The O’Byrne Report, March 2014 (archive)

 Spiritual Formation Discovery in Kursk

“Discovery” is the name of Imago Christi’s spiritual formation seminar that trains Christian leaders to attend to their own spiritual journey and encourage greater spiritual maturity in their ministry context. Another CRM missionary in Kursk, Russia recently invited me to offer a Spiritual Formation Discovery for the people he works with most closely: pastors, Christian leaders and the staff from a Christian orphans outreach program called the Harbor.

Thank you for praying in December about the “Discovery” seminar. Eighteen people attended the four-day event including our Harbor staff, staff from the Bible college, pastors and lay leaders. The response was overwhelmingly positive as people took a look at their own histories and where and how the Lord has led them. They were challenged to take steps of yet further growth, seeking Jesus Himself who is able to transform them into His image.

 

Here is an excerpt from Ken’s report below.

“I have long understood the priority of relationship with God but now I see how to get there, I see steps that I can take on the journey.”

~Participant response to “The Discovery” seminar

I feel challenged to “get out of the boat” of routine spirituality and step into a new, more real and intimate relationship with the living God. ~Pastor and Harbor staff

We teach others to pray but don’t listen or grow ourselves. Learning new approaches to prayer and relationship with God is very helpful. ~Gypsy Pastor

The Discovery opened the door for me to have meaningful conversations with the participants. Our Harbor staff meetings have become richer as each person grows in their faith in new ways. I am honored to be a part of such growth in Christ and know this is a solid preparation for the staff’s long-term ministry, both in The Harbor and anywhere else the Lord might lead later in life.

During the Discovery a pastor chimed in and said, “Bill, I think I know what you are getting at here. You are helping us get back in touch with our First Love” (referring to Rev 2:4). “Well, yes and no,” was my reply. If by “first love” you mean the feelings that we had when we first became Christians, then no. We cannot return to that one-time freshness, when everything was new. But if you mean, as we do in Discovery, a “First Order Love,” then YES – making love for God the first order priority for our life with God, out of which our ministry can flow with His love and power!

Merry Christmas – С Рождеством Христовым!

• Pray for our family and the Discovery that Bill leaves for tomorrow in Kursk, Russia.
• Pray for the Light of Christ to be revealed in this dark season!
• Gillian will join us in Russia for Christmas on her new 3-year multi-entry visa!
• Bill read two lectures in historic conferences one on the recent C. S. Lewis Anniversary and another on the Integration of Christianity and Psychology.
• The Annual Ministry Impact Reports are in from CRM and very encouraging.

 

Kursk Discovery
Leaders from a variety of churches and ministries in the Kursk region with gather for an Imago Christi Spiritual Formation Discovery event. Bill will preach there Sunday shortly after arriving from a 16 hour train ride.











Dark Christmas

The Advent season is the darkest time of the year. The sun rises only about 11am and sets 6 hours later. The darker it gets the more we are reminded that Christmas is coming, that the Light of the World is come! Look at our Christmas Stories page for more on the two Russian Christmases.

Gillian's Visa!

After a long adventure trying to get Gillian first a private visa, then a tourist visa, switching agencies and consulates Gillian was finally issued a Three-Year multiple-entry tourist visa, which means she can visit us any time over the next three years!
 
She arrives in Russia on December 22 and will stay with us until she flies to Tanzania, Africa for her spring semester abroad! Afterwards she will come back through Russia to see Karina graduate, and then return to the US for the summer before Karina starts college!

Historic Conferences

Bill was able to speak at two historic conferences at Saint Petersburg Christian University over the past two months. The first C. S. Lewis conference was held on the 50th anniversary of his death (Nov 23) and the second conference on the integration of psychology and Christianity. 

What's Going on in CRM?: 

The CRM 2013 Annual Report was very encouraging this year. Read more to see what CRM is doing world wide through its various innovative ministries!  

Goodbyes to Rochester, NY:

June 26 we pack up our 10 months in New York State and head back to our usual home base in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the summer, visiting family and supporting churches on the East Coast before heading to Russia about August 7th. Our visas are being processed and should arrive in a few weeks.

Prayer Requests:

• ·      Pray for the proper processing and timely return of our visas to enter Russia.
• ·      Pray for the restoration of monies stolen in the ATM fraud.
• ·      Pray for a good combination of rest and reorganizing for our moves.
• ·      Pray also for safety, as both Priscilla and Bill have injuries that will make a move difficult if not hazardous. Bill complicated a previous knee injury. Priscilla has had rotator-cuff problems and after a lingering cough found she has a dislocated, cracked rib. Pray for a lot of teamwork for the lifting and no more injuries.

Browncroft Summary:

We have had a marvelous furlough year at Browncroft Community Church, giving back something to this church that has invested so much in us and our ministry over the years. We lived in their Missions House, participated in the missions programs, the Sunday School, youth and children's programs. Priscilla volunteered in the Senior's program and the Reading Group tutorial program in a local city school. In addition to Bill's work with Imago Christi, he was able to mentor some of the senior staff through a tough season of staff transitions, mentor and counsel staff, provide staff Days of Prayer, run a Spiritual Formation Discovery event for church leaders, and design and lead an experiential "Passion 40 Prayer" program leading up to Easter. The Lord is a Master Weaver. Many have commented how He brought us here in just the right way, at just the right time.  

ATM Fraud:

We have learned a lesson in financial vigilance. We recently discovered that 17 unauthorized withdrawals were taken at four different ATMs around Saint Petersburg, Russia while we've been in the US. Somehow they used a card we had destroyed 18 months ago! This together with the timing at the beginning of the statement cycle and deciphering the PIN indicates the work of a sophisticated crime ring (click here to read about ATM Skimmers). Once it can be demonstrated that the withdrawals were unauthorized, investigators assure us that the funds will be restored to our account. We have already alerted the missionary and expat community in Russia. Often in His mercy, we find the Lord sends us a "warning shot" like this that heads off a disaster later, so we are thankful that we caught it.

Kids' Highlights:

Gillian just finished her first semester as a freshman at Wheaton College (IL), making friends with students of all types: missionary kids, other third-culture kids, international students, and "normal American" students! She's learned a lot of important lessons about growing up and grown up relationships. Bill was able to stop and have a Daddy-Daughter date with her in Chicago during one of his Imago Christi trips! Gillian went to the President's Banquet and was also invited to the regional ROTC banquet. In addition to baby-sitting, she was involved in a local church's children's ministry, and volunteered as a tutor for a Burmese girl. Wheaton isn't fully "America" for her, but somewhere in between. It was wonderful having her home for holidays and breaks, and watching her begin to travel on her own. She traveled to DC to babysit her cousins for a long weekend, then took the train to Rochester. Now she's at her summer job in Lancaster, which has brought on another wave of cultural adjustment. It will be very hard to leave her behind in August.

 

Karina had a great year at Penfield High School and playing French Horn in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RYPO). She played at Carnegie Hall in NYC, and Kodak Hall in Rochester! Karina was also inducted into the National Honor Society. She made lots of friends in orchestra, church and school, and now she is saying goodbye to all that her classmates are looking forward to for their senior year. It was nice that she was recognized with many of the seniors both at school and at church. Karina also recently had an "audition/lesson" to begin the application process for the Conservatory at Wheaton.

Liam had a more subdued year, making some friends in the 8th grade enrichment program. It seems we are just leaving as some friendships were getting off the ground. He really enjoyed playing trumpet in band, and was invited to play for the orchestra and jazz band too. He doesn't say much, but by the looks of his yearbook, kids will be missing "Russian Liam" next year. Bill is leading Liam through a preparation for manhood course, and they are both enjoying the time together. Besides growing almost 6 inches this year, the biggest highlight of his year was playing Little League Baseball this spring! The Penfield A's just finished a 7-6 season and Liam was named "Rookie of the Year"! He played mostly 3rd base, outfield and catcher -- his favorite. He also turned into a power hitter, getting his team’s only over-the-wall homerun.

Olivia has completed first-grade now, and is about to lose the last of her front teeth! She loved everything about school in America, especially her teacher. Olivia did a wonderful job with the Suzuki Violin lessons offered through her school. Mom helped with the tuning and concerts too. Olivia has had her own room for the first time. She is riding her two-wheeler really well and loves playing with her big sisters, and trying to keep up with her big brother. Most importantly of all Olivia received Christ as her Savior this year! 

Links:

Saint Petersburg Christian University: video here.

Blog Site: O'Byrne Report Blog Spot constant access.

Online Giving: Partner with the Lord’s work "in St. Petersburg, Russia and Beyond,"  via: Crmleaders.org.

Prayer Resources: Prayer Resources on Imago Christi website!

Discovery Registration: Bill is leading the presenting team for the next Spiritual Formation Discovery event that will be held in Lancaster, PA August 1-3 (click here).

Christmas Greetings 2012

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Счастливого Рождества Христова и С Новым Годом!

From our family to yours we wish you Peace and Love in a world full of darkness.

May you know the Light and Hope of Christ! 

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! It's hard to believe that our furlough year in the US is nearly half over! 

Summer of Transition

Have you ever said "Good-bye" to home, to everything familiar, to everything that you love? Knowing it will never be "home" again? This is a critical phase for kids who have grown up overseas, one that can leave them at worst embittered towards God, their families and America, or at least leave them more confused than the average teenager about their life and their faith. 

Thank you so much for investing in this critical transition for our kids and our family. You have not only helped us get to and stay on the mission field, but you have helped the children and family that have grown up there get re-integrated into American life. 

As Gillian entered college this year, our whole family was going through this transition with her. We determined to give our kids and our family the opportunity to do this transition as well as possible. God provided for Gillian to attend the "MK Transition" seminar put on by Barnabas International, and our whole family attended the only of its kind "Debrief and Renewal" seminar for whole families put on by the Missionary Training Institute. In the meantime we put 10K miles on the van!

