Category: Bruce Posts (Page 199 of 211)

Left to Right
Sasha, Bruce, Andrei, Peter, Rafael, and Alexander. 

Dan is taking the picture.

This is a picture from tonight, the pastors/leaders in our town are now gathering once a week for a time of sharing/praying.  This is extremely rare, and God’s hand is in this.  There’s a sincere belief among the group that God is directing us to pray, and believe Him for a time of harvest.  The best part is, nobody is really leading it, and there isn’t an agenda (as much as some of us want one!) besides trusting God for the next steps. 

We are meeting again next week, then the following week at Dan’s for a time with our wives and a meal.  It’s difficult to communicate how neat this is, and the sobriety in my heart that God toward the responsibility that may follow.  These men care about this town, and together, although we’re still a small minority (less than 2% of the population), we’re God’s church, one body perhaps like never before.  I’m excited to see how this trickles down to the believers in each church, and the momentum and faith it could bring to each congregation.  We’re talking about doing something together for easter.

All for now.  Still waiting on a response to the land/property request.  We’ve asked that they let us know in the next week.

Today the kids donated some items they collected for an orphanage nearby.  Some friends from Khargalyk visit this particular orphanage and my heart longs to eventually get involved in this sort of thing.  The conditions of some of these orphanages will break your heart, and the opportunities to bring hope and help are endless.  We look forward to helping connect some of you to this sort of ministry as well.

In two weeks Art Bradshaw will be leading an informational meeting for all interested in the upcoming July 2-10 outreach here.  We currently have 10-12 people interested, and hope that all will come to this meeting if you are interested in learning more, grab an application etc.  If you are unsure if your name is on that list of invited (we’ll be emailing you the date/time/place), please email me bruce@liftupyoureyes.org and we’ll be sure to include you.

Bruce & Deb

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!”  Psalm 133:1

This Sunday afternoon a group of funny looking men gathered in a church building downtown.  I was one of the funny looking men by the way.  There were 8 of us, we didn’t look all that special.  One guy in a nice tie and dress clothes, the other in a black overoat looking very Russian, Daniel in his sweater.  A cuban fellow, Rafael, who spoke in slow, deliberate Ukrainian (or Russian I couldn’t quite tell), began to share with this group of men his vision for unity, or rather the Lord’s desire for unity in this town among all believers.  He had some interesting thoughts about performing some symbolic acts of unity (involving Joshua type monument stones… remember the memorial he built to remind Israel of their deliverance?).  The men represented were the pastors of the local fellowships here in RZ, and a neighboring town to the north.  A pentecostal church, baptist, another pentecostal/charismatic church, a seventh day adventist young guy, and Daniel and I representing the non denominational…  For the first time, in the history (from what I understand) these men sat at a table together in this capacity.  We listened to Rafael and then each shared their thoughts on ‘working together’.  It seems, although there are some dividing doctrinal issue, the consensus was that God would be glorified if we met together and prayed.  It was very cool to be part of that meeting.  In my view anyway, the few Christians in this town need one another, and unity among God’s people starts with the leaders legitimately caring and in relationship with one another.  So among the 150 or so Christians in this town of 10,000, God’s people may expect blessing from this.  More than this, this community will experience a greater level of witness to the reality and love of Jesus Christ for them, through the willing togetherness of these few church bodies. 

I praise God for this.  I’m not in to ecumenical sentimentalism (is that a word) for its own sake.  However, for the purpose of ‘not’ being divided visably among the town, this could speak volumes.  Consider Jesus words in John 13:35, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  If we are to have any significant witness among the community, there must be some semblance of unity and care.  A laying aside of personal pride, insecurities and a real ‘gut check’ for these men to consider if we’re all truly in this for Christ and His church.  Pray for our weekly meetings would you?  It would be a great witness for this community to see all christians working or serving together in the future.

Bruce & Deb

Tonight we gathered in our Home Groups, we began a 3 week discussion/study on prayer.  We reviewed around 30 places in the bible where someone calls out to God for some reason or another, and God responds.  Scripture is amazingly filled with unique encounters of answered prayer.  We are truly born to ‘connect’ and ‘commune’ with God.  For whatever the reason, I’m too often filled with an aversion to seek God for answers, for provision, for something transformative to take place.  I’d rather work hard, lean on my understanding and natural abilities to open up the doors before me.  This not only keeps God from showing Himself more regularly in my life, but keeps Him from drawing attention to Himself in the world around me.  How often have we settled for the answer before us, when God was inclined to show us favor and change circumstances if we would just pray?  I’m thinking we’ll find out that answer when He opens the Book.  How dissapointing will it be when we watch the account of our life and realize God was willing to respond more often than we were to pray? 

^“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Heb 11:6

We have found a plot of land in the center of town that would be perfect to build the Family Center/Cafe.  We ‘feel’ good about it, we are in prayer for the owners to show us favor and sell it for a reasonable price.  One of the owners is willing to sell their half, the other is not convinced they want to sell and over the next week they will consider our inquiry.  Pray with us would you?  God is interested in the means, we want God to be glorified in this process so we are making this more public.  He has determined, as we see in scripture, to work through His people as they pray and believe Him. 

B&D

The former, that is.  Daniel and I returned from our Texas/NYC trip this past Tuesday, wonderful to re-unite with Deb and the kids. Here is a view from the Empire State Building. 

Been burning the candle at both ends since returning, Bo arrived on Thursday, we spent yesterday visiting with the mayor/city manager, our friend at the restaurant, and various other property advisors as we prayerfully scout out what is available for possible purchase downtown.  It’s been a slow, and frustrating process, but one that we are entrusting to God.  It seems the most viable purchase will be finding privately owned property downtown as the city owned properties are impossible to deal with, as the City officials sorrowfully admitted.  We believe the City is on our side, and giving us the kind of realistic advice that will move things forward and not waste time.   Basically there are three options, privately owned, city owned and mafia/rich kievans.  Please pray, we have found one piece of land that has a small house on it (not livable), it is very central, across from the bus station and restaurant that we meet at once per month. 

 
[View of property from street]

[View from behind the house]

The price is around $40k for it, it’s owned by two owners, each legally owning parts of the property (they actually each own half of the house, welcome to ukraine).  Incredibly, this is the least expensive option we’ve found yet, but still seems over priced considering the economic landscape.  Asking the Lord to confirm, and help us with these next steps, it’s for His glory and work.  Been reading George Muller, and been challenged to ask specifically from the Lord, trust, and not look to man.  I love the motivation of that man, he desired above all else to provide a present day witness to the believers and the lost of his day, that God was in fact willing and able to work by simply asking Him, and trusting Him.. not resorting to asking from man, or manipulating of any kind.  We all know his story at Bristol, England and the Orphan Houses that God truly established and maintained.  I’m not George Muller, but I still think God wants to show Himself, and in our town I pray this little Family Center/Cafe brings Him attention and honor, even how it’s purchased, constructed, and eventually managed.

Here are a few pictures, thank you for your prayers, and checking in. 

[Jono (holding book) and the gang at UTSIM, the english language school that they’ve started, they have +30 students now, and have been given an office/classroom in the public school]

[Bob and Dan on Broadway]

[If you are ever in NYC, you have to visit Times Square Church, it’s on Broadway and is a great experience.]

Couple other updates:

• We’ve registered a business, we even have our own stamp!!!  It’s called Business Development Network, and will, Lord willing, be used to operate the cafe, employ people, and provide business visas for foreigners.
• We’re going to plant sweet corn, they don’t have it here, we brought some back from Texas, we’re pretty excited.
• We’re planning to get some chickens in the summer, like live ones. 
• June trip has been changed to July, the City moved their ‘city festival’ date without telling me about it.. so July it is, and we have 6-10 interested from East Texas.
• Our basement is almost, almost finished, we have a small kitchen/bath and will be great for guests/groups, like you!
• If we get this property, we will be organizing construction groups this summer/fall… pray about coming and helping.

Bruce & Deb