1. A beautiful bride and her absent minded groom searching for a hotel in Kiev on their wedding night.

2. Filming a wedding and realizing you vastly under estimated the size of HD footage (during the ceremony).

3. Precious kids taken from their parent(s), running to our van with excitement. How love translates perfectly into any language and culture. (I’m teaching one to shoot a pellet gun above)

Charlie, 7 months and thirsty.

4. A St. Bernard that gallops to the van, finds a seat, and sits upright in it trying to blend in.

5. Singing Russian hymns and occasionally in sync with those around me. Russian Hymn Singing from this morning

6. Trying once more to cook a steak in Ukraine that requires less than 100 chews per bite.  Better luck next time.

7. Carrying sleepy kids to bed.  Hard not to smile when their faces are painted from a hard nights play.

8. Impromptu playing of Amazing Grace before a crowd and finally figuring it out on the last stanza.

Deb with her two pals Priscilla and Cheryl.

9. Realizing fall is truly here in all its wondrous display.  We live next to a forest, we wish it would last.

10. The glitter of my baby girls eyes and her single little bottom tooth.

Our precious Abbey held by Luda who takes her hostage regularly 🙂

These are a few things from our weekend.  What things stand out from yours? Lord help us remember to give you thanks in all the businesses and urgency of the moment.  You sit securely on your throne, you execute justice for all that call on your name. You gift us with life, in all it’s oddity and adornment.

Remembering you as we head into a new week.  The final rest before the rush of activity a new week brings.  We all have many thoughts.  We think about life, our own lives and all that is precious to us.  We think about work, unresolved problems, and relationships not quite right.  We humans experience many things, but think even more.  Yet, your thoughts are no less numerous, or meaningful towards us.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! – Psalm 139:17

Vast the sum, precious the quality.  I’ll make that my final thought for the weekend!

Bruce & Deb

Babushka Vera - Her name means 'faith', and she lives up to it.

It’s getting chilly ’round here!  With that in mind, went to visit our dear little Babushka Vera today with Tom.  Her nephew from 3hrs north is supposed to come and pick her up sometime this month before the harsh winter months set in.  Her 120yr old house is not equipped for winters anymore, let alone a hobbling old grandma.

We found her joyful, thankful, layered in clothing and a traditional scarf.  Her eyes still glisten with this youthful sparkle.  We tried to coax her to pack up and move in with us while she waits for her family to come down.  I mean it’s really cold out at night folks!  She is content to brave the 30-40F nights we’ve had lately, many blankets and a winter coat hang over her bed.  She’s a warrior in many respects.

Our spiritually minded Babushka is teaching me something every time I visit her.  Some of the classes include:

Contentment 101- As we sat in her dirty, cluttered and chilly 3 room house, she reminded us that the Bible warns against complaining like the Israelites.   She can barely walk with a walker, and her outhouse is 50ft from her outside door.  Her well is even further.

Hope 101- She sings to us hymns spontaneously about the hope in Jesus, the glory that awaits her.  Her eyes are on the prize, not her earthly situation.

Gratitude 101- Not just for the little bits of food we might bring, or the short and difficult conversations we’ve had.  She sees God’s goodness in it all, she praises God verbally mid conversation for the ways He takes care of her and shows her He’s present.  She cares more about God’s confirming love than the blessings themselves.

Stubbornness 101- I told her she was stubborn today.  She chuckled and brought it up a few times.  It was meant in part as a compliment.  She refuses to keep her house warm which isn’t reasonable, I told her she’s not in heaven yet and until she goes there, God would like to keep her warm!  She does however refuse to be pandered to, she knows her place in the Kingdom, and I respect that.  She’s going to finish this life on her terms – you go girl!

So we’ll keep taking her some food, smiling, hugging and praying for dear Babushka Vera.  If the family doesn’t come and get her soon though, I told her I will physically pick her up and take her to our home.

As I type this I’m thinking about my warm house, the things I take for granted.  Running water, electricity, the comforts of life that only a few centuries ago weren’t considered a ‘right’.  We don’t like to think about some of these things.  We like our comforts, we see them as blessings and granted, they are pretty incredible!  Somehow though I think for many of us those blessings are entanglements, drowning us in a sea of self absorption.  We would do well to loosen some of the loads of this life, get back to basics and press into Jesus like it’s our own final hour – it may just be.

