Dan and Pris Gollan

You have woken up and tuned in here, as well as to the news site you normally visit for news.  If you read this and then take a minute to pray, we thank you.

I won’t include any pictures in this post.  You, no doubt, can get you fill of those from the internet.

Rzhyshchiv is an unlikely target for missiles.  We are little more than a village (8,000 people).  But we do hear the missiles falling and see the jets flying overhead. 

The power station, (30 clicks north from us), us was bombed just a couple of hours ago and the report is that is has been under attack since then.  Ukrainian tanks have taken up position around it, so it won’t be taken easily.  We still have electricity… but reality says that if Russia targeted it once, they will target it again and I suspect that sometime over the next day or two we’ll “go dark”.  If I keep on posting here, you’ll know that I was wrong.

By the time you read this, there is every likelihood that Russian troops will be on the outskirts of Kiev.  They have come in from the north.  It’s being reported that Russian ground forces have already landed near Kiev.  We will see what sort of fight the Ukrainian lads can put up, but reality points to a fairly quick resolution.

Today, we gathered at the church building to pray and then do some more prep.  Many many people are now fleeing west towards Poland.  But we had thousands of people come through our town all during the morning as well.  (The thought occurred to me as we worked on the building that we may be prepping it for Russian soldiers to stay in.  I wasn’t sure about how I felt about that…).  We have a group of refugees trying to get to us tonight, but they are trying to cross a bridge to the south of us that has a 50km line up of cars trying to get across.  If they make it, I suspect that it will only be by sometime tomorrow. 

After a couple of hours meeting with some of the leaders in our church, I come back to this blog…

Over the next couple of weeks, I expect hardships.  Our plan is to hold half of the products we have for our brothers and sisters for when things get hard in a couple of weeks.  If we get a heap of refugees, likely they will need the other half… but it’s just as likely that our plans will change with the changing circumstances.  I hope products will appear in the stores and we will be able to buy what we need. 

How can you help?

Pray.

If you would like to enormously bless people here, write to johngollan@ganabri.com for details of where to send financial help.  We will pass on your love and sacrifice to these people who love God as soon as we can.  We will also use funds to hopefully find food for the refugees and for others in the town who we discover are in desperate need.  Those who have fled for the west are in for a hard time.  Mostly though, these people have money to do this.  Those without savings who have stayed here are really going to struggle.  Those with savings are going to struggle!  Your help will help.

It’s 23:00 and I feel as if I don’t want to go to bed.  But I realize that tomorrow will be a long, strength sapping day full of people who will be encouraged by trust in God.

Does Ukraine need a Winston Churchill?  Well… kind of.  They need the Lord Jesus Christ way more though.  May He have mercy on Ukrainians and call many of them into relationship with Himself.

Thank you for praying.

This morning, I reluctantly admitted to myself that in my thinking, I’ve tripped into the territory of now expecting a major invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine.  There are just too many unique signs in place to continue to treat the events as purely a show of strength by Putin.  Astoundingly, it looks as if he has elected to throw the dice on being able to take and hold what he takes with justifiable losses.  (I say that and pause, again scarcely able to believe that I’ve said it!)

If this does happen, then it will naturally present great opportunities for us to give God glory.  But it will also cause a lot of darkness, upheaval, and suffering.  We are willing to have some temporary darkness in our lives so that others can “see a great light”.  It would be wonderful if many here got a glimpse of the glory and holiness of God because of these painful events and worshipped Him.

We are planning to continue to minister to the men in rehab, the kids from the crisis families, the general church family, and our community.  Depending on what exactly Putin has in mind… we will open up the church building to displaced people, (as we did nearly 8 years ago when the conflict started).  It could be a fascinating opportunity to love.

If Putin takes the crazy step of moving on Kiev, there is also the likelihood of basic supply lines being cut and infrastructure failing in our area.  If this happens, things will get very interesting.  The likely breakdown in law and order will affect us all.  And it is possible that foreigners will be especially targeted by the new authorities and by the lawless.  I don’t expect fighting in the streets of our little town… but I am considering sending Pris and Elle west when Shane and Jemi and Cheryl leave.  (Prayers for wisdom would be appreciated about this – it’s not a simple decision!)

The experts predict that Russian forces could be in Kiev within 48 hours of the initial attack.  (I draw a blank on what to expect in terms of a return to normal life if this occurs.)  “The biggest mobilization of troops in Europe since WW2,” (repeated by numerous analysts), sounds ominous.  And if war does break out, a whole lot of human suffering will likely occur before we return to normality.

We’ve been asked by a few people so far how they could help.

Please pray that your brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and especially in Rzhyshchiv, would trust in the Lord and look to love and sacrifice for Him so that His Name is lifted up.  It would be so easy to only look out for our own interests.

Pray too for wisdom for us as we make decisions and live as examples to our spiritual family here.  (I’ve learned that strong trust in God during times of suffering and loss is often like a trumpet blast.)

If you would like to know how else you could help, send a reply to this address: danieljgollan@gmail.com  I’ll plan to get back to you by Sunday evening.  We have some hopes and plans for Monday and Tuesday that you may be interested in hearing.

