Category: Bruce Posts (Page 204 of 211)

Daniel and I just returned from Belorussia today, which is about 5hrs north of here. It was the suggested border crossing by customs in Kiev… we had to exit and re-enter the country in order to get a new stamp for my truck. It was, of course, an overly technical and inefficient process but we praise God for a successful day. We were allowed to exit Ukraine without technically going into Belarus… which would require a separate visa for US citizens… they told me “just drive up that bridge a bit and look at the river, then come back.” We dealt with no fewer than 7 individual border agents, one did this, another that, there was quite a bit of joking and laughter throughout the process which was refreshing. These guys were located in the middle of nowhere so I think they enjoy visitors. They said they get roughly 40 US citizens doing this exact little routine every month. Here I thought I was special… pretty sure it was the first Toyota Land Cruiser from Texas they had on site though.

We are healthy again, thanks for any prayer sent this way. We’ve had someone sick with the flu for the past 3 weeks I think, it’s been a vicious circle. Amazing how much energy and positive attitude resurfaces when health is restored.

RZ has fully approved the Sister City relationship! The city council voted this past week and we are now moving forward with some possible dates for the Skype video conference between mayors. We’ll keep you posted.

Was able to share this Sunday with the church. Dan and Pris were out of town on a little rest. It was nice actually to share a bit from scripture and try to encourage us. I spoke out of Numbers and the faith of Joshua and Caleb. It’s my prayer that the believers here (including us) look at this community with biblical faith, praying and believing God that He’ll motivate move us toward action – we need to start doing the things we can and trusting the Lord for the results. If there is one thing God is not pleased with in scripture, it’s unbelief I think. Part of believing God is believing His Word.. and that means obeying it right?

Brent has started hockey in Kiev. He’s only gone once so far, hopefully we can get him there with some regularity.. is there such a thing in Ukraine? He’s going to be a little superstar, can’t you see Him playing for Team Canada.. I mean Ukraine? I look forward to getting more of the kids in activities that engage them in this culture through language and friendships.

Wild watching the economy  at home and here locally (US Dollar up 20% in past month), keeping up with the election in the US (as much as I can handle anyway), the European Union struggling to come up with a financial rescue plan, Russian forces refusing to leave Georgia.. I’m not an end times theorist by any stretch, but one thing we do know is that we are a day, an hour, a minute closer to His triumphant return, and I hope He finds us with wicks trimmed and ready.  Let’s be closer to His heart than to cable news.  Let His Word flood over the fears of this world.  Let’s trust Him with our money, lavish Him through charity and unselfish behavior.

17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;”  Number 14:17-18

Sincerely,

This weekend I decided that I would put away my list, my regular scheduled programming, and explore with my boys. The forest next to our house is huge! We’ve been here for 5 months and I’ve been wanting to see what it’s like in there, but with workers needing materials from Kiev, or the cupboards needing food from Kiev, or papers needing stamping, there hasn’t been time. It was wonderful to explore the deep ravines, and majestic trees with my boys. They are professional climbers and I am, well, not 7yrs old anymore. I found it amazing to watch them dangle from 30ft drops while hanging on to one another, in this picture below Brent is holding out a limb for Tucker to hold while getting his footing. We found this big tree that the kids wanted to climb, we stood there and rested, talked about things and it was special.

I have been on my computer too much, working on the house, waiting in lines and in a constant state of ‘ok what’s next’ and I had forgotten the pleasure of silence, and the special bond of father and son. I’m looking forward to the next exploration, next time we may take some ‘bb’ guns hehe.

We’ve been all battling the flu for the past week, it’s knocked the wind out of our sails in the energy department. Everyday it seems I’m giving a list of things to buy for our workers, the gas company, the electrician… In the west when we hire some guys to work on our house, or you take your car in for maintenance, you expect the materials or items needed to be added to your bill right? This isn’t the case here, by default the worker only provides his experience and skill, but you have to provide almost everything else. My friend Micah from Khargalyk had an engine issue a while back and took it in to be serviced, he ended up having to walk around town trying to find the parts and oil for the car so it could be fixed. When the electrician showed up last weekend at our house he said we needed a new fuse box (if you saw our current mangled ball of wires you would concur), he then began to outline the various materials and hardware I would need to buy first. I’m not complaining about this, I’ve received an education on what materials are needed for virtually ever phase of building a house, and where to find them, but it zaps your time management and slows the process down to the halt because finding the materials can take so long. I’m wanting to buy a trailer right now, have been since my truck came because we have to take our own trash to the dump and you can imagine trying to load this into our truck 2x’s per week, it’s not nice. But the hitch I have on my truck is larger than the Ukrainian size, so I’ve been going all over asking.. I can’t even find THEIR hitches let alone something to convert mine. In another week or so we’ll find a solution, then it’s off to find a trailer. We found a factory that sells trailers, I laughed out loud when Svetlana explained that these particular trailers don’t come with wheels. These things no longer frustrate like they used to (thank you Lord) but it does wear on you.