Personal Updates:

Bill: is enjoying being able to "give something back" to a supporting church in Rochester, NY by mentoring and counseling church staff, and assisting the pastor with staff development from a spiritual formation perspective. He has also spoken at the small group leaders' conference and gave the gospel presentation at this week's Christmas Eve service.

Priscilla: has done an amazing job making the missions house a home for us, and keeping the family on track as we learn a new routine and rhythm of life in the US. She participates in Community Bible Study and volunteers as a reading aid at a local city school and with various charitable projects at church as well.

Gillian: just finished her first semester as a freshman at Wheaton College (IL), enjoying her Education major, Bible and Spanish courses. She has lots of friends within the community of MKs and international students, but is enjoying learning more about America too. We visited her for Family Weekend, then she came to Rochester for Thanksgiving and now Christmas with other students from our supporting church here.

Karina: is a junior at Penfield High School and playing French Horn in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RYPO). She also has a fantastic horn teacher! In February she will be playing in the RPYO at Carnegie Hall in NYC! Between school, church and orchestra she is meeting lots of new friends. One of her tasks this year is beginning to discern whether to follow a career in science or music.  

Liam: goes to Bay Trail Middle School and is in 8th grade. This transition was particularly tough for him, but an enrichment program has provided some consistent relationships for him. He has enjoyed having a room of his own, riding bikes around the neighborhood or on errands, throwing an American football with Dad, and Christmas lights.

Olivia: is a first-grader, and loves everything about school and America. Everything is "the best ___ ever!" except when something reminds her of home in Russia. She cries for a while, but then dives fully into whatever is happening at the moment. 

SF at SPCU 

This was my 14^th year teaching at SPCU -- Saint Petersburg Christian University. Spring semester I taught Spiritual Formation to 16 second and third year students. The students included a 70-year old man from the Russian Far East, who grew up under Communism in a Mennonite family, a pair of 20-year old twin girls from Kazakhstan, and sadly a 26-year old ex-convict and drug-addict, who had to leave the college because of his slide back into drug use.

At first I found this group of student to be rather resistant to engaging their own spiritual walk. Some had been hardened by life's wounds, many were from traditions that completely disregarded a personal relationship with Jesus, others had become cynical about an experiential faith in light of their theological education. This is why I had wanted to teach this Spiritual Formation later on in their program! 

I had decided to have the students write "weekly reflection journals" on the readings and lecture topics for each week. The journals became a meaningful forum where the students could reflect on their own lives with God in the context of our lecture topics, then I would respond individually to each one via email. When we started talking about Longing for God, the 70 year old student said, "This just keeps getting better and better!" 

At the end of the semester I met one-on-one with each of the students to discuss their impressions and questions. "N" is an intelligent student in the B.Th. program, who often challenged me in class. During our session he said, "Many of these topics about our spirituality are like a knife edge. Stray just a little and there is heresy on either side. But I soon realized that my initial resistance would dissolve by the time I wrote my journal or received your reply." This is why it is so important to talk about these subjects and give our students a language and a paradigm to help the church embrace a lively, maturing faith in Christ!

One-Year Home Assignment

We are taking the advice of many missionaries and our CRM supervisors and using Gillian’s freshman year in college to come back to the US before returning back to Russia. God has been so gracious in preparing our family for this huge cultural transition, and providing for our year in the US.

We will be living near Rochester, NY in the "missions house" provided by Browncroft Community Church, our supporting church in that area. We are so thankful for the housing and the opportunity to minister more closely at Browncroft, where the "Psi Circle" has been faithfully praying for us for 18 years. Bill has also been developing a relationship with the Spiritual Formation Pastor, who has asked Bill to speak at their Group Life Conference in October.

Before moving to the Rochester area, we will be in Lancaster, PA with family for much of July, and then head out to Denver, CO for three events in the same area: the Imago Christi summer Gathering, CRM's ORDERS Collective conference, and MTI's "Debrief and Renewal" seminar designed for families coming back to the US.

During this “home assignment” from June 21, 2012 to July 31, 2013 we will:

·      Be available to Gillian and her adjustment, and also provide the whole family with valuable debriefing experiences available for missionaries.

·      Guide Karina, Liam and Olivia through their first experience in American schools.

·      Raise additional support, following up on people who have shown interest in our ministry.

·      Engage in Imago Christi spiritual formation ministry in our supporting churches.

·      Discern the future direction of our ministry.   

We hope to see many of you during this coming year to thank you for your support of our ministry and family!

College Bound

Gillian is a high school senior this year, and has decided to go to Wheaton College, majoring in elementary education and specialize in teaching English as a second language. The international ministry blood flows in her veins!

We are so thankful that Gillian received an additional scholarship from the ChristianMissionary Scholarship Foundation that made Wheaton the most affordable option among the six colleges and universities that she was considering!

Missionary Kids (MKs) and Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are children who grow up in a culture of their own between their host and passport cultures. MKs/TCKs usually have a hard time adapting to college life in their parents’ home culture. This summer Gillian will be attending the "MKTransition Seminar" sponsored by Barnabas International.