A heartfelt thanks to our support team that has been praying along with us these past 2 weeks.  We are excited to share some significant news for our family and ministry.

To illustrate the similarities in our DNA, the Charity logo will be updated and merge with Lighthouse. Enjoying re-branding efforts with Jan Brunk, the co-founder of MIR.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be assuming the position of International Director of MIR (pronounced ‘Meer’) Ministries, a US based Christian Charity that was formed +20yrs ago by the founders of Christ for the Nations, Belarus.

The mission of the charity is to expand the Kingdom of God within the Russian speaking world, which is exactly in line with our mission and heart.  The charity owns central Minsk property and currently funