him and study His word. We need to check out whatever we hear preached or taught, and whatever we experience, against the word of God. I hope you will check out what I’m writing here! The problem with seeking experiences is that they are temporary and subjective, and if we base our theology on experiences, then we will be very prone to imbalance and error. Only God’s Word is permanent and completely objective. His Word is the rock upon which we can stand firmly.

We had a neighbor on our street in Atlanta who worked for the treasury department, specializing in identifying counterfeit bills. She was trained to recognize counterfeits by looking at many, many authentic bills. Being very familiar with the real thing enabled her to instantly recognize imitations when she saw them. The more familiar we become with what is true and real and authentic, the less likely we’ll be lured away by anything false. We discover the truth by studying the Bible on our own and with others. The most dangerous deception is not one that is completely opposite to the truth – it’s one that is extremely close to the truth, with one little twist. When my family moved to Australia in 1971, we took a ship from New Orleans in the U.S.A. to Sydney, Australia. If the ship’s course had been off by just a couple of degrees, we would have completely missed our destination. When it comes to what we choose to believe, seemingly small errors can lead to really big problems later on.

I long for God’s Kingdom transformation to come, I long for people to turn to Christ by the thousands. I long for sin to be swept out of the city and for God’s righteousness to prevail. But I do not want to settle for temporary excitement that is not accompanied by lasting fruit. It’s as though God has invited us to eat with Him at the most amazing restaurant ever. We walk in and see the beautiful lighting, and smell the aroma coming from the kitchen. We drink in the beauty of the flowers on each table and the delicacy of the table linens. We admire the craftsmanship of the plates and silverware and the intricate designs on the glassware. At that point, we feel good, our senses have been stimulated; we are filled with pleasure. But if we spend all our time at the restaurant simply enjoying pleasurable feelings, we will miss the best part, which is to meet with God, to know Him. He is offering us the most intimate relationship possible. He wants our hearts to beat with His, to have the mind of Christ, to be one with Him. This happens as we spend time with Him and get to know Him. There’s no fast track or shortcut to intimacy with God. I think often God gives us a little glimpse of His Kingdom and we say, “oh this is so wonderful” and we are satisfied with that. God has so much more for each of us – but He is waiting to see if we are serious about our relationship with Him. He wants us to seek Him and not just pursue experiences. Each day is precious and a gift from God . . . let’s not miss even one opportunity to draw ever closer to the face and heart of our beautiful Creator and Savior.

is this a move of God?

There are all kinds of reports floating around about “moves of God.” How do we tell if anything is a move of God? I’m not going to try to answer that question for you regarding any specific situation. But God has given me a burden to gently warn the body of Christ – be careful not to fall into deception or follow false teaching, because not everything that bears the name of Jesus Christ is authentic. Jesus Himself warned us in Matthew 24:11 – 13 that at the end of the age, “many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”. I believe that we are living in those times.

I think there’s a great temptation especially among those of us on the charismatic end of the Christian continuum to accept everything that claims to be from God, because we don’t want to miss the latest wave of the Spirit. It is wonderful to be hungry for God and to seek Him. I greatly enjoy coming together with other believers for this purpose – in Atlanta I met regularly for many years with other believers to seek the Lord together, and here in Nizhny it is a joy to meet with the soaking group on Friday nights to do that. It is a huge blessing to be among brothers and sisters in Christ who are hungry for God and seeking His face. It’s a high point in my life each week! God is faithful to meet us every time we seek Him! I want to experience God’s fullness and blessing and presence and participate with whatever He is doing. But it’s clear that the body of Christ needs much greater discernment in prayerfully examining any claimed moves of God.

A move of God is often referred to as a “revival.” E. M. Bounds, a Methodist pastor who lived 150 years ago and who wrote many books on prayer, wrote that revivals are among the charter rights of the church. They are the evidences of its divinity, the tokens of God’s presence, the witness of his power. But there are also counterfeit revivals that are designed to deceive the most wary. These are deceptive and superficial, with many pleasant, entertaining, delusive features, entirely lacking in the offensive features which accompany the genuine ones. The pain of repentance, the shame of guilt, the sorrow and humiliation of sin, the fear of hell—these marks of genuine revivals are lacking in the counterfeit. Shallow revivals do more harm than good, like a surface thaw in midwinter which only increases the hardness and roughness of tomorrow’s freeze. All genuine revivals are simply God coming with great grace to his Church.