Bruce & Deborah Crowe
Missionaries | Rzhyshchiv, Ukraine

A big shout out to everyone that gave and prayed for the Cafe this past month. We raised $3,750 towards the tables and chairs, and another $2,000 from our home church Crossroads towards the Kitchen to finish up remaining materials to open. Received gifts from friends, family from US and Canada, even a farmer friend from western Ukraine we’ve not yet met!

We’re still working with the local bank to receive the funds, but are extremely excited to go to Kiev and start shopping!

We’ll be taking pictures and showing you all what your generosity produces. This cafe is going to be a beach head for ministry in our town, particularly among the 1000’s of students that flood our town each year – for many years to come! We’re very excited about what God is doing in two of the technicums, providing favor and open hearts.

This past Wednesday we had our first bible study at the Cafe for those wanting to take ‘the next step’ with Christ. Two students came, both from the paintball weekend. It was a privilege to give one of them their first bible, and take them through some passages on sin, forgiveness, and grace. Our hearts are envisioning dozens, if not hundreds of students taking the same step towards God, and this building being a place not only of great fellowship, coffee and pizza for the town, but of discipleship of young men and women.

First things first for us, keep pressing into Russian.

Please continue to pray with us for the remaining documents necessary to open a registered business in our town, as well as the students meeting Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights. Also pray for Deb this weekend as she hosts the second Wives meeting, we want to see more unbelievers, or I should say at least one!

Bruce

What a busy week and weekend! We hosted a student retreat (paintball!) west of Kiev in a small town called Bucha. 13 students from our 14th Technicum, most of which were brand new faces, at least to me. I’ve made a quick video of the weekend if you have 5 minutes. The main purpose of the weekend was evangelistic – please pray for these students! We are meeting tonight at the Cafe for any of them that want to take the ‘next step’ with God, I have no idea if any will come, but I believe God is working on many of their hearts and I’m praying for at least one!

Clear as mud.

Speaking of students, last night Shane and Jemimah were pleased to find that over 60 students attended only the second weekly ‘youth group’ at the other school in town. This was the one that we were praying to get into, and met with one of the directors a few weeks ago. The larger auditorium has now been granted, the room that I’ve personally been praying and envisioning there for a few years being packed with students hungry for purpose and direction in their life.

Whenever there are numbers and potentially lives changed for Christ, there’s bound to be some controversy and opposition both in seen and unseen world. Please pray for wisdom, patience, endurance, favor, and the Spirit of God to super-cede the humble human efforts. We need God to move in these schools beyond numbers, with lives changed, sin forgiven and walking in the power of God.

“…and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Paul’s prayer to the Ephesian church, on my heart.   God doesn’t want people to simply give mental ascent to a series of truths.  He wants a knowledge of His love that surpasses human intellect.  To experience the love of God personally is to be forever changed

I think it's funny Nike promoting both Tebow and Football where neither would be recognized.

Ok, I promised myself I wouldn’t start preaching and end up with a novel here. God is definitely stirring a hunger for an AWAKENING in this generation. I’ve been listening again to older sermons, reading things that inspire radical change for Christ in our day.

That will be for another day however, here’s a few quick updates in bullet format!

• We are picking up the $ for the tables/chairs and kitchen equipment today at the bank!!  Thank you all that have given, pictures coming soon as we plan to purchase things in the next two weeks.
• Kids are all doing well at school.  Noah started kindergarten this week and is liking it so far but sad he hasn’t been able to play outside yet (weather).
• Deb has her 2nd Wives Meeting scheduled this weekend, please pray that some unbelievers will choose to come out – we really want to connect more with the community outside of the church.
• Russian is going really well again, 4hrs of lessons yesterday in Kiev with Bron and Rodge.  Deb unfortunately couldn’t come, we really would love a solution that would include her and us not having to drive to Kiev often.  Pressing into the language though and feel God’s pleasure in it.   The drive to share God’s truth with people is a motivating factor this time, whereas before I personally was pretty consumed with Texas work all the time, problems, projects etc..
• Work in Texas is going really well again.  While we’re not blowing the doors off financially speaking, we’re back on our feet after a really rough summer, and the team assembled is really a blessing from God.
• Little Abbey is our family sweetie pie, what a joy.

Stay strong, remembering your strength is in the Lord!

Bruce & Deb Crowe
Missionaries | Rzhyshchiv, Ukraine