Russian Cooking 101

In preparation for one of our upcoming missions conferences, we need to prepare a Russian dish or food that is commonly found in Russia. After looking through various recipes, I decided to try out this Prague cake which is found in Russia. I am a pretty good cook, but I thought I better try to make it at least once before actually serving to a bunch of people. I gathered all my ingredients and made the necessary measurement conversions (which should have been a clue from the beginning that I should have stopped right there and not gone any further!!). The cake was fairly easy and simple other then it was kind of odd to have almost 3 1/2 cups of sour cream in the cake. After 40 minutes of letting it bake and then an extra 20 minutes over the suggested time, I decided that the cake wasn't actually going to get any better by letting it bake in the oven longer...that's right, it was a disaster. I admit, I didn't even taste it, but if you had seen it, you wouldn't have wanted to taste it either. The inside looked like the inside of an uncooked pancake that never fluffed up! Shortly after disposing of it down the garbage disposal, I decided that we were NOT going to be serving any Prague cake at missions conference!!
Not to worry though we do have some recipes up our sleeves that we will be trying soon for missions conference! These upcoming recipes are from our field directors, so I know the recipes will be good!
Hope you look forward to some Salat Oliviye (a Russian salad much like an American potato salad) and Fresh Mushroom Soup! Stay tuned to see how these two recipes turn out!

This is how the Prague cake turned out...

This is what the Prague cake was SUPPOSE to look like...

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

"To See as God Sees, To Go Where God Sends"

This Sunday, September 27th is the beginning of our home church, Faith Wesleyan's missions conference! We are so excited and privileged to be a part of this conference! If you are in the Terre Haute area next week, we would invite you to come spend an evening experiencing some of the missions conference.
Here is the schedule below:

Wednesday, September 30th 6:30-8:30pm
-Two 30-minute sessions with the missionaries (We will be in Room#8 and during the second session I, Kara, will be working with the children in the Fellowship Hall)

Thursday, October 1st 7:00pm
-An Evening's Passport to the World--this is an fun opportunity to experience the flavor and feel of other cultures through question and answer time as well as tasting some ethnic foods!

Friday, October 2nd 7:00pm
-Dessert with a Mission--This is an informal coffee/dessert time with the missionaries to get to know them better and to be able to ask questions.

Saturday, October 3rd 6:00pm
-Missions Banquet--A gourmet meal served at a local church fellowship hall. I have the opportunity to share at the banquet. (Please be praying for me, that the Lord will use me and the that the words would not be my own, but the Lord speaking through me.)

Sunday, October 4th 9:30am
-Morning Worship with a focus on Faith Promise Giving

Sunday, October 4th 6:30pm
-Evening Service with a focus on life commitment and a testimony from the field: Philip/Kara Gormong

Even if you cannot make the missions conference next week, we are asking you, our supporters to be in prayer for us as featured missionaries, as well as prayer for the missions conference itself. Our desire and the desire of the Faith Wesleyan congregation is for the the Holy Spirit to be at work in people's lives throughout the week of missions conference. It is more than just about missions, but about how the Lord is at work in the lives of His people.

Ready for Missions Conference!
Remember to come join us in Terre Haute, Indiana starting Wednesday, September 30th at 6:30pm!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

Thank You!

On Sunday, Philip and I spent the morning in Greenwood, Indiana at Greenwood Wesleyan Church! It was a blessing to be with these people. After somewhat getting lost on our way to the church, we arrived at the church 5 minutes before the service began! We didn't even have time to set up our projector for our video and powerpoint. Again, though we were able to recognize that the presentation isn't what draws people to the Russian ministry...it is the Holy Spirit working through us and in people's lives. We felt the presence of the Lord with us that morning during our sharing. Though we were a bit frazzled from being somewhat late, we were able to share with Greenwood Wesleyan congregation about what the Lord is doing in Russia and the need for Jesus Christ to be shared among those in darkness. Afterward we were blessed by being able to share lunch with the Pastor and his family! It was a joy to get to know them and hear more about their ministry in Greenwood. Thank you, Greenwood Wesleyan for the wonderful time last Sunday!

Shortly after arriving back in Terre Haute that afternoon, Philip and I headed over to Hulman Street Wesleyan here in Terre Haute. The church was having a Chili Cook Off and invited us to come and meet some of the congregation. We are speaking at the Hulman Street Wesleyan's Missions Conference October 10-11th. We were excited to be able to interact and meet the people of Hulman Street Wesleyan and we look forward to our time with them in October!

Currently, we are preparing for our home church, Faith Wesleyan's Missions Conference!! Please be praying for us as we prepare!
(Philip pictured above trying to prepare himself for the Russian winters!!!)

Praise the Lord...we are 22% Funded!!!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

Words

The picture above is what we look like learning the Russian language through Rosetta Stone...The picture below is sometimes how we feel learning the Russian language!!

Philip and I have been so blessed to be able to get a jump start on learning the Russian language! We were given a gift a few months back that enabled us to purchase Rosetta Stone! We have been trying to be faithful in our lessons, but it just isn't the same when someone (a teacher) is standing over you holding you accountable for your work! We have been doing well though and have learned some words in Russian like woman, man, girl, boy, cook, bicycle, hello, goodbye, sandwich, egg, and many more. I have the hardest time saying the word for sandwich! I say it over and over and Rosetta Stone keeps saying that I am saying it incorrectly! The other day I seriously said it about 15 times...my patience was running thin! Anyway, I decided when we get to Russia, I won't be eating any sandwiches for sometime! Seriously, though we are so thankful for this time right now to be learning Russian. As you know we are praying and anticipating to have all our support raised by late next spring so we can leave for language school at the beginning of the summer. We will be attending language school at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina. They have a Russian Language Institute that we will be a part of for 8 weeks. (check out the link to the right) Following language school we will depart for Russia in the late summer.
Praise the Lord because...we are 21% funded as of early this week!!! We are getting closer and praise the Lord for opening doors and working on people's hearts to be a part of this ministry!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

Request

Philip and I were looking forward to being with Vincennes Avenue Church this morning in Washington, Indiana. We were informed yesterday that Pastor Gilley's husband was in an accident Friday evening while coming home from work. He broke his back and was in surgery yesterday. We are asking that you take time today to pray for Pastor Gilley and her husband during this time. Her husband is in ICU in Evansville right now. Because of this accident we were unable to share with Vincennes Avenue Church this morning, but look forward to rescheduling in the future. Again, please join with us in prayer for this congregation this week. Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord!

Blessings,

Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn

We are 18% funded!!! Praise the Lord for 6 new faith promise givers in the last week!!! Thank you for your continual prayers...God is faithful!

A Weekend of Blessings

This past weekend Philip and I drove to Columbus, Ohio to visit with Faith Community Wesleyan Church! We were also excited to connect with this church because my family is from the Columbus area and they were able to come and hear us speak! It was a great weekend to catch up with family and to also have a chance to share with Faith Community congregation about the work in Russia. We were excited to hear that this church has had previous missionaries through who were once ministering in Russia! We knew the Lord was with us as we spoke on Sunday morning, so thank you for your prayers. We are also asking that you take time to prayer with Faith Community Wesleyan as they meet later this month to see if the church can support us financially in this ministry. The Lord is faithful and we are AGAIN continuing to see his provision for what He has called us to do. Praise the Lord!
Thank you, Faith Community Wesleyan, for the wonderful time we had with you on Sunday morning! We appreciate the time of prayer we had with you as well as a new faith promise giver and prayer partner!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, and baby Adalynn