J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, published an article this week entitled, “Lord, Give Us Hot Coals from Your Altar!” – here’s an excerpt:
“I find myself longing for an authentic move of God. I am so weary of the fake and the fabricated. In this day of media manipulation, it seems we can use smoke and mirrors to create “revivals” that have neither conviction of sin nor conversions. Oh, we think we have the power. We boast about the size of the crowds. We brag about miracles. We are ready to declare a revival if Christians fall on the floor or give big offerings. But when the music stops, the TV cameras are turned off and the money is counted, what do we have? Nothing but a cheap imitation. Where is the God of Elijah? Where is the God of Evan Roberts? Where is the true power of God that can sweep over a city and bring backslidden Christians to repentance and hardened sinners to experience the greatest miracle of all—the miracle of new birth? I invite you to stoke the fire of the Spirit in your life. Let the hot coals of heaven purge any known sin from your heart. Repent of all compromise. Be ruthless with any idols. Let the love of God boil inside you until your heart is overflowing with love for sinners. Let’s believe that it is possible for the Holy Spirit to draw our wayward nation back to God."

There have been some very disturbing and widespread false teachings and false teachers exposed in recent years, some of which have been highly publicized. It’s sad to say that a large number of deceptive teachings have emerged from the United States, but they can come from anywhere. When deception occurs, many very well-meaning and sincere people become wounded, and some become disillusioned. We must be careful how we live, and what we choose to believe, both for our own sakes, and also for the sake of those over whom we exert influence.

Ephesians 4:14 tells us that it is possible to be “blown here and there by every wind of teaching”. Paul exhorts Timothy to “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” How can we watch our life and doctrine closely and not be blown around? Over the next several weeks, I want to share some warning signs that we might be getting off track, and also some key characteristics of genuine moves of God.

Permanent Impact October 2008

. . . a newsletter to keep you up-to-date with Sculley family adventures in Russia and beyond
We're willing to go . . . are you willing to send us?

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Sculley snapshots

We've been back in Nizhny Novgorod just over a month now, but it seems much longer as typically happens when there's a lot going on! We've taken advantage of the warmer weather to explore our surroundings and enjoy connecting with lots of friends all over the city. The first snow fell in September, but thankfully autumn decided to return again and we're so thankful for many unexpectedly sunny and warm days. Please enjoy these snapshots . . . scroll down for prayer requests & praise reports . . .

1. J preparing to rock climb . . . the guy on the left is finishing construction of the side wall ;)
2. Picnicking & enjoying the amazing view of the Oka River at Shveytsaria (Switzerland) Park . . . sitting on the edge of a very steep precipice
3. Hang-gliders take off from that cliff and soar - so wonderful to watch!
4. While we were gone, our landlady remodeled the little balcony off Paul & Karen's bedroom, which doubles as a place to store suitcases and a cute playroom for E & K.
5. Riding the Volga ferris wheel while the first snow fell . . .
6. A typical birch forest (well, in the city anyway - you can tell this was planted in recent years)
7. The Volga view from our window, with J & E out collecting sand for a chemistry experiment
8. K & Vitya on Pokrofka Street (this is for Jane, who loves goats as much as I love sheep :))

We enjoy people of all ages, but our family seems to be magnetically drawn to youth and young adults, and have spent much time hanging out with, encouraging, and feeding our young friends. Although the Nizhny Vineyard youth group had not met since shortly after our return to the U.S., it regathered on our first Sunday back here and is going strong again. The youth surprised the church with a delightful drama during the service last Sunday as part of the Nizhny Vineyard's 15th birthday celebrations! They are a wonderful group and we look forward to watching God work in and through each one. We've also had the joy of connecting with lots of young adults, Russians & foreigners alike . . .

1. E, Nastya, and the well-traveled Poohs (thanks again, Tatarsky's!)
2. Nadia
3. Nizhny Vineyard youth leader, Olya
4. Rebecca . . . how amazing that God would send a close friend of our close Atlanta friends the Parkison's & Hendry's (C & M) to Nizhny this semester! She's a wonderful young woman and we all love her . . . It was so cool to be invited to speak to her group of 16 Christian College students from all over the U.S. about life and missions - what a great group of young adults!
5. We love our weekly ice skating outings . . . Anton is gathering his troika!

It's been a blessing to serve at the Nizhny Vineyard however we're needed, whether setting up & tearing down equipment, praying, visiting the sick, counseling, opening our home, or preaching. We try to support the various ministries of the church and focus on serving, learning, and encouragement ("Encourage one another daily as long as it is called Today . . . Hebrews 3:13"). Pastor Dave, Kathy, and Stephanie returned from their furlough in the U.S.A. a few days ago, just in time to celebrate Steph's coming-of-age (18th birthday)!

1. View from the kitchen window, flanked by the beautiful gladiolus flowers we were presented by the church on our first Sunday back
2. C enjoying beautiful baby Milana with mom Tanya
3. K - Worship banners are so cool!
4. Ministry time
5. Taking a balloon to our friend at hospital #13 :)
6. Studying together with Yannochka
7. Almira, Zhenya, and our ever-present washing drying in the kitchen :)
8. Some of our dramatic youth . . . prince Michael, angels C, Olga, & Luba, princes J & P, king Ian
9. Steph's 18th birthday party!

