An extra special blessing!

We are thrilled to announce we are expecting our first child! To read about our first doctor's appointment click on the link below. We are so blessed to be expecting! God has been so good to us!

http://www.simplysiberia.blogspot.com/2012/05/our-heavenly-little-blessing.html

The Road to Russia #1

We have officially started deputation as of March 28th, 2012! We had been anticipating starting deputation for the last six months. It seemed like it would never get here and now it's here! The Lord has already blessed our travels in ways we couldn't have imagined.

We arrived! 663 miles later!

We attended our first missions conference in Columbia, Missouri a few weeks ago. We were blessed to be hosted by such a loving missions minded church. As we entered our hotel room we found a gift basket with lots of goodies in it. As we looked closer we found about $200 worth of gift cards from the church! I was truly humbled by their kindness and generosity. We were complete strangers to them, yet they showed us the love of Christ. They were such a blessing to us and we will forever be grateful for them!  It was a great way to start off deputation!!

James and I with The Renshaws ( a family I know from Florida!)

Pastor Hastings and his wife, Christina

We head to our next church tomorrow in Euclid, Ohio (not too far from home). We will be there all day and James is preaching the evening service. We look forward to spending the day with them! On Wednesday and Thursday this week we will be in Central Lake, Michigan for a missions conference.

Our prayer is that we can be a blessing to each church we are attending. We never want to go expecting something from the church, rather to be a blessing. We are thankful for the opportunity to present our ministry all across this nation!

We are excited to say we have about 18% of our support raised so far! God has been good to provide faithful churches and people who have supported us from the beginning. We are very thankful to have this much raised already! Praise the Lord!

Our Agenda: At the beginning of May we will be out in the midwest area (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, etc.) until the end of September. August we will be back in the Ohio area, and September we will be in Alaska. October we will again be back in Ohio. And Lord willing in December-January we will be in Florida! ( Almost like we planned it that way!) 

We truly appreciate your prayers as we travel!! May the Lord bless your services tomorrow as you serve Him in church.





-Amber Pranger

To take or not to take, that is the question...

Well that time to hit the road is quickly approaching! James and I are very excited to begin this journey of deputation. This last Friday, we were blessed to buy a 2007 Honda Pilot with only 68,000 miles on it. (We plan to add a few more miles to that number.)  We praise the Lord for providing a vehicle within our budget! So now that we are very spoiled in our new SUV with heated seats and a sun roof, we are even more excited to travel the country. 

On March 28th we start deputation! This excites me for a few reasons. One reason is that will mean all of my "to-do's" of packing and organizing will be completed. Packing, what an ugly word. Now for those of you who are missionaries know what I mean when I say it is much harder to pack when you are leaving the house for a few months at a time. ( I can't even imagine packing with children!!) It is even harder to sort through all of your treasures and decide what to store, what to give away, and what to send over to Russia. Thankfully, I haven't quite pulled out all of my hair yet. I take it one day, one tub at a time. So far not so bad! And I still have some time left! 


My husband is afraid I will want to take the bath tub and kitchen sink along with us, when really all I want to pack are my twelve pairs of shoes. 

Some of the lucky chosen few. 

Yes, that's right only twelve.  I was so excited to tell him I narrowed down my shoes for deputation to only twelve! You would have thought I told him I was taking the whole house with his reaction. Sheesh... Does he even consider all those other pairs of shoes that are stuffed in a tub completely forgotten about until August? It was a difficult choice but it had to be made. I think this will only make me a stronger woman. There should be an award or certificate for those who successfully pack for deputation. Men just don't realize the sacrifices we make. :) 

I plan to pack for about 2-3 weeks and rotate clothing. And believe it or not I am trying to pack conservatively, even though to my husband it may not seem like it. But after all we did just buy a new  (BIGGER) car, and if he packs light that mean I can pack extra! Right?! 

I know I'm not alone in this packing for deputation/furlough obstacle course. And I am sure it gets easier and there is a science. But I'm a newbie. I would be interested to hear any stories or strategies that anyone has! 

Until next time, good night and good morning to all those on different time zones! 

From the Heart of my Closet,

Amber Pranger

P.S Thank you ladies for the helpful comments! Maybe I will be more careful as to what I pack :). In my defense though, those twelve pairs of shoes include some flip flops and flats. Haha Maybe I'll put a couple more pairs away and go with a solid ten :). I will definitely use all your tips! We can't wait to make lots of memories on our trip! 

Becoming Missionaries

What is a missionary? Most of us know the definition as " one who spreads the gospel in a local or foreign field." I believe that one does not need to go to a foreign field to be considered a missionary. Fulfilling the great commission is what we as children of God are commanded to do, and I believe that makes us all missionaries. 

Why us? I'm still wondering that question myself! I truly do not feel worthy to be used in such a great way to serve our Lord and Savior. But I have learned that God uses those who simply let Him use them. :) 

Why Russia? Well, I have been wondering that too...why not a tropical place?! :). My husband, James, grew up in the country of Russia with his parents, Jim & Laura Pranger, as missionaries. James has always had the desire to go back to Russia but was waiting on the Lord. ( I thought going to Russia was only a suggestion not something he was really serious about doing :) Or maybe that's what I wanted to think...) But last spring in 2011 the Lord called my husband and I to the field of Russia. 

When James first told me he felt the Lord was leading him in this direction, I wasn't quite as excited as he was. (You see, I'm from Florida, the sunshine state, I wasn't quite made for cold weather!) I struggled with it for a couple of weeks and finally surrendered to the Lord's call on our lives. The Lord has since given me a peace and an excitement to go to this frozen tundra to reach souls to Christ. I am humbled and thrilled to be on this journey! 


Check back for more posts and updates on our journey to Siberia! We truly appreciate your prayers as we start deputation this April. 

From the Heart, 
Amber Pranger