March already
March already… incredible! We’ve been waiting for the weather to ease up, but just when we think we might be in for a let-up, the temperatures drop again and the snow falls! I like waking up to snow falling from the perspective of beauty. But there are guys we’d like to spend time with on the building site with whom we’ve developed relationships and building outside can’t happen just yet. Soon. Soon it will be spring!
Pris and the two little girls are in Rovno. Last month, Pris started going downhill real fast with her neck pain. So we lined up an appointment with the masseuse there and Tuesday morning, she took the early van from the train station to Rovno. The trip takes about 4 hours and costs about $15 per seat. The drivers of the mini vans are ex-MIG pilots (logical assumption) and feel compelled (against logical assumption) to push the limits of speed in their Mercedes vans. Thanks to Ukraine hosting the Euro 2012 soccer championship, the main roads between Kiev and Europe have been improved immeasurably and it’s a fairly smooth trip now.
I’ve been doing a series on the fruit of the spirit from Galatians 5 the last couple of months. I’ve enjoyed the series and been challenged by a few thoughts especially that have come out of studying the passages again. Did you know that out of all of the fruit, the word “peace” is mentioned the most in the Bible? Surprised it isn’t “love”? What characteristic is next in “most mentioned”? Yep. Love. Then “faith” and “joy”. These are the fruit that we value most because of what they do for US. Patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control are all good, but we like love, joy and peace the most because most of us crave them the most – they affect our “soul”… our “inner man”. These gifts are the ones that make our lives more pleasant for us. Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about peace in particular and how few people really have it in this world. We want it! And it sure affects a lot of areas when we have it. I’ve been wondering how I can be a servant of peace. How can I share peace; gift peace to others? I know I need to be more aware of how my words (or lack of words) affect others around me. I have some ideas which I’ll be posting on our blog.
Tonight, I invited a few of the students over for an evening of sausages and games. These guys still have one year left in college, so we’ll hopefully become friends and then brothers. Yura is one of the guys who has become a friend. He’s a gifted and intelligent 17-year old who keeps on coming back for more. He loves both billiards and table tennis and is good at both.
Jesse and Marie are involving themselves more in reaching out to the students. I take pleasure in seeing them exemplify Jesus before the young people who come. I’ve noticed that there is a natural desire for acceptance in all people (particularly the young), but know that it should be held in proportion - roughly 20/80 :). 20% desire for acceptance is healthy. (We are made to exist in community.) 80% others-focused for the glory of God is perfect. The trick is in being able to set the limits. Doing God’s will and living to glorify Him is the desire of our hearts and isn’t normally all that difficult to do.
The church is doing well. The ladies are planning an outreach night for women in a few weeks. We hope that many ladies who aren’t yet saved will come out and hear the gospel. The night will be themed around “Bali”. We are praying.
Vlad… His request to have his case appealed before the Supreme Court here has come to naught. Vika again came to church with their young son last Sunday. If it means her salvation, then I’m sure Vlad will consider a few years in prison to have been a worthwhile price to pay; a high price, but worth it. We’ve been praying a lot for her and it was a real delight to see her and her 15 month old son. A few different people from the church in the west have joined us in providing finances for parcels of food and other stuff for Vlad. Tom has been tops in helping serve Vlad during his incarceration. Right now, it isn’t looking too hot as regards a quick release. Please pray for this young husband and father – Vlad.
Last Friday night, we had a rather sad incident occur on our building site. A man and a woman fell into the hole we’d dug for the sewage pit. The police have said that it was probably a good thing the hole was there. It is likely the man was probably taking the lady (whom he had raped) behind the building to kill her. But when they fell into the hole, they couldn’t get out because of the frozen sides near the top and had to wait for help. (The police think that the situation would have influenced the rapist against killing her.) They were apparently there for half an hour before help came. The man ran off as soon as he was out of the hole and the police are still looking for him. Today, Igor and Kolya (the two main guys who have worked with me on the site) were called down to the police station as suspects. That was a new experience for both of them! They were asked a few questions and then let go. We covered the hole up.
The van is working! Yeah! For a 17 year old vehicle, it does pretty well. During one of the -30 days, I drove it to the dentist in another city and on the way home the generator belt snapped again and one of the little guidance wheels flew off. We drove the 30 minutes home without heat and with the windows down so that the windshield wouldn’t ice up. It was one cold 40 minutes! This picture is of Sergei, the mechanic who ended up mucking around in the freezing temperatures for about 4 hours while we replaced the wheel and belt and did a few other things. He is the sort of person who goes the extra mile for foreigners just because they are “guests” in Ukraine. Some try to gyp the foreigner. Others go the other way.
Just talked to Pris. She is ready to type!
We have had a wonderful winter. December and January were very mild, but February was fierce. Usually we have some bitterly cold (-20 to -30) weather, but this time we had three weeks of continual crispy weather. It snowed first a beautiful thick layer and the children built an igloo large enough to seat four people in. Then the temperatures dropped. Our water pipes froze on the third floor (which has happened other years during bitter cold weather), but this year the heating pipes in the wall on the first floor froze as well! That was a first. It made a very cool first floor! Marie's bedroom is down there, but she was alright with an electric heater on. The pipes have finally thawed and we are hoping that there is no 'invisible' leakage in the pipe joins inside the walls. It is truly beautiful when the trees are covered with frost and the sun is shining. All six of us love it. We have been feeding birds outside of the kitchen window. They are our sign of life during the winter! Like winter butterflies!
My sister Esther, who lives in Oregon, married this past week. Angel and I were planning to go to her wedding in May, but may now put off that trip for a while! Surprises!
I have been away from Daniel and Jesse and Marie for a week or so getting treatment again for my neck. I am thankful to get it looked after since sleep has been pretty elusive for a couple months. I was lying in bed the other night asking God for His protection and blessing for me and the two girls (Angel and Elle are with me)--I realized that He normally abundantly answers that prayer, but I wondered how often I ask Him how I can glorify Him, our holy God. I long for His blessing and I truly LOOONG for Him to be glorified in my and our lives. Pray for wisdom and love for me and Dan.
It has been good not to be teaching this year with needing to care for other responsibilities properly, but I look forward to later this year when perhaps I will have the opportunity to teach again. I have missed it. I am thinking of including all the women in a broader discipleship (not focusing solely on being a godly wife). The cool thing is that while we all are encouraged by Scriptural teaching, the ladies here have not been taught so many practical truths from Scriptures which slowly influence the transforming of the mind to become a people set apart for God, different from the world. You can pray that God would open up the way if this is His will and give me the wisdom and love I will need.
May is coming up soon. A major event in our lives in 2010 and 2011 during the month of May were strokes for Daniel. He seems to be in good health and all the myriad of tests that he has submitted to have shown a healthy physique with no indications of other strokes happening, but I would still be glad if you mentioned it to God. =)
And that is a March 2012 update on happenings in Rzhyshchiv, Ukraine. May God bless you with peace as you live for Him!