A highlight of our time here has been Misha & Larissa's wedding! We have become very dear to one another, and were so delighted and honored that they invited Paul, Karen, and C to spend the entire wedding day together, to participate in all the pre-wedding festivities with about 15 others. It was our first evangelical Russian wedding (we attended Paul's sister's Russian Orthodox wedding in Australia many years ago). The day of crisscrossing the city began with picking up the groom from his home, and decorating the convoy of wedding vehicles. We then drove to the bride's home, where Misha had to complete certain amusing challenges in order to win Larissa's hand (e.g. walking up a flight of stairs on his hands, answering questions about his bride's preferences, etc.). After satisfying her attendants and paying the bride price, the groom and the rest of us were all allowed into the apartment for tea and special refreshments like caviar, etc. We then headed to the official government building to register the marriage. In this brief but formal ceremony, they declared their intention to marry one another, exchanged rings, had their first kiss as husband and wife, and received the official blessing of the Russian federation. Interestingly, the official ceremony does not include any promises. The place was packed, as weddings are scheduled every 15 minutes in each of the rooms. We then went to several special scenic locations for photos - God blessed them with a gorgeous and warm autumn day, with highs around 64 F / 18 C. Following that, we again visited the groom's mother's home, where she presented her new daughter-in-law with a special decorated loaf of bread as a way of welcoming her into the family, and of course we had more tea and refreshments. Many of the traditions parallel so beautifully the love of Jesus Christ for His people (He calls us His bride in Revelation 19). Finally we went to the church hall where over 150 people joined for a celebration with pastor Dave leading a brief ceremony of commitment and blessing, followed by much food, fun, entertainment, games, and dancing, a delightful end to a very long but wonderful day!

1. Misha, Paul, and Dave scrub up pretty good, dontcha think :)
2. during tea at the home of Larissa's parents
3. Steph (the official photographer) & C (her camera caddie)
4. Andrei & Lena, our new friends from the soaking group
5. The happy couple waving on the wall overlooking the confluence of the two rivers . . . Larissa was gorgeous in her pale blue
6. Some of the guests at the reception
7. Guess who caught the bride's bouquet?

We've been delighted to share our apartment with several overnight guests - our friend Irina from Nizhny Novgorod, Simeon from Scotland, and Sergey, Lena, & Vitya from Ufa.

1. Some of the gang with Simeon, our new prayer-walking-radical-Scottish-seminary-student friend!
2. Enjoying a meal with Sergey & Lena, pastors of the Ufa Vineyard. P & J had met them and their older son, Zhenya, 5 years ago when they were all on a team together helping to birth the Ufa Vineyard. Karen met Lena at the Vineyard Women's Retreat last year in Perm. It was so good to get to know them a little better and hear about what God is doing in Ufa!
3. Vitya with his two guardians :)

P's studies . . . he expects to begin his Information Technology studies at the University of Nizhny Novgorod (a.k.a. Lubachevsky) within the next couple of weeks (they wait until all of the students arrive from various countries around the world). We just found out also that P has received early acceptance to study Electrical Engineering at LeTourneau University in Texas in the fall of 2009. We are so proud of P and his wonderful attitude in waiting patiently to begin his next phase of studies (he finished high school in January) . . . he's been keeping himself occupied with M.I.T. online courses when Sculley Academy is in session . . .

Our contact information:
local U.S. number that will reach us in Russia: 678-389-9379
Russian apartment phone #: +7-910-432-81-77
facebook: Karen Sculley
snail mail: (print this out and stick it on the envelope)
RUSSIA
603093 Г. Нижний Новгопод
Ул. Родионова
Д. 180/1 Кв. 23
Sculley family

Financial Partnership Opportunities:
We'd like to offer you a variety of opportunities each month . . . let us know if you'd like to partner with us in any of these ways. THANK YOU for your support . . . it is a joy to walk this road together with you!
· Sculley Family support
o Our current support level is 68% of our financial needs through June 2009 - praise God!
· Resources for Russians
o We've had the joy of distributing many books and CDs that were donated in the U.S. The Nizhny Vineyard library is growing in English titles that we brought with us, and we are investigating available Russian titles to donate. We have found that worship CDs are the best resource to give away, as almost everyone has time to listen to music (usually on their mp3 players), and music touches the heart like nothing else! If you'd like to donate worship CDs, please get them to our Atlanta address, and we'll arrange for a way to get them here. (Sheri Carr's CDs have been distributed in Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa, Scotland, and Zimbabwe.)

