Dan and Pris Gollan

Disgusted - Discontented – Neutral – Contented – Delighted

We are “delighted”.  God has blessed our son, (and us), with a special girl and they will give Him much glory together.  The wedding was “real nice” and I’m sure God appreciated the ways in which many of those in attendance acknowledged Him.

Jesse and Daniella will finish up their honeymoon in January and return to Bible College where Jesse will continue his studies and Daniella will start hers.

We are back in Ukraine… in our perfectly cool house.  Tomorrow it will snow… and it will seem even cooler, but for now we are surrounded by drab brown colours everywhere due to the plus temperatures. 

Our trip back was comparatively uneventful.  We flew through China again and I wrote the following as we waited for our flight….

We arrived here in Guangzhou earlier this evening. There have already been a number of unique moments to notice:

We are back in Australia – beautiful, unique, dramatic, friendly Australia.

This trip has a three-fold purpose.  See precious family again.  Celebrate the most excellent and beautiful marriage of Jesse and Daniella.  And visit with people who have supported the ministry in Ukraine to thank them and, in a small way, bless them.

We have definitely come back at an interesting time climate-wise.  The fires here have been termed catastrophic for a reason.  I read that since the beginning of October, 530 homes have been burnt in NSW, 16 in Queensland.  And the fire season is just starting.  Is God punishing Australia for recent laws concerning abortion and homosexual marriage?

There are a few things it may pay for us to remember when a subject like that is broached.

We have returned! Our plane touched down on a dry Kiev tarmac at 05:20 Thursday morning. As we walked off the plane, many disapproving passengers and crew informed us that our children were not sufficiently dressed. "It is MINUS 10, not plus 10. You understand?" "Your children cold!" "Bus not warm." "Kholodno na ulitsa! Kholodno!" Yep. We were back! And it actually felt great walking out of the stuffy plane into crisp Ukrainian air. We were last through immigration and then customs... breezing through both. And then we finally left the hall to greet Cheryl and Bronwyn, Gaven and Bruce who had risen early to collect us. It felt good to be back.

The drive home was punctuated solely by a McDonalds stop - no cop stops this time - and we arrived home to a house undeniably Cherylized. She is a friend who loves to love through selflessly helping/serving and had done a beautiful job on the little touches which make a place feel welcoming.

Greetings…

As Ukraine heads into some cooler weather, we find ourselves looking at the thermometer and wondering how long we can go without turning the gas furnace on! Those thoughts put us in the same category of about 90% of people in Rzhyshchiv. And with Ukrainian workers owed over $220 million in back-pay, the IMF insisting on a doubling of gas prices, and the government pushing ahead with that goal, many people are eerily eying the winter months. We’ll probably be able to hold out until late-October before turning on the heating.