Dan and Pris Gollan

We are in Krakow.  Surely you knew that Krakow is in Poland?  :)  Nice place.  People are so friendly and helpful.

We got up at 2:00 this morning and drove to Lvov, not sure if we’d be able to buy tickets on the train or not.  It worked out perfectly though.  God made our paths straight, just as we had prayed.  It was really quite delightful how it all worked out.

Getting through the border was a breeze… although I still easily recognized the vast difference between the Ukrainian culture and the Polish culture.  The Ukrainian border control people were curt, demanding, rude, accusatory, suspicious and all-round unpleasant… all except the guy who asked if we were taking any tanks or bombs out of the country.  : )  He was friendly.  That was so weird. 

The Polish people were quiet, efficient and polite.  Now THAT was so nice.

We slept half the day away on the trip in the train.  Arrived at about 5:30.  We booked an apartment which is sufficient for our needs and are now, very ready for bed.

Here are a few photos I have gathered over the past week.  We spent four days with Priscilla’s parents in Rovno before coming out here.  And we’ll be here 7 days waiting for visas to be granted.  Tomorrow morning, we will be up early standing at the beginning of the line to the consulate (hopefully).

Fairy floss?  Candy Floss?                       At the zoo with the brass wild goat statue.

At rest, my heart rate is 50 beats a minute.  Apparently, that is the heart rate of an athlete.  The only problem with that is that I am NOT an athlete.  At this particular stage in my life, I am watching with a wary eye a middle that has spread way more than I ever thought I’d let it.  What happens to my heart beat if I actually DO get fit again?

We went down to tea with Shane and Jemi this week where the setting sun caused me to quickly pull out my phone and snap a picture of Pris.  You are the beneficiaries.  :)

We are doing well.  This last week we’ve pulled together several (seven) documents necessary to obtain a letter of approval from the ministry of culture so that we can then apply for a visa in Krakow, Poland.  There are new laws and new departments and new fees making the process more complex.  Thankfully, they have approved us for one year, but we are going to try again to get them to approve us for three years.  If they do and if the embassy in Poland grants the visa, then we save about $6000!  So we are praying that the extra documents we have submitted will be sufficient to change their minds… or satisfy their bureaucratic “bone”.  We leave Ukraine on the 3rd of August. 

I think the time away on Snake Island is my favorite time of the year.  … those 6 days just pip the Christmas season for 1st place.

Inclement weather notwithstanding, it was another special week filled with relaxing, teaching, meeting up with old friends again, and enjoying the camping experience.  Oh!  There were also competitions, (like this one where a team had to eat several raw potatoes – apparently extremely difficult for some people!) 

This year, Pris and the kids and I went out a day early so that the 55 people who joined us didn’t have to wait so long for a ride out.  We decided we liked being out there before everyone else arrived.  We had just two boats ferrying people and supplies, so it took a while Monday to finish up the trips.  Shane was a champ.  He and Jem were overseers for the week.  They did great.

On such a day as this – sunshine, warmth in the air, and peace and joy in the home, how could this not be a beautiful day? Confidently stated: we love spring!

Several weeks ago, we had a week-end at a camp-site up near Chernobyl. It was a great time… blessed by the Lord. 17 of us took 15 guys who don’t know the Lord away and we played paintball, volleyball and numerous indoor games around the talk times and four “lectures”. Several of the guys responded on different levels to the presentation of the gospel and I met with four of them afterwards to answer question – of which there were many. Three of the guys seem to have already made decisions while one of them, Max, is wanting to, but recognizes the repercussions on his relationships if he goes ahead and that gives him pause. It is my hope and has been my prayer today that God shows him grace and tips the scales in his mind so that he doesn’t worry about the repercussions, but just goes ahead with faith.