Category: Bruce Posts (Page 92 of 211)

The teams have left.  It’s been a wild past few weeks preparing, praying and finally completing a week of intense activity.  As the days unfold, I believe God will reveal more of the eternal impact of the past week – in the meantime I wanted to share some of the gratitude that fills both Deb and I’s heart.

God Surprises!

Every evening was unique. That wasn’t the surprise.  Thursday evening was the most worshipful experience (in a corporate gathering) I’ve encountered in the past 10yrs.  It went well beyond songs, sounds and atmosphere.  God spoke to many hearts that night, at the same time, with a particular theme.  We only found this out afterwards the next day.  The Lord gave me a picture of light dispelling darkness that touched me deeply – His Kingdom rule moving into homes, and those homes contagiously impacting homes next to them with the Light of Jesus Christ.   It spread very quickly, not all homes were lit – but those that were fanned out like a flame across the landscape.  There was a great sense of royalty in our gathering – I don’t know how else to explain it, the King surprised many hearts.

Another surprise was Friday night.  We had a strong number of male students, first time Cafe visitors mostly from the drum lessons.  Vikente and Tim did an amazing job teaching the basics of drumming, however something even greater took place during the 3 days of classes.  The boys saw something in the teachers, they came Friday night I believe by the drawing of the Lord in them.  Even though we had concerts on the first floor where most of the students and Cafe guests remained, these guys came up for worship.  We’ve had visitors before, it’s always a bit awkward to sing praises with folks looking on and wondering ‘what in the world am I experiencing?’.   However, the spirit of God surprised us Friday night by moving on in particular, one students heart.  The gospel was shared very briefly and we continued to sing – this young man bowed in prayer, and began confessing Christ as Lord.   No altar call, no manipulation of emotion, simply God overwhelming a heart ready for faith.  Please pray for the students that experienced Friday night, including this young man as we connect this week and encourage the steps taken.

Our concerts on the main floor became quite evangelistic.  Collins led the way with some of his own songs – and we were able to utilize a lot of talent both locally and from our team.  The atmosphere at times became really interesting – as choruses and testimonies were shared naturally through the evening.  Many seeds sown, and many photos all over facebook and VK with new students posing and customers commenting on the experience.  I hadn’t planned downstairs to be as genuinely worshipful – but there were times when God surprised us through the week with something special as His grace, love and hope were on display.

Global God

We’re grateful for body of Christ around the world – He’s redeemed folks from every tribe, tongue and race.  The Local Church needs to be exposed to this reality regularly – and this week some area believers were impacted and faith strengthened.  It’s an honor, particularly of the western church (because we have more money) to ambassador the reality of God’s work in other nations.  Even the Minsk team, which is only a 1/2 day drive away, affirmed the faith of the local believers that “God is alive and working in the earth!”.  I believe one day soon the Lord will afford Ukrainian believers the same honor in other nations.

Ears to Hear!

I love beautiful sounds.  There’s something about the human voice joining in passionate anthem.  Add the creativity of musical instruments and the emotional places we experience are difficult to explain.  Music is simply powerful.  God created both the ability to create sound and the ability to hear it!  I am thankful that we can receive truth audibly.  I’m also thankful for the joys of feeling truth in the context of worship music – it’s a powerful instrument that breaks down walls and impacts the soul.

We have started to make a recording studio on the 2nd floor!  More details soon, but a huge thanks to Peter Blosser from our home church in Texas – he not only served to help set things up with Collins, but bought and donated a lot of stuff… humbled and excited to see this progress!   We do currently need to purchase (as our next step) sound absorption for the walls and some other technical sound proofing things – it will cost $500 if anyone out there would like to contribute and keep this moving!    Collins will be working over the next few weeks getting things setup and functional – so cool he’s hear to progress things and has a passion for this.

Tinted Windows

Lastly, this week reminded me in fresh ways that we currently see God, but through ‘a glass dimly’ (1 Cor 13:12).  One day, we’ll bust through that reflection and enter eternity where everything will be in HD living color.  Until then, God hasn’t left us in the dark.  When we pray, hang out with friends we love, or think upon the treasures of the Gospel, we see reflections ‘beyond’ the glass.   We are sojourners, in a cold broken world, who are coming upon a house.  We see smoke coming out of the chimney, we hear some muffled music, laughter, and see some opaque shapes moving inside the rooms.  We know there is life there, we know it’s warm, and we’re meant to go inside.  We can’t wait, our hearts leap for thought of finally arriving ‘home’.  God could have left us in the dark, with a road map and pat on the back.  He’s given us His Holy Spirit, who encourages us to keep walking, and fills us with hope in believing – I’m thankful for that tinted window and real tastes and ‘evidence of things hoped for’ here and now!   (if you need some encouragement, please download the song ‘through the glass’ by Justin Jarvis on iTunes, grab a pillow, lay on the floor, turn out the lights, and give it a listen).

