We all quickly huddle, give thanks to God and join for a family THANK YOU!

I just asked Noah if he’d like to say anything to the people that have been praying for him.  He thought about it, then said, ‘No, I don’t think so.”  He may not understand what he’s just gone through the past 3 days, but his Mom and Dad do, thank you!

We just returned from Kiev a few minutes ago.  It was a long final day in Kiev trying to get ‘loose’ (quite literally from the IV!) from the hospital.  In my first post, I was very nervous about quality of care we were potentially entering into and on some levels it was worse than we thought, but in areas that matter most (Noah’s head!) we were very thankful for the two doctors charged with his care.

Noah is enjoying his first full day without throwing up, which means the nausea is decreasing.  He has a special diet for the next few weeks which consists of basically no sugar, and no meat to help with an infection in his pancreas.  Beyond that, he simply needs to be careful not to jump around or bang his head (a feat that will certainly be another miracle if you know Noah).  We’re in the middle of quarantining him off a section of the living room for the next few days, as well as masking our kids who currently have the flu.

We will go back on Monday for a checkup, and if his fever returns, or he can’t keep fluids/food down, we have to immediately return.  Pray we have a restful few days until Monday, our family really could use it!  Our other kids aren’t doing so hot either, a coupld of them are recovering from the flu and we’re praying it doesn’t spread, especially to Noah!

We are so thankful for:

– The Gollans, who quickly stepped in and took total care of our kids (and Cheryl!)
– The nurses and doctors at the Children’s hospital who work in terribly underfunded conditions, over worked, and yet serve with what can only be described as a special calling, a ‘ministry of mercy’ every day to banged up new borns and children of all ages.
– Friends and family that encouraged us and prayed us through.  What a testimony to the ‘social’ world around us as believers from many continents jumped in and saw God save and sustain our little boy.
– God the Father, merciful to us.  Thank You for ultimately salvation, we trust You with our souls in this life and the next!

Sincerely,

Bruce & Deb (and Noah!)

4yr old Noah, will learn to stay in his seat now.

Today our youngest boy Noah fell out of the van while Deb was driving. He has fractured the back part of his skull, a 3-4 inch break and a ton of swelling. He is stable, there have been no serious side effects that the doctors were concerned about, and is now sleeping the night at the hospital in Kiev.

Our van has a middle isle, all the way to the back hatch door. Deb was pulling out of Mega Market with the rest of the kids in Kiev, and onto a highway of traffic when Noah got out of his seat, somehow managed to push the door open, out he tumbled. Thank God the traffic saw him, and quickly came to a stop. Thank God Deb was not up to full speed. He suffered some bruising on his hip, bum and elbow, I think the way he fell really helped him absorb a potentially life threatening injury to the head.

Deb called immediately, I was at home an hr away, and we decided to get him to the closest private ER (you don’t want public Ukrainian hospitals if you can help it!). As I raced to Kiev, Deb, with a van full of kids and groceries raced to hospital where they did a MRI, as well as other test. He was aware, and could move all body parts thankfully, but obvious trauma to the head. They were most concerned about bleeding in the brain and other side effects of this type of trauma.

Because they didn’t have a children’s ward in this hospital, they informed us they were needing to take him to the closest hospital that could handle neurology. This sounded ok at first, but then as Deb and Noah were wisked away in an ambulance, the thought occurred to me.. “is this a Ukrainian hospital or private hospital?” Too late, he was taken to a Ukrainian hospital, a run down, what would be to most foreigners abandoned building. It took me an hour to find it, and was only 10km away from the first hospital. I called my friend Andrei who met us at the hospital after I put 5 of our other kids on a bus back to RZ. Together we grilled the nurses and generally agreed the best thing for Noah was to rest, get some of the logical meds in his system for swelling and pain relief, and do another MRI (in the basement of this complex they actually did have one). The 2nd MRI was great news, nothing was getting worse, everything is going to be OK.

