Thankful for donations received that allowed us to purchase new speakers and some audio gear for upcoming worship/prayer nights.  This is Sasha (below), we’ve known each other for almost 7 yrs.  He started work at this downtown Kiev music shop the year our family moved to Ukraine.  He and his buddy are planning to visit the Cafe when the team comes to experience the music and taste the best Coffee in Ukraine!

We actually had a bonafide Italian seasoned coffee drinker sample our Espresso this week and said, ‘honestly, this is the best coffee I’ve tasted in Ukraine’.. she’s lived here for +20yrs!  She said we need to get on some sort of ‘taste trail’ list, I guess there are many affluent Kiev folks that travel extensively seeking fine brews.  It was an encouragement for our team to hear!

Anyway, here’s our main room upstairs coming together.  It will seat (when finished) around 35-40.  If we have more than that we’ll consider moving to downtown venue but I think it will be great for first few weeks, more intimate worship and prayer for whoever wants to join – the next few weeks going to be meeting with area church leaders and encouraging anyone that wants to come to any of the evenings.  I know the team in US is praying specifically to encourage the body of Christ, promote unity and for refreshing.

Pray with us the Lord would continue directing, giving wisdom where lacking, and that this would be a spiritual breakthrough in many hearts.

Are you experiencing and enjoying the genuine gospel (good news)?

Paul warns the Galations that they’ve ‘turned away’ from the true gospel.  He writes that they’ve actually perverted it.  Scary stuff!

What was at the heart of their departure?  In short, believers were abandoning grace and exchanging it for human achievement through obedience to the Law.

Paul reminded the Gentile and Jewish converts that to be justified before God was impossible through mere human obedience.  He asserts that if it was possible to obey ‘enough’ to merit God’s favor, Christ death was in vain.

The gospel is only good news when we understand what bad shape we were in outside of God’s extended grace through His Son.  He has condemned all of humanity as guilty and unable to ‘fix’ their woes through levels of morality.  Grace is offered through Jesus Christ for ALL that embrace this reality and trust in Him alone.  Jesus plus nothing = everything.  He resists those that rely on the strength of their flesh.

To attempt to climb our way back to God, or even keep ourselves in good standing with God by human effort leads us back to death and the prison from which we started.  The Christian life begins, continues and end through faith in Christ alone, by the means of His grace alone.   No works, no boasting.

Through the Law, I am dead to the Law the Apostle tells us.  Think about that for a minute. The Law is like a brilliant trial lawyer who’s never come close to losing a case.  The Law quickly and easily defeats us, all have sinned, broken the commandments and are left for the obvious verdict.  

The commandments brought the knowledge of sin and with it, death.  Our death.  We not only were killed ‘by’ the Law, we now are dead “to” it – through Christ’s atonement, we’ve been brought back to life.  This new life is not like the old.  It’s not a laundry list of do’s and don’ts, but a new life of faith in the Son, resting in His completed and perfect Righteousness.

Scriptures calls this the “new and better way”, the new covenant, sealed with the blood of Christ, offered without merit of our own and attained through faith in the sufficient Son of God – Jesus Christ!

This is the gospel! Paul says we died with Him, and now live with Him.  We’ve escaped condemnation through the Law – those the Son sets free, are free indeed!

The life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith Paul says, faith in the Son who love us and gave Himself up for us! Galations 2:20

Do not frustrate the grace of God by leaning on your flesh.  It will take you back to prison and lead to death.  This was the warning 2000 years ago, and should echo in our hearts and church gatherings.  Focus on Christ first, not human effort.  Oh how easy it is to console ourselves by our efforts and motivations, as if they make us acceptable before the Creator God.  Flee this ‘other gospel!’

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, let’s rest in His finished work and let no man or demon of hell sway us from  greatest news on earth – The Gospel!

Bruce

During our US/Canada Trip, the Lord connected our family to some new churches and friends.  One such “God connection” was in Pennsylvania, where we were introduced to the YWAM team in Harrisburg which was just about to begin their 3 month classroom study.

For those of you not familiar with YWAM (Youth With a Mission), they are a interdenominational missions organization that focuses on short term discipleship and exposure to foreign missions through a variety of means. They are ministering in 180 countries, and train over +20k (mostly young adults) per year.

One of the appealing things about YWAM to us as a partner is that they are not a denomination, nor a controlling organization, which allows for a wide variety of ‘focus’, depending on the vision of the leadership. Although every DTS (Discipleship Training School) covers some standard basic Christian doctrine, the exact focus of the team will vary from school to school. For example, some will focus on advancing the Kingdom of God through business, sports, medicine or education. When the DTS classroom portion is finished, the team collectively goes on a 2-3 month outreach as part of continued training and evangelism.

Some of the team coming to serve this spring!

The team in Harrisburg is focused on Worship & Intercession.  You can read about their focus here – http://fireandfragrance.com/vision/

They are worship leaders, song writers, singers and generally creative arts focused. This obviously peaked my interest as this past year I’ve been praying specifically for the next steps on the 2nd floor of the Cafe – and beyond. I’ve had a renewed desire to move back into creative ministry – particularly music, but also a ‘production’ for evangelism that I can’t shake. My increasing desire for the past 2yrs is to see more expedited discipleship with a focus on creative arts. At times it’s all I think about- more than the actual Cafe.

