A Message from the SAC Director

Many of you know of my plans to hire a representative of SAC in St. Petersburg to continue the follow-up at the ministry sites, help with trip planning, and to build ongoing relationships with orphans and orphanage directors. During this past trip I met with Miss Dasha Efimova, who had applied for this position and had helped us with the pre-trip planning for the spring trips.
     Dasha is 24 years old and was born in Kazakhstan. She grew up in Kostroma, a city about 1000km SE of St. Petersburg and NE of Moscow. At the age of 16 she became a Christian and started serving in orphanage camps, church, and with a US organization called Hope Chest. She attended the International Bible Academy from 2000-2003 and specialized in the teaching of the Bible and the History of Christianity. Dasha is a university graduate with a degree in Philology from Kostroma State University in 2005. This qualifies her to teach Latin, Russian, Russian Literature, and History of Languages at the University level. She has also studied ancient Greek. Currently she is a post graduate student at Herzen State Pedagogical University (2005 - present) specializing in Foreign Literature. She has a servants heart and a heart for orphans. Currently she is employed at the International Christian School (ICS) in St. Petersburg.
     One interesting fact that I learned during her interview. Her father was in the military and served for about 25 years retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He served in the Russian military as a missile launch officer, just like I did when I was in the military! We both entered the service about the same year during the height of the Cold War. In the early eighties I had my hands on the "keys" to US nuclear weapons and he had his hands on the "red button" for the Soviet nuclear weapons! I'm sure neither of us would have imagined our connection 25 years later!
     Dasha will begin working for SAC beginning August 1st. She will have a transitional period as she trains a new worker at the International Christian School.
     Please pray for Dasha as she makes this transition and begins working for SAC to develop those Godly relationships with Orphans, Graduates, and Ministry Directors in St. Petersburg.     — John M. Neese