Friends & Partners

We had a lot of help this week.  From Shane and Jem both cooking some meals, translating and serving in classes, to Jon Valentine from NYC who became an important Taxi driver for us, to a surprise guest of Collin’s (Dennis) who loved on several kids including the ones Friday night that came upstairs (and translated for me, the guy has Ukrainian parents!).  We also had a friend from Kiev come down, Perez from Nigeria and help translate.  Natasha made some great Borsch and Kolya helped organize some important things for the team like our evening dinners.

I am so proud of our Lighthouse Cafe team.  We had the busiest week EVER for the Cafe with our team and another team in town.  The Cafe was tested beyond it’s previous limits and served incredibly.  Alyosha, Natasha, Sveta (Lana), and three student helpers were amazing Yana, Sasha and Nazar.   You guys rocked!  God did many things in their hearts too as they witnessed evenings of Christian concerts and flurry of activity around them.

I am a husband to an amazing woman.  Somehow our kids remained fed and clothed this past week.  Deb was able to come to every evening.  I love her relaxed spirit, and ability to make others around her comfortable.   Kids, love your mama.

For those of you that have known us, it may seem surprising that we now encourage short term ‘mission trips’.  We’ve struggled for many years (well before moving to Ukraine!) to know how to really utilize incoming foreigners and even questioned their validity in the disciple making mandate.   We now see, at least from our own context, the powerful Kingdom punch expressed in Kingdom integration – focused on relationship building, love and prayer.   God uses unique people to reach unique people.  I love being surprised by testimonies of God using folks in all sorts of unique ways during the week!

The gospel is to be embodied in all of our cultural shapes and sizes.  True humility (not judging others), with the love of God is our weapon.  Everyone can love, everyone can care.   It’s the universal language – meeting the universal need.   When believers gather from different cultures and background, with the common purpose to care – it’s much less important ‘what’ is done.  We are thankful that we can both love with our incoming teams AND provide legitimate opportunities in particular for students.  I believe the Kingdom was encouraged, and God’s work advanced this week in the hearts of His saints, and those hearts preparing to receive His grace.

As the days unfold, we’re believing God to lead us to the hearts that have been most touched and follow up with opportunities for fellowship and growing in God.  I’ve already been in touch with a few, and been in prayer with some folks over the seeds sown.  Pray with us!

We’re anticipating a video from the Texas team sometime in the near future.  We’ll post it for archives.

Thank you for your support and prayer – now to look at tickets for Vladivostok in two weeks!

Bruce & Deb

Vik, Yan, Ana, Andrei, and Natsha – amazing talent and humble hearts!

What does it look like when you pioneer?  Over the past couple of years, Deb and I have embraced our calling to instigate change.  Part of that calling involves resting in God’s power – He engineers movements ultimately, and does the heavy lifting.

This week we’ve been so thankful for the team of students from Texas, and friends from Minsk.  We’ve also had various additions hop along during the week – a pastors son from Kiev, a friend of Collins from Harrisburg, even a old friend from New York City.

The Kingdom of God is so dynamic.  It breathes, ebbs and flows.  It’s been refreshing to approach each day with a sense of wonder – “I wonder what today will bring!” and “I wonder what we should do, concert or worship”..  I’m learning to lean on others for discernment, and stay alert to dead patterns creeping in.  For the pioneer, routine is a dangerous thing 🙂

The cafe has been packed with all sorts of people each night.  Last night was really unique – we hosted a concert + worship combo, lifting up Christ in song but ultimately enjoying creative styles and personalities in our group.  The Ukrainians really liked it, and we’re praying more come tonight.

The cafe is a buzz right now with music, vacuums, classes getting ready, and my friend Peter from Crossroads working on the beginnings of our new recording studio!  God is moving, He’s awakening hearts – He’s a wonder to behold!  God bring grace, healing and love – play your people before a watching world – in this little town – we are your instruments.

Bruce & Deb

Today the director of the 28th Technical College, just up the street from the Cafe, informed me that the school is temporarily closing due to its inability to pay for Electricity. This represents around 300 young people in our town, as well as teachers and workers.

We have a small core of young people form this college that come every week to Club 180, and we’ve been investing in. They are really excited about the team coming next week, and we’re just starting to see real traction in this particular school – the directors are very willing and open to just about anything we want to do.

As of this week, the students will be placed on 2 weeks ‘holidays’ as the school attempts to find $2,500US – which is close to an impossibility in our local economy. The local city is now responsible for funding the schools, and this particular school (which focuses on farming, mechanics and cooking) is at the lowest end of the totem pole. The federal government is broke, the local economies are broke, and now the students are going to feel it. Most of the students actually live in remote villages, and come in to our town for college during the week.

As I’ve mentioned before, these students are actually 10-12th grade age (in the US/Canada). They leave their homes and live in old soviet style dorms at the age of 15yrs!

While this unfortunate turn of events impacts our ability to reach these particular students next week for our “Awaken’ week, the larger area of concern is the trickle down effect on all the students, families, and workers. Is this an opportunity for us? Could we leverage our strong US dollar (currently 27:1), for the Gospels influence?

Here’s my point – and I lay this out to all our readers for prayer.

$2,500 provides enough electricity to keep the school open thru the end of the Spring semester. That’s 8-9 more weeks of school. The Ukrainian economy has, and continuing to tank, hard. The Ukrainian currency has lost over 320% of it’s value in the past 2yrs. The sanctions intended for Russia (which has lost only 200% in comparison) have decimated Ukraine as well. The war continues to provide the instability which investors run from. So many out of work, and so many working for increasingly less.   Imagine your family trying to live on $150 per month, that’s the reality here.

If the Lord provided us with $2,500, I am praying about the impact we could have keeping this school open – the healthy leverage this gives us to continue working in, and increasingly influencing students (and teachers) for God. There was a time, in the not too distant past, when these same schools were under the strict control of communism, and the thought of sharing the Great News of Jesus Christ in any form, was an impossibility. Now, we enjoy relationships with the leaders, the leaders of the schools have open hearts and want to see this next generation rise up above the standards they inherited.

This is a small community, and we treat financial contributions very seriously. We do not randomly hand out money, we understand the need to contextualize and think long term. We can’t fix Ukraine’s issues with money – nor can we sustain the schools forever. However, we can use money to secure gospel influence perhaps for an extended time, by caring and giving to very real needs in our community – the kind of needs that shout Jesus cares, that we’re not just trying to built organizations, we want to see this next generation follow God and willing to invest in their education as part of that.

So – if you would pray with us about it that would be amazing. If you would like to contribute towards it – I would ask you first contact me. I don’t want to create a campaign or publicly state we are going to help. I simply cast out this opportunity like a net – and if someone has the capacity to give and feels the impulse of the Lord – to let me know!

Either way we are super blessed in these schools. All three have opened their doors for concerts next week where we can share in song and testimony with the incoming team. We had a really cool evening last night with our 180 kids. They were working, cleaning, registering students for next week – it warmed the heart! However, there are so many more, I believe potentially 100’s that will respond to the Gospel if they are given opportunity to really hear and understand it. The challenge is creating avenues for that understanding and conviction to take place. Perhaps by investing/blessing this particular college it could provide us the kind of avenue where God could work in greater capacity?

Thank you for listening, praying and believing with us!
Bruce

Если ты живёшь в Украине, тогда мы приглашаем тебя на потрясающее время Поклонения к нам в кафе Lighthouse, где мы будем проводить 6 Вечеров Поклонения, начиная с этого Воскресенья, с 6 по 11 Марта, в 18:00. Мы будем приглашать талантливых музыкантов из Белоруссии и США – более 20 иностранцев в нашем городе ради этого мероприятия! У нас также будет живая музыка на главном этаже кафе, каждый вечер. Приводите с собой молодежную группу, друзей из церкви. Это будет невероятная неделя, ты просто обязан прийти!

If you live in Ukraine, we invite you to an amazing Worship experience. Join us at Lighthouse Cafe as we host 6 Nights of Worship starting this Sunday, March 6-11 @ 18:00. We will be hosting talented musicians from Belarus and US – over 20 foreigners in our town for this event! We will also have live acoustic music on the main floor for all customers each evening March 6-12. Bring your youth group, church friends. It’s going to be an amazing week you don’t want to miss! No childcare provided.