We trust God to provide everything we need to do all that He wants us to do in and through us. If you would like to invest what God has given you in Kingdom activity, through financial partnership, here's how (all financial contributions are 100% tax deductible in the U.S.A., and are processed through the Atlanta Vineyard, our sending church to whom we are accountable):
· automated giving (automatic monthly deductions from your checking or savings account - click here for the form - be sure to write "Sculley - Russia" in the space under "recommended giving"). Once you print out and fill in the form, please mail it to the address indicated at the bottom of the form.
· online giving via PayPal (http://www.atlantavineyard.com/resources/online_giving.html — just mention “Sculley - Russia” on the online giving comment line)

Praise Reports:
· Our transition back here was much easier this time, though it was definitely much harder to leave Atlanta twice in 8 months! Thanks for praying for our travels - everything went amazingly smoothly. It was comical at best when we had to give directions in Russian only to our rented van's somewhat impatient driver as to how to drive from Moscow to our apartment in Nizhny at 3:30am at the end of the journey.
· God's grace has been on us in every way - we thank Him for good health, protection, favor, provision, and loved ones all over the world.
· We've had frequent opportunities to serve, pray with and counsel people in a variety of situations - praise God for His ordering of our steps.
· Sculley Academy is going well - 2008/09 is the 13th year of our school, and we only have 5 students this year :) J is finishing off his high school studies this year and next, and the younger children have been studying Ancient Rome, doing lots of science experiments, reading "Dangerous Journey" (the youth edition of Pilgrim's Progress), along with the usual collection of other subjects.
· Karen is studying Russian language & culture for 5 hours a week at the Linguistic University, which is close to where we live. Sample homework - "memorize 3 stanzas of this patriotic Russian song" . . . it's very enjoyable yet one's brain feels quite maxed out after a 2 hour class. Praise God for the blessing of being able to study the language - she longs for deeper conversations with Russian speakers, and it's gradually becoming a reality! We all help each other with language around the meal table, and contextually.
· God continues to connect us with brothers & sisters from many different streams (denominations, demographics, locations, styles) - this has been a constant cry of our hearts, to help bring unity to the body of Christ (through prayer & serving mostly), a precursor to Kingdom transformation.

Please pray for us:
· for our long-term visas to be issued - the short-term ones we have are good for 3 months, and the long-term ones we're waiting for are good for 3 years - those are basically the only two options available. We trust God for His timing, plans, and provision. We've heard that half of our visas are ready, and are awaiting news on the others.
· for God's plans in every area of our lives - we want only what He wants and continually lay everything at His feet. It's so freeing to not have to figure everything out ourselves - we trust Him to show us each day / month / year what's next . . . may Jesus receive ALL the glory in our lives.
· for P's studies at Lubachevsky to go really well, and for meshing of schedules when he begins - it's amazing how full our calendars already are - we want to maintain our family worship & fun times and continue to be balanced & flexible in reaching out to others. It would be really easy to get overloaded here as anywhere - we constantly need God's wisdom and direction.
· for God's abundant grace & blessing on Misha & Larissa (and four-year-old Roma) as they begin their new life together; also for Artyom & Valya who are planning their wedding for late November.
· for God to show us who, what, when, where, how He wants us to invest most in
We pray for you, too - please let us know your specific prayer requests. It's such a joy to pray for one another! We have all 1000 or so of our email and facebook friends' names written on our prayer wall in the kitchen.

Our vision:
· mobilize prayer
· promote unity in the body of Christ
· raise up leaders

We appreciate your prayers so much! Thank you!

“The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Samuel 30:24)

Visit our blog (updated weekly):
http://permanentimpact.blogspot.com/

In Russia with love,
Paul, Karen, P, J, M, C, E, & K Sculley

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:28 - 31)

h2o

H2O . . . a.k.a. water . . . “a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life.” Water is used in agriculture, as a scientific standard, for drinking, as a dissolving agent, as a heat transfer fluid, in extinguishing fires, for chemical & industrial applications, in recreation, and in food processing.

In Russia, water is ABUNDANT! Water is literally everywhere we look at all times of the year:

Above
• Horizon-to-horizon clouds blanket us on most days. These masses of water vapor become visible only when billions of the tiny droplets gather together. One beautiful side effect of living so far north on terrain that is mostly flat as far as the eye can see is that we often see the sunset below the cloud layer – it’s very beautiful as it stretches across the lower south-western sky.
• The term “precipitation” extends far beyond the rain that I associate it with . . . I’m not sure what precisely differentiates snow pellets from snow grains, but I think I can safely say Russia regularly receives every one of these variations: rain, freezing rain, drizzle, freezing drizzle, dew, snow, snow pellets, snow grains, ice pellets, frozen rain, hail, ice crystals, hoarfrost, atmospheric icing, and glaze ice. We had our first snow the last Saturday of September!

