Sunday's Adventures

This coming Sunday, November 8th, we will be visiting Sylvania Wesleyan Church in Bloomfield, IN! We are so excited to be back sharing with churches about our call and ministry in Russia. Things are going to be a little different this coming Sunday. Philip will be going alone to Sylvania, while Adalynn and I stay behind. Because Adalynn is only 2 weeks old, we decided it best to let Philip to to this church by himself. Though I hate to see Philip go alone, I am confident that the Lord will show Himself through Philip this Sunday. I am again reminded that the Lord is the one working during these services...it is not through our talents or strength that moves people to be a part of this ministry. I ask that you, our support team, lift us up in prayer this week as we prepare for Sylvania Wesleyan under new circumstances. Pray that the Lord will use Philip the same way he would use us if our whole family was going. Pray for safety for Philip, as well as for wisdom and guidance as he shares our call to this congregation. We so appreciate your prayers over the last couple of weeks as we have been adjusting to having a family of 3. Please continue to pray for strength and patience, as well as for Philip and I's marriage to continue to grow and become stronger now that we are parents. Know that you have been lifted up in prayer today.

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and Adalynn

p.s. We are 23% funded!!!

Adjusting to Life

Sleeping soundly

We want to take time to thank you for your prayers this past week! The Lord has been good to us! We have had a few rough nights, as to be expected, but have been reward with a few really good nights in return!

Philip is returning to work next week and we are again going to begin scheduling churches for the 2010 year. Please pray for us as new parents as well as pray for us as we continue to raise our support team for Russia. We are looking forward to being with 4 different churches in November and a new supporting church in December. Pray that our schedule books up and that the number of our supporters will increase over the next couple of months. We are shooting to be 50% funded by Christmas. We are still currently at 22%, but know in the next couple of weeks that will be changing as our home church prayerfully decides on their supporting amount. We cannot express in words how grateful we are to have a team like you backing us up in prayer and encouragement. We hope we are a continual encouragement and light to you as well.

Blessings,

Philip, Kara, and Adalynn!

Welcome!

We are so proud to announce the birth of Adalynn Elizabeth Gormong! She was born Wednesday, October 21st at 6:34am! She was 6lb. 13oz. and was 21 inches long. We went to be induced on Tuesday morning because she was already a week over due. We started on the medicine and went through labor naturally until 8:45pm that evening. After that I got an epidural and we progressed until 4 am when I started to push. I pushed for 2 hours and the doctor said Adalynn was not moving down to get through the pelvic area. The only option was c-section. So after 21 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing, and a c-section, Adalynn finally arrived!!! We are so excited that she is here! Thank you so much for your prayers! The Lord was with us and we again are blessed that you are a part of our support team and we get to share this wonderful news with you!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and Adalynn

Baby Update

Update:
Our due date, October 14th, has come and gone...and NO baby yet! We want to thank each of you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers this past week! We know you are waiting in great anticipation as well! We asked our doctor to let us go as long as he would let us before he induced labor. I was allowed to go over my due date a week. Well, the week is coming to a close...we will be induced tomorrow morning (October 20th) at 7am. We were wanting to avoid being induced and are still presently praying (at 7pm the day before) that I will go into labor naturally. We appreciate your prayers and continue to ask for you to pray for us over the next 24 hours. We are so blessed by each of you and your commitment to support us! We are so excited to share with you the joy of the birth of our first child! Please keep posted and we will let you know SOON!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and (soon to be appearing) Adalynn

Many Thanks to Hulman Street Wesleyan!

We want to take a moment to thank Hulman Street Wesleyan for a great weekend! We were a part of their 2009 Missions Conference this year in Terre Haute, Indiana! We were privileged to be one of the two featured missionaries for the weekend! The other missionary couple was friends who we met at our Missionary Training back in June with Global Partners! It was fun to reconnect and spend the weekend ministering together!
We had a great time with the Hulman Street family! We spent Saturday evening sharing a little bit about Russia through food! We brought some Russian recipes that our field directors had given us! Philip and I also had a chance to share with the congregation about our call to the ministry in Russia. (Our friend Justin added words to our picture slide show...this was our first time showing it and it was awesome! Thanks, Justin!!!) On Sunday morning Philip and I shared with 2 Sunday school classes. The first class was for the children and the second one was for the adults. It was an enjoyable time! After church we spent time over lunch with Pastor Willis and his wife, along with Dr. Coker and his wife! It was a great time! Sunday evening we wrapped up the weekend sharing more about Russia as a country, as well as sharing about the current ministries taking place there in Vladimir.
Overall, we were blessed by the conference and the people at Hulman Street Wesleyan! Thank you for opening up your hearts to us, as well as committing to pray and support us and this ministry!

Blessings,

Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

(Wednesday is our due date!!! Pray she comes soon!!! We can't wait!)

Serving up some Russian goodies!

Our table at the "Taste of the World"

Fellow Missionary Friends from MTI!

Taste of the World--Hulman Street Wesleyan Missions Conference

Fresh Mushroom Soup

This coming weekend, October 10-11th, Philip and I will be one of the two missionaries represented at Hulman Street Wesleyan Missions Conference here in Terre Haute. We are looking forward to the activities that we will be a part of Saturday evening and Sunday. On Saturday the church is hosting a "Taste of the World", similar to what our home church, Faith Wesleyan did on the night they did "Passport to the World". This night will be a night that the missionaries as well as others in the congregation will get to prepare food from different areas around the world.
As you remember from a previous post, I had been trying out some recipes. I am happy to say (and a bit relieved!) that our soup recipe turned out great! I followed the recipe and did not even have to convert any measurements, which was a sure sign of success from the beginning! I am happy to say we are going to be sharing this soup along with a salad called Salat Oliviye with Hulman Street on Saturday night. You are welcome to come and taste a little bit of Russia for yourself! The "Taste of the World" begins at 6pm at Hulman Street Wesleyan.
Again, we are looking forward to spending time at this upcoming missions conference. This will be our last church until the beginning of November due to having a baby and going through all the transitions over the next couple of weeks. Please still be praying for us as we are at home with our new little girl. We will still be trying to connect with churches throughout the rest of this month to begin filling up our 2010 calendar year!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

In the midst of cooking...and yes, I am still pregnant!
A favorite fall activity of many Russians is mushroom hunting in neighboring forests. They know just the right mushrooms to pick and the recipes they make with them are delicious!

The Salat Oliviye salad is much like an American potato salad. Our field directors said when they arrived back in Vladimir earlier this month, a friend brought them this salad. After eating it, they said to themselves, "We are home!"

Hope you come and taste it! See you at 6pm at Hulman Street Wesleyan! Philip and I will also be sharing that evening following the "Taste of the World" event.

Thank You, Faith Wesleyan!

We want to take time to thank our wonderful and loving home church, Faith Wesleyan, for hosting us as missionaries for their 2009 Missions Conference. It was such a joy and encouragement to be a part of this conference. We felt the Lord with us as we shared Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday about the Lord's work in our lives as well as the ministry in Russia we will be a part of. Thank you, Faith Wesleyan family for welcoming us with loving and supporting hearts. We pray that the Lord will continue to give this congregation a heart for the world. Here are some pictures to enjoy from the past weekend!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and (soon to be appearing!) baby Adalynn

Philip sharing at our table

An evening when the children learned more about Russia with Betty (a woman from the church)

Passport to the World event!