It reminds me of the scripture about considering the cost before you build something, it’s a whole new ballgame over here in terms of ‘cost’ to you personally.

My office is coming along nicely, Alyosha is probably 2-3 weeks away from completing it. Besides being able to work more efficiently, I’ll have a great little spot to concentrate and pray, I look forward to praying in there and meeting with the Lord. I wonder how many times the Lord waits for us to come out into the woods, to unplug ourselves from the world. This Sunday Masha shared about a message she heard recently on silence and reminded us of the scriptures pertaining to waiting for God in silence, or God speaking to our hearts in times of stillness. I needed to hear this, and tromping through the forest with my boys reminded me of the need to walk away sometimes from the ‘urgent’, and deal with what really matters in our earthly and heavenly relationships. Time. Are you spending time with the Lord? I need to spend more time with Him, not out of any sort of religious duty in the least, but because I know He is my source of strength and my portion. I need His wisdom, His joy and peace to manage my home, run my business and be an influence in this community for Him. Are you like me and tied up in endless lists that seem to keep us from spending that time with Him? I’ve had this attitude that when the lists are done, then I can really relax and enjoy God’s word and my family. These are excuses and rob me/us of the blessings now, we know full well the lists will not end.

God teach us to lay our agenda down and seek first the kingdom of God, trusting Him to take care of all that concerns us.

искать прежде всего Царства Божия (Seek first the Kingdom of God) Matt 6:33

Wow, what a feeling. We’ve spent the last 10yrs in East Texas and forgotten how beautiful and invigorating the fall season is. The chilly days and cold nights give warning of what is to come while the gorgeous, vibrant leaves begin turning color across the rolling country side. The babushka’s are seen less along the roadside with their vegetables now, and the harvest is in full gear with an array of combines, tractors, and rickety soviet trucks transporting the grain. It’s reminding me of my Canadian youth growing up on a farm, although a lot of the machinery is the kind of stuff my dad had retired long before I can remember.

Note the two workers, one driving, the other on the back spreading out the seed evenly.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. As much as the outdoors and scenery are enjoyable, it’s only for a moment as we’re reminded daily that we are in a strange new land and miss our friends and family. Over the past few weeks we’ve really settled into our house and begun making it feel like home. The consistent internet access and hot water have been such a relief and allowed us to get into a rhythm (baths now occurring more than 1x per week!). Deb, Cassie and the kids have had now 3 weeks of Russian lessons with Svetlana, they are doing very well (says their teacher) and I’m next up for starting again.

We have 2 college students from the builder school now working on our basement. They went around Rz knocking on doors, asking for work and Daniel brought them up. I thought that was extremely impressive given the cultural mindset and was happy to reward them with outside work and now completion of our basement. They have been extremely thankful and work hard. It’s also a great opportunity for our family to show love and represent a functional (sort of) family. They are very hesitant to take any drinks or snacks from us but are warming up. They speak 0% english so it’s proving a little difficult to communicate, so our actions are the gospel right now. Pray for them, their names are (we think, they have changed them a few times) Oleg and Sasha. Once completed, our basement will become play-school central and this winter we hope to start using it also for bible studies/fellowship, it will have a bathroom and also a kitchenette of some sorts.

Elyosha (Kolya’s brother who also worked on our house) is back for the winter and we are working on my office in the garage. Right now I’m stationed in our master bedroom and Deb will be excited to be able to put kids down for naps without worrying about my conference calls. The office will be pretty small, but heated, with internet and electricity… I just arrived back from Epicenter (remember mordor) and spent most of the day getting materials for the project, sheet rock, insulation, fixtures, windows and a door.. I’m sure we missed something and I’ll be going back soon. I decided to wait on the office downtown, things weren’t as they seemed and I took that as a sign to invest in my own office for now, a controlled environment that I know will work.

[Crowe and Gollan kids playing at Baleko Schochenka, a famous WWII battle ground]

The Lord is giving me daily faith to believe Him for a building downtown. I don’t particularly want one, but I have an inward desire to keep asking, talking about it, and knocking on doors. Pray with me would you? It doesn’t matter where it is, or what it looks like, but that God opens the door – there are willing believers that will serve and I think it could also be instrumental in growing disciples as well as Christians here don’t seem to have much in the way of organized evangelism, a collective work we can all put our hands and hearts into. God give us this place for Your glory!

We will be starting Drive Through History in our house in two weeks, I think. I’m hoping it ministers and brings the Christians closer together here (english missionaries) as well as give us a good historical base on the early church, I really like those videos, they inspire and build my faith – God has a plan for the church at large and you see this when you step back in light of history. I want to be a part of history, impacting the history and future of those around me. God can use us if we surrender and let Him.