That’s where we are now, Deb is sleeping next to him, on a single cot sized bed. The hospital is full so they are sharing a room with two other patience, one new born and a young girl that looks like she’s been punched in both eyes. These are primitive conditions for a westerner, but we believe Noah is getting the rest he needs, and in the morning the doctors will have the lab results back from the many blood tests (poor little guy was brave!). We’re hopeful and praying we can bring him home tomorrow if everything is stable, and all he needs it rest.. we can give him (and his pregnant mother) that more here than in that crazy place! I’ve come home to get some clothes for Noah, he threw up all over his, and some breakfast for Deb, heading back in a few hrs after some sleep (it’s 1am here).

The struggle, which we ask you to pray with us about, is getting released from these public Ukrainian hospitals. We obviously want what is best for Noah, but if the swelling goes down, and there is no infection, he should be able to come home and rest. There’s a real feeling that when you are in these hospitals, you are in a prison, and just being in there for a few hrs was giving me claustrophobia. There’s literally 2-3 staff for entire dark dungy floors, unless it’s very serious, you just want to get out into the fresh air.

Pray for:
-Noah’s recovery, swelling to go down, everything to stay on the outside of his skull.
-Deb, she has some health issues too, been sick with this baby, she needs rest tonight.
-Wisdom for us to do the right thing tomorrow.

Thank you for praying with us, we thank God this day has ended so well.

Bruce & Deb

This photo update is for John Wilson! I finished painting the bathrooms today, and the guys are preparing to install the new glass doors that should arrive soon. It’s really starting to come together. We gathered to pray together this morning at 6:30am, and plan to make this a regular Friday morning time for anyone that wishes to join us.  It would be great to see more Ukrainians coming, although I know it’s hard when they don’t have cars, and have to get to work by 7:30-8:00am.   That would be 11:30pm for you Texans (i think!) Thursday night.

Praying specifically for the returning students, those that have started to take steps for Christ, and those will hear the gospel for the first time potentially this fall. God give us Your heart, and the joy of seeing your Kingdom advance in our little part of the world. We’ve pulled together over $1000 as a church towards some first time student ‘welcome’ packets, which should be handout in the next 2 weeks and tells them about different events we will host.

Great to have the Susidko’s back.  We’re opening our basement/apartment to someone in our church this week, she’s having a hard time finding a place to live.

Deb’s birthday is tomorrow, we are planning a ‘queen day’ as  a family and she has outlined her ‘perfect’ day for us to execute.

Noah is talking up a storm these days. It’s like he went from not talking at all (intelligibly) to full conversations without any warning, it’s very cute.

Sincerely,
Bruce & Deb
Rzhyschiv, Ukraine

Deb explains the process and the kids look in wonder...

As Ukraine celebrates 20yrs of Independence, our little town of Rzhyshchiv does it’s own little party downtown.  We just returned from it.  It seems to be getting just a little bit bigger every year, one more ‘vendor’, an extra thing for the kids, and this year they actually had… COTTON CANDY!   It’s always nice to see neighbors, business and city government friends in this context, people are much more relaxed.. it’s still seems as though Ukrainians are learning how to relax in public, with their history, and current political climate, you can’t blame them for that.

I’d like for us to have a presence downtown at these type of events, not sure exactly ‘what’, but there’s opportunity to become a more visible, caring and involved ‘people’.  For now, we go down, help the vendors by parting with some cash, and the kids love it!

Brothers in arms. Getting ready to go on the bouncy slide.

Our local Orthodox Priest arrives at the festival, he gets front row center.

Traditional Ukrainian dress and vocals entertain to get things started.

This is Shane & Jemimah. Shane is working with me on the Cafe side of the business, and Jemimah tutors Brent and Tucker.. she's also Dan's sister (but don't hold it against her!).

Mosquitos started coming out after this picture, and we headed home, a whole 2 minutes away:) The other day I had a policeman ask me if I was struggling with the current 'economic crisis' here in Ukraine.. I didn't know what he meant, then he pointed to these jeans... to have a purposeful hole in your pants really doesn't make sense, does it?