Dosvidanya, Yeats

Yesterday, we said good bye to our co-laborers, Steven and Teresa Yeats, as they headed back to Moldova to resume their ministries in Briceni. We have been friends a long time, knowing Steven since Bible college in 1999 and Teresa since 2001 in Ukraine, we are sure to keep in touch as we continue serving the Lord either in Latvia or Moldova. We will certainly miss them and so will the church in Ogre that received ministry from them.

Their fellowship was a great blessing to our whole family as they lived with us for our first 2 and a half months in Latvia. Having been missionaries for 7 years, they were a source of deep insight and encouragement as well as a living example of serving as unto the Lord. Unlike Lena and I, they were not rusty in their speaking in Russian, and they were very handy to have around when I just couldn't find the words in Russian to express what God put on my heart to share.

Steven and I preached the gospel together on the streets weekly, he played the djembe as I led worship on the guitar, we took turns teaching at the Baptist church next door and we often discussed strategies and prayed about how to begin planting a new church in Latvia. During this time, Steven wrote a gospel tract and we had it translated into Latvian and Russian, which we are able to use as we continue spreading the Word.

Teresa and Lena had lots of fellowship together, shopped together, took turns making dinner for every one and helped look after each others kids. Life can be lonely for a missionary wife, but I think having another missionary/wife/mom/American/woman friend turned the mundane into fun and meaningful times.

We are praying for God to send us more co-laborers to come in the future, but for giving us a kick start into church planting, the giftings and fellowship of Steven and Teresa was a real God send. There is no one quite like them. We are thankful for their sacrifice (Latvia is a lot more expensive than Moldova) but they never complained and were never a burden, but were always a blessing to us and to all who they got to know, as I am sure they will continue to be to their church in Moldova. If you would like to support the Yeats, you can send a check to their sending church:

• Calvary Chapel


• P.O. Box 4794


• Thousand Oaks, CA 91359


• Please write “Missions” on memo, and attach a separate note specifying that’s it’s for the Yeats family.