I married a uniquely special girl and have one precious daughter still at home.  They, like millions of women throughout history, definitely don’t warm to the thought of war in our backyard.  Here are some thoughts from Pris…

Priscilla here:  How many, many times over the years that we have been serving God here, (as an extension of you), have I thanked Him for your care and prayers, (especially)!  I’ve also thanked Him for your trust in us with your finances that have enabled us to stay here and serve so many people.

As you pray now, pray for me and others in our church family who, from time to time, feel the adrenaline of uncertainty regarding the impending invasion.  Jesus says: “Come to Me… and I will give you rest;  Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls.”  Pray that we, (that definitely includes me), would not be afraid but that we would act with strength and wisdom and courage.  I would rather stay here to hopefully be a useful instrument for the LORD, but if He asks that I leave Daniel, then pray that He will help with all those decisions, too!

The most important thing?  To give God glory!

Hello dear friends!

This is Ellie.

What a month we have had with our day center kids! It has been encouraging, discouraging, and such a privilege to be an influence in the kids lives.

A couple weeks back one of the parents in the church noticed that Masha, who is four,  (ice skating girl in the photo below), had a head full of lice. Upon later inspection we found that three of the kids in total have or had lice. It was a huge deal for the parents in the church who have girls with long hair and finally it was decided that we would have a few lice treatment days at the day center. Those were busy, but fun days. We ended up washing all of the kids' hair.  They all felt like getting a hair wash was super special, so we did them all. (I love how much they appreciate the simple things in life.)

On another note, we share a meal with the kids each day of the day center, and before we eat we always pray. These precious kids are really talking to God. About a year ago when the day center had just started we would take turns praying and often we would try to pray simple prayers such as, “Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you that all seven of the kids have come. Please bless this food to our bodies. Amen.” When it came to Vika’s turn she would take a few nervous breaths and then start, “God, thank you for these children. Amen!” As time has passed each of the kids has grown in their prayer life. Now when we pray several of us pray before the meal and they all consider it such an honor to get to pray for something. I also noticed that some of them actually seem to understand that they are speaking to ALMIGHTY God.

Thank you so much for your prayers. If you want to pray for certain kids here are some names -

Kristina is 12 and extremely smart.

Vika is 11 and we especially pray that she would be able to learn to read.

Vlad is 11 and a bright light, he has a very kind heart.

Natasha is 11 and always has a sweet smile to share, she really struggles with math.

Illya is 7, and is a ball of energy.

Masha is 4, and is very shy.

May each of you have a blessed month.

Ellie

A lot of people have been wondering how we feel about the potential of the coming invasion….

“Russia is going to invade Ukraine. This is a certainty.” (At least, that’s what is repeated by numerous people who have been given good “air-time” by the media.)

What are our thoughts?

Well… not wanting to make this a boring geo-political dissertation by forcing you to wade through all my hack reasoning; I’ll just say that I think it highly unlikely that Russia will come all the way to our small town… and I lean in the direction of them not invading at all.

We all see a lot of flags pointing to some sort of military action by Russia… the obvious conclusion is that either Russia is threatening the western world or Ukraine is going to come under the hammer.

At this point in time, Pris and I have peace from God about staying. We haven’t started stocking up on supplies and don’t feel the need to at this point. (I guess this is also a sign that we are decently confident that a major invasion won’t take place.) We understand that the American and Australian Embassies have pulled their staff from Ukraine and have recommended that their citizens leave the country asap... but we are banking on this likely being simple geopolitical theatre. The next couple of weeks should be telling.

So, we pray for peace in Ukraine while being confident that God always has absolutely perfect reasons for everything which occurs in His wonderful but fallen world. Meanwhile, we will continue to do what we are called to do and love, disciple and enjoy “the redeemed” of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We’ve had a wonderful time with our family over the Christmas holidays going into January. Our two eldest daughters have gone back to Australia and Jesse, Daniella and Quintus are staying on here with Pris and Elle and myself. We had fun and special times together and we will miss our two girlies.

We have two full rehab homes right now. We are just about to move two more men into the adaptation stage where they will do repairs on the aging adaptation house and go back for visits to the rehab homes for a couple of days a week. Then after a month or so, they are expected to look for work in the community. May God give them mercy and keep them faithful.

Last week at church, I looked over the smaller-than-normal group that had gathered, (a lot were home sick), and realized that over half of us were former drug addicts. How would you feel if you were to go to church next Sunday to that? I dare say you would be intrigued by what God was doing! I feel as if despite the occasional disappointments, I am blessed to be given the opportunity to love and be loved by these guys.

I don’t normally make lists like this… but we would be thankful if you prayed for these four things:

1. Wisdom as I oversee the work many special people are involved in here and, (along with these people), love and disciple those connected with our church

2. The health of Jesse, our son, who is staying with us and who is fighting a 3-years-long battle with a pretty serious health issue

3. The continued work on the church building, (which is already being used 6 days a week)

4. Wisdom as we talk with people about the major issues we continue to face here, (in particular, Russian troops at the borders)

May God bless you!