Below
• Large, unjumpable, muddy puddles are a common sight here, thanks to the disrepair of most streets and sidewalks, and lack of ground cover. They’re a lot of fun for the young’uns!
• Pretty soon we’ll hope to completely avoid those puddles as they turn to slip-sliding lakes of doom :)

Around
• Audible water trickles in the pipes from the apartments above us!
• Fog rolls in from the river on many mornings. I grew up in a town with similar pea-soup fog, and love it! It speaks of the Father’s embrace, as it completely surrounds and enfolds us.

Nearby
• Daily we see beautiful views of the Volga, Europe’s longest and largest river. The name of the river is akin to the Slavic words for “wetness” and “humidity.”
• The Oka River literally defines Nizhny Novgorod with its 3 trafficky bridges, and the line of separation between the upper and lower parts of the city.

For sale
• Every store and mini-mart sells a favorite Russian drink, mineral water. When ordering water, it’s important to say, “bez gas”, unless you’re fond of that variety.
• This morning we received our weekly delivery of four 19-liter water bottles, thankfully hoisted for us up the two flights of stairs.

Recreationally
• Russians seem to favor water-related activities when it comes to recreation . . . the favorite one being visits to banyas (steam baths), also ice skating and walking by the river.

Water, water, everywhere! Isn’t the abundance of water such an amazing testimony to God’s presence and faithfulness? He pours out so much blessing on us – more than we can contain. He goes to great lengths to display His love to all people. Creation shouts to our senses and to our spirits, “I LOVE YOU!” But despite the profuse quantities of water in every arena of life, the people here are really THIRSTY! Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13 – 14). He also said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). “The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). Praise God for His creation which speaks so clearly of the supernatural – water – What A Treasure Exhibiting Redemption! Pray with us for the people of Russia to thirst for Jesus Christ, the only One who can quench their thirst.

marshrutkas and ministry

Q: How many people can you fit in a marshrutka?

A: One more!

This is not an exaggeration! On a typical 22-seater marshrutka (i.e. cross between taxi and little bus), it is not uncommon for 45 souls to be jammed in . . . couple that with the fascinating Russian belief that moving air makes you sick (i.e. all the windows are tightly shut), and you get the picture. I am thankful I’m not prone to anxiety attacks, but came as close as I’ve ever come when in the most stiflingly crowded marshrutka imaginable this week. Thankfully I had a seat, with C on my lap, so knew if I fainted at least I wouldn’t fall and hit my head, but then the guy next to me fell asleep and jammed his leg up against me, and another guy hovering nearby started coughing on us. He refused my offer of some “Halls” but I thought it was worth a try :)

The thing with riding marshrutkas is you never know quite what to expect . . . although they’re almost always fast and full! Our days have been like this week . . . here are some ministry highlights . . .

• C & I visited a friend in hospital on the extreme other side of town. A huge blessing for us is that we had the opportunity to pray for her and her four roommates while we were there. The Kingdom of God came in that room! I suddenly understood why Nancy P and others have a huge passion for hospital ministry. We were so tickled at our friend’s total shock that we found the hospital and made it there unaccompanied. It was quite an adventure – praise God for google maps, wall maps, cell phones, and my darling navigator Paul who is always helping me find my way around whenever I get lost anywhere in the world.
• Paul & I had the opportunity to speak with a Russian Orthodox acquaintance about Jesus, the Bible, hearing from God, and God’s provision. She was very interested in the idea that a non-priest can pray (we didn’t feel she was ready for an explanation of 1 Peter 2:9 yet . . .)
• I was invited last-minute to speak to a group of 16 Christian college students from all over the U.S. who are taking a Russian studies program this semester at the same university as Peter (one of them is our new friend Rebecca from Covenant College, the close friend of two of our closest family friends in Atlanta!) It’s a wonderful program lead by a humble gentle American Christian man who is employed by the university. I shared about missions and giving your whole life to God . . . it so blessed me to see tears on the faces of several of the students as God worked in their hearts! We’re looking forward to connecting more with this gang while they’re here (until early December) – several expressed a desire to spend time with our family and / or join us at the Vineyard.

be flexible

You often hear it said that the first rule of missions is “be flexible.” Flexible is defined as “capable of being bent, usually without breaking; susceptible of modification; adaptable; willing or disposable to yield; pliable; not stiff or brittle”. We’ve had lots of those moments this week! We praise God for His abundant grace in each of these situations we’ve found ourselves in, and continue to look to Him for wisdom, revelation, and provision in all things. We’re learning more and more to view every situation as a blessing from God, knowing that He works all things together for our good!

• Root canal – Paul’s filling fell out, necessitating an adjustment of our plan to have all dental work done in the U.S. The blessing is that God provided Paul with a wonderful dental clinic across town with excellent hygiene and care, at a small fraction of what it would have cost in Atlanta.

• Bus routes – Sunday was Nizhny Novgorod’s 787th birthday, so amidst the many celebrations, all of our normal bus routes were changed. Being flexible included getting lost in a new part of the city. The blessing is that it was a beautiful day to do some unplanned exploring.

• Apartment rent – Today’s news includes a piece about the Moscow stock exchange closing partway through the day for the 3rd day in a row due to a significant market plummet – the Russian economy is at its lowest point in 3 years. This might possibly be the reason our rent increases next month by 20%, so we have modified our budget. The blessing is that our exchange rate is very favorable, and we thank God for His provision, although our hearts go out to the many people for whom the rapid inflation is causing significant financial difficulties.

• Translation – In Paul’s regular monthly meeting with our landlady, a translator is needed (it takes 2 to 3 hours to pay the rent because everything has to be discussed in great detail!). Through various circumstances, all of our regular translators were unavailable. The blessing is that our dear Korean friend Mark offered to help, strengthening our relationships, and displaying the love and unity of the body of Christ to our inquisitive landlady and her mother.

• Delayed schedules – Yesterday we took longer than expected to get to our weekly P.E. destination (ice skating). The blessing is that we wound up bumping into Yulia, the twins’ Sunday school translator, and the girls each made new friends on the rink because the later session included more school-aged children than we usually encounter.

• Church service – I’m thankful that at the end of last Sunday’s service, someone translated an announcement made earlier in the service (that we had only partially understood) that this weekend’s service is on Saturday, not Sunday! I was glad to know this, and moved my sermon prep time to earlier in the week. The blessing is that we will now have a whole family day together on Sunday!

suddenlies

Even before I remembered that today was the sad anniversary that it became 7 years ago, the thought struck me this week that life can change so suddenly. When we arrived in Nizhny last week, it was summer. We went out in the gorgeous weather in our light jackets, not because we needed them, but to blend in ;) The trees all had their leaves, green, and I remember thinking that maybe they don’t have a turning of the leaves here like they do in Atlanta. Well, yesterday, autumn came and went, and today it was winter! At least, that’s what it felt like . . . yesterday, suddenly, the leaves all turned yellow and began falling, and people started bringing out their furs and gloves today.

God did some other “suddenlies” in our lives this week, too. Through friends in another city, the Lord sent us a young English-born Scottish theology student, who stayed with us for a couple of days. We were blown away – Simeon came to Russia mainly to pray (that in itself was a huge encouragement to us!), which he’s been doing for the last few weeks, very much a faith journey. He feels God has called him to this nation, and is seeking God’s specific direction & timing after his studies finish next year. It was such an obvious divine appointment for all of us, and we were all mutually encouraged in the Lord. We traded prayer walking journeys and other life stories. It’s so beautiful how God connected our hearts to pray for this country in such an amazing way that none of us could have orchestrated. Personally my faith has been so stirred and encouraged – I thank God for sending us this precious young warrior and leader.

Many rumors abound concerning Russia’s future . . . of course none of us can know unless the Lord reveals it, but we trust in the One who does. Whatever “suddenlies” may occur, we know we are to “be prepared in season and out of season” for whatever God has for us. Meanwhile, we want to be found faithful in loving and serving Jesus Christ every day, and bring glory to His name.

Permanent Impact August 2008

. . . a newsletter to keep you up-to-date with Sculley family adventures in Russia and beyond

We're willing to go . . . are you willing to send us?

What's the latest?

Transition time!

Just a short newsletter this time to let you know we're returning to Russia next week, leaving Atlanta on Tuesday, September 2nd. We're pretty much packed and as ready as we can be, saying our latest round of goodbyes for the season ahead. God has blessed us in so many ways - our visas came, Paul's & Karen's passports now have lots of extra pages, and we found terrific round trip airfares (returning early July 2009). We want to remind each of you that we would LOVE for you to come visit us in Russia any time during the year - let us know if you're thinking about it! We hope to see you on email or facebook, and our phone # in Russia is +7-910-432-81-77. If you want to send snail mail, you can print this out and stick it on the envelope:

RUSSIA
603093 Г. Нижний Новгопод
Ул. Родионова
Д. 180/1 Кв. 23
Sculley family

Financial Partnership Opportunities:
We'd like to offer you a variety of opportunities each month . . . let us know if you'd like to partner with us in any of these ways. THANK YOU for your support . . . it is a joy to walk this road together with you!
• Sculley Family support
o Our current support level is 64% of our financial needs through June 2009 - praise God!
• Resources for Russians
o Special thanks to our friend Sheri Carr and Varietal Records for donating multiple copies of her wonderful new CD, "Fearless Now." I highly recommend this to you - the title track is now one of my favorite songs! Visit http://www.varietalrecords.com to purchase this title, or you can download any or all of the songs on itunes.
o Special thanks also to our friend Jason Chatraw and Ampelon Publishing for donating multiple copies of the following books. They will definitely be put to good use, and we'll let you know how they work in a multi-language setting! Visit www.ampelonpublishing.com to purchase any of these great titles and many more.
 "The Way In is the Way On: John Wimber's teachings and writings on life in Christ" (Wimber was the founder of the Vineyard movement)
 "Get Real About Relationships: a 40-day journey [for teenagers]" (Elizabeth Crist, whom we met when she was a few months old, and has grown into a beautiful and godly young woman)
 "The Difference a Father Makes" (Ed Tandy McGlasson)
 "Repentance and Forgiveness" (Dr. Leah Coulter)
 "6 Habits of Highly Effective Christians" (Brian T. Anderson & Glynnis Whitwer)
 "Breakthrough" (Vicki & Jim Egli)

We trust God to provide everything we need to do all that He wants us to do in and through us. If you would like to invest what God has given you in Kingdom activity, through financial partnership, here's how (all financial contributions are 100% tax deductible in the U.S.A., and are processed through the Atlanta Vineyard, our sending church to whom we are accountable):
• automated giving (automatic monthly deductions from your checking or savings account - email us at karen@srsoln.com for the form - be sure to write "Sculley - Russia" in the space under "recommended giving"). Once you print out and fill in the form, please mail it to the address indicated at the bottom of the form.
• online giving via PayPal (www.atlantavineyard.com — just mention “Sculley - Russia” on the online giving comment line)

Praise Reports:
• Our short-term visas arrived in a timely manner!
• Paul & Karen realized late in the process that our passports were almost out of room (Russian visas take up 2 pages each, and we have 4 or 5 each so far), so we expedited those to Philadelphia last week, and thankfully they arrived back this morning with plenty of visa space.
• God continues to provide everything we need in every area of our lives - all glory to Him! We're so thankful for the many friends that God keeps sending us to accompany us (not necessarily literally, though you're certainly welcome to!) on this journey.
• The first part of the 2008-09 Vineyard Leaders School finished last week, and Yana (from Nizhny Novgorod) and the other students are now back in their home cities for the remainder of the school year. We're delighted that we'll have the opportunity to help Yana with her weekly studies as she continues to help us learn Russian.

Please pray for us:
• for safe travels & intact luggage! In addition to two plane flights, we'll have two bus rides on our journey - one between airports in London and another from Moscow to Nizhny - pray that they'll be there at the right times and places. It's amazing how comforting it is to see a driver holding a sign with your name on it after a long flight :)
• for our long-term visas to be issued - the short-term ones we have are good for 3 months, and the long-term ones we're waiting for are good for 3 years - those are basically the only two options available. We trust God for His timing, plans, and provision.
• for good transitions for all of us, physically, emotionally, mentally. Saying goodbyes is the hardest thing as always! It looks like we'll be doing the immediate shift from summer to winter (the weather channel predicts our high temps will go from 32C / 90F to 9C / 50F in one day!)

We pray for you, too - please let us know your specific prayer requests. It's such a joy to pray for one another! We have each of your names written on our prayer wall in the kitchen.

Our vision:
• mobilize prayer
• promote unity in the body of Christ
• raise up leaders

We appreciate your prayers so much! Thank you!

“The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” (1 Samuel 30:24)

In Russia with love,
Paul, Karen, Peter, Jonathan, Michael, Cascade, Esther, & Karis Sculley

"It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow." (1 Corinthians 3:7, The Message)

divine orchestration

When I was in 7th grade, my next-door neighbor, a professor of musicology, invited me to look over his numerous musical instruments and choose one to play. I had already played the piano for many years, and jumped at the chance to learn a second instrument. My short list included the oboe, but my number one choice ended up being the ‘cello. How I loved learning that beautiful instrument, receiving weekly lessons, always striving to improve my technique and tone. But the highlight of playing the ‘cello for me was the opportunity to be a part of an orchestra. Words cannot describe the sheer joy and satisfaction that comes when a group of individuals pools their talents and plays beautiful music together. But everything hinges on the orchestration. The conductor sees and implements this master plan, although the players see only their individual parts. You could conceivably gather the most brilliant musicians in the world, yet if they are not playing from the same orchestration, the results will be dismal to say the least. But a brilliant conductor can take a group of ordinary musicians who apply themselves, and draw the best out of each section, each individual, in order to blend and form a whole that far surpasses the sum of its parts. God is the penultimate brilliant conductor, who not only lovingly composes the complex scores of our lives, but also enhances and improves them continually, in order to produce the most amazing, unfolding symphonies that bring joy and glory to Him.

I want to share with you one delightful line of orchestration we discovered last week . . . our closest neighborhood friends have a close friend who will be studying in Nizhny Novgorod this semester, an off-campus program of the Christian college she attends. She will be at the same university as Peter, likely in the same building – quite amazing. I think Rebecca has already been tremendously encouraged, knowing that in a city that most of her friends and family have never even heard of, close friends of her close friends are just down the road.

When we stand before God, we will be more than amazed at His intricate orchestration in every area of our lives. I’m convinced that we see but a small fraction of His master plan for each of us and for the communities in which He has placed us. May He open our eyes to see the music He’s written for us to play, and may we each play our hearts out, for our audience of One, trusting Him to make something truly beautiful with our lives.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20, The Message)

overwhelmed

Earlier this week I felt overwhelmed. Aside from the “normal” responsibilities that go along with the blessing of a large family, aside from needing to answer email & return phone calls & write thank you cards & finish packing, aside from walking with several loved ones through really difficult stuff, aside from being assailed by some heavy duty spiritual warfare, there’s the whole moving-the-family-across-the-world-again thing that adds an element of “overwhelmedness” at times. When I feel really overwhelmed, I can’t seem to get anywhere on even the simplest tasks. So instead of pretending I’m of any use to anyone, I retreat to my favorite hangout, which in Atlanta is our outdoor fire pit. The Lord always meets me there and restores and refreshes my soul. But this week I needed more than an afternoon by the fire. I didn’t realize what I needed, but God did.

A few days ago I had shot an email to my friend Larry to see if I could join his church intercessors on Tuesday night, something that’s been on my wish list all summer. I hadn’t heard back yet, so debated with myself about going; I wasn’t sure if they were even meeting. After a lovely walk / talk / pray in the park with Susan, my friend Kathy and I and our girls wound up at a Chick-fil-A across town that I’d never been to before (they are the most anointed fast food restaurants in the world, I am convinced – God things happen there). In our short time there, the Lord gave me 3 wonderful surprises (4 if you count the Icedream ). One would have sufficed, but He seemed to have a plan in place to completely overwhelm me with His love and care. The dictionary defines “overwhelm” as “to surge over and submerge”, “to engulf”, “to present with an excessive amount”, “to affect deeply in mind or emotion”, “to turn over or upset”, “to defeat completely and decisively”. God’s love seems to do all of these. He pours out His love and care on His people in such abundance, to submerge us, deeply affect us, sometimes upsetting us, bringing us to the end of ourselves and defeating us. He surges over us, engulfs us, spills over us with an excessive amount. As soon as I walked into Chick-fil-A, the Lord gave me a brief divine appointment with a close friend’s sibling that left me thinking – “sweet!” A few minutes later I received a phone call from our Nizhny Vineyard friend Azelia (now a graduated dentist soon heading back to Malaysia), who was in Atlanta for a few days (we met this morning). Another “sweet!”

But the clincher for me happened right as we sat down in the play area to thaw out. I did a double take as I saw Helga approaching from across the parking lot. Helga is one of Larry’s intercessors, and a Holocaust survivor. Helga and I bonded a year ago when we prayed together, and reconnected in June at the prayer conference in South Carolina. She has a special heart for the Slavic nations, and is one of those rare individuals whose life verse could be 1 Thessalonians 5:17. The Lord had put her heavily on my heart, and I’d left her a prayer journal as a parting gift, thinking it would be a long time till we saw one another again. It’s a mystery . . . 70-somethings do not eat at Chick-fil-A, unless maybe they have small children in tow. But God sent Helga at just that time and place, and He used that encounter to encourage me so much (and to let me know when the prayer meeting started ). I sensed Him saying, “I see you. I know what you need. I will help you. Don’t let anything steal your joy. I have many more wonderful surprises for you. Watch for me.” The prayer meeting last night was yet another “sweet!” God always commands a blessing when ordinary people get together to share their hearts with Him and with each other. Helga shared with the group how the Lord had blessed her in a Christian bookstore a few days earlier. As I gathered my things to leave, Helga presented me with her newly acquired prayer journal, one I will always treasure as a sweet reminder of the overwhelming love and care of our sweet Lord Jesus.

Psalm 42:5 – 8 (The Message) –
5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.

6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,
including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos,
to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers
crash and crush me.
Then GOD promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God's prayer.

May the Lord overwhelm each of us with His love and care in the waves and breakers of His choosing. No matter what we feel, we can trust Him because His love is constant and our lives belong to Him.