I like the drive into RZ, I can imagine the horse and buggy along this road, it reminds me (not sure why) of the prodigal returning home, the familiar row of trees is starting to give me the same feeling of ‘coming home’, that’s a nice feeling.

So that’s it for now. Sister City is still in progress, we are waiting on RZ now (Kilgore was approved a few weeks ago), it’s sort of like ping pong. I just spent way too much $ on a fedex, what an experience, wow. I passed through what seemed like 4 or 5 layers of office people, customs brokers, and warehouse officials to get this small 4lb box only needed a paper for my truck, but had Autumn send me a dvd and game too, what a mistake. I received no less than 6 stamps, paid 200% the value of the materials inside, all they kept telling me was, “Sorry, this is Ukraine”. I just smile and reply, “Ya Zneye-you” which means, “yes, I know”.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” Matt 7:7

“Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Psalm 96:10

At my desk (my desk from America, yeah!)

Where do we turn in times of financial conflict? We’ve been hearing and reading of the woes of wall street and the bursting real estate market in the US. The rippling effect is felt in Ukraine as it is throughout the world I’m sure. We live in such a interdependent world market. It’s tempting to turn our eyes to the wrong places. I’ve found myself considering measures to ‘protect’ my minimal assets, and somehow dodge any negative impact from the struggling economy. It’s been a blessing to get away from the over saturated politically inspired media in America. Watching too much Fox News or CNN will convince you that the answers lie in the election itself, that the right President will be our Savior.

I remember listening to a sermon a few years ago from a professor who travels and debates agnostic/athiestic institutions. The title of his message was, “Why are there no Hittites on the streets of New York?” His point was powerful and I think of it often. The Jews are still a unique people group. They have survived constant wars, a Holocaust, and enemy nations bent on removing their name from the earth. Why? Why have they remained while other powerful (in their day) people groups have vanished? The answer the professor directed us to was in Deut 6:5-9 –

5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

His point was that the Jews have continued to pass on their heritage, God’s commands and the stories of deliverance and God’s faithfulness. Because of this, they have remained distinct and held to principles that overcame the snare of dilution. Stories of courage, of integrity and God’s faithfulness to those that follow His ways, and judgment on those that rebel. As Christians, we should take very seriously the same principle and command to make the stories known to our children. To spend quality time with our families talking about the great things God has done for us, consummating in the greatest story ever told. When I think of America, I consider the great heritage of Godly men and woman who fled tyranny for religious freedom, and founded the country on the things that would protect it from that very thing. Somewhere along the line however, the stories stopped getting passed down, the teachings became indistinct, twisted and we’ve found ourselves marginalized. Christians are now shoved into the category of fanaticism, equals with any cult or religious relic of the past. Humanism is the pre-dominate agenda and worldview.

“We are humanist living in a fading Christian culture,” was the echoing phrase this professor left me with. Sadly, I believe this to be true. We’ve lost the connection between our Christian forefathers, a gospel and Christianity that sunk into the fabric of a man’s conscience and character. A religion that changed us from the inside out. We have settled for, as a whole, a Christianity that enjoys fellowship on Sunday, a TV show type service that is quick, entertaining and worth our time. I don’t know about you, but I long for a revival of character and conscience. We’ll always be maligned, and shunned, but I’m tired of most of the accusations being true.

So is there any hope? Equity. That is where my hope lies. God is a God of justice, the ‘foundations of His throne are Righteous and Judgment.” Whom do I have to fear but God alone? Economies will rise and fall, Governments overthrown, but the Lord Reigns. This speaks of His Sovereignty. While God may not cause everything to happen, He certainly governs it and within His eternal wisdom will see every right wronged, every person judged, and His Son glorified. This is, I believe, a Christian worldview. Humanism would want us to consider our own feelings, our personal impact and render God the Savior of our stuff, our houses, our cars… surely God will watch out and cover us! The thing is, He is did cover us, cleansing us with the blood of His dear Son, and we’ll live eternally as His people if we put our faith in His finished work. The more we put our hope on Government, politics, the media, our jobs and business, the further the reality is of God’s ultimate triumph, and the powerful reminder it is for us to live differently before our lost world.

I’ve spent so many months talking about visas, lines, stamps, and our container, I had to write something else! I hope that it encourages you, it’s encouraged me writing it. God is great! I’ve just recovered from 3 days of the flu, wasn’t very fun but we’re on the upswing. Our house is filled with boxes and things are starting to get settled. We love sleeping in our own bed! Thank you for your prayers, please consider helping Jono’s school, we’ve raised $100 of $500 and would like to give him the money this week. Here’s a picture of Tucker and I this morning, we were required by law to paint the gas line yellow, before they will turn it on… glad it wasn’t pink!