For the past season the Lord has encouraged me with this verse:

‘..for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.’  Phil 2:13

I love this verse.

We don’t originate ‘good’ or ‘god’ dreams or desires on our own.  We tap into them, if they are legitimate, through the Spirit of God.

We are by nature self focused, planning and executing decisions in general for our own well being and happiness. God enters the picture with His love and mercy, reveals our sin, changes our hearts and fills us with His desires. Our very motivations and mission for life alters when the love of the Father enters us.

It doesn’t stop there though… He not only fills us with the ‘will’ or desire, but the strength to ‘work’ towards His heart. He provides the spiritual and natural resources to accomplish HIS work. We can take comfort in knowing that if God is at work, He will provide.

Basically, the encouragement is that we are not alone, though it may, at times, feel as if we are. We are co-laborers with Christ – it’s His harvest, and He goes with us. The battle is His, the souls are His, we are His. What a relief! You, too, may have some crazy ideas and feel like Noah building an arc – it’s good to know we aren’t alone.

We have had a dream in our hearts to see the nations impacted for Christ, and ‘see’ a gathering of young men and women, from inside and outside of Ukraine gathering to learn more of Christ, and trained for more effective life and ministry in the world.

This isn’t my exclusive dream, it’s the dream of God. If you are filled with the Spirit of God you have a measure of this dream in your heart too. I think He gives us all bits and pieces and divinely orchestrates us together. Ultimately it’s His plan to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord – like the waters cover the sea.

So back to YWAM. Through a series of events, God put it on the teams heart to change their original outreach plans to join us in Ukraine! This was not something I pursued or even asked about, and it came together in such a way that we all believe God is going to do something great. A team of 9 adults along with 4 small children will be joining us for 2 months, from April 15 – June 15!

We were able to swing by and individually meet each member of the DTS on our way back to Canada a few weeks ago. We are excited about what God is going to do obviously, and also anxious to get preparing in a number of ways to maximize their particular gifts for the Lord.

So what will they be doing?

We will be breaking their time into two phases (1st month, 2nd month).

Phase one will be focused locally/regionally as we host evening concerts, times of prayer/worship, courses on song writing, instrument classes. We’ll use the Cafe and be renovating the second floor to better suit these outreaches in the next few weeks. The Lord provided financially specifically for the needs upstairs – that’s another story:)  We’ll be inviting friends from Kiev and area churches to participate in singing, playing instruments, or just gathering to be encouraged.

Phase two will be praying for a few opportunities outside of our area. We’re discussing working with YWAM in Kiev for some outreach events, as well as some Christian camps taking place where the team could come and minister, as well as experience more of Ukraine. Ultimately, our town will be home base for most of the team’s time in Ukraine – so we’ll have some housing, meal and transportation needs to get working on.

We believe the Lord has joined us to this team. We love their hearts and they feel a connection to our family. We believe God wants to awaken hearts to His presence, His reality, His love – and we are going to create an atmosphere of continual praise, prayer on the 2nd floor of the Cafe and do our best to listen to His voice for the rest. We believe God will draw hearts that are searching, and encourage those that already know Him that He is alive and has not forgotten them.

We return to Ukraine refreshed and energized.  Life has a way of getting us lulled to sleep in its rhythms, doesn’t it? Please pray that He continues to fill – we do also sense a tension, a spiritual ‘something’ that is also at work, and we know as believers there is no such thing as a spiritual vacuum.  I think of the quote:

“There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan” – CS Lewis

Obviously, with all that is happening in Ukraine right now, many are hurting, anxious and even fearful.  Christ is the answer, ultimately. We pray this team, along with everyone the Lord draws to serve with us this spring/summer, will  help to spark a greater awakening to His reality, and the spiritual battle taking place every day.  May His church grow in passion and number.

Bruce & Deborah

Arrived safely yesterday.  Kids and baby did wonderfully well on flights.  If only they made personal bassinets for us adults to sleep in!

The weather here feels like early spring, not a spot of snow to be seen. A stark contrast from the Canadian winter wonderland we left, but we’ll take it!

It’s always neat to see the kids reaction to ‘returning home’.  Overall the attitudes have been very positive, particularly among the little ones.  Noah had undressed and dressed into 5 different superhero costumes within the first hour.   We had immediate guests and neighbors visit to help us stay awake just a little longer.

While away we had Shane and Jemimah Paxa taking care of our place and also helping manage the Cafe.   Thankful for folks we can entrust – allowing us to not worry about stuff while away.

Today is Tucker’s 12th birthday.  We will attempt to find the ingredients to make a cake.

This morning Claire decided to say ‘dada’ for about 5 minutes straight.

Praying for a quick adjustment to time change, and for some wisdom in a few areas of ministry/business.  The dollar value/ratio has really taken a beating the past few weeks and months – our Cafe prices must change immediately, and will be felt unfortunately but this is the economy we must move with.

Lord guide us and grant grace needed to follow your leading – and with your heart in ours!

Thank you for all those who’ve prayed for our safety and journey over the past two months.  We so enjoyed connecting with everyone – our family was encouraged, refreshed and energized for what our God wants to do through our lives and in this area of the world.  Our kids saw the Kingdom of God, the varieties of fellowship, communities, worship – they saw God is as work, and filling His people with passion for Him and those around us.  Invaluable!

Connecting again soon with more on the group coming to minister in April, and specific areas to pray with us about!

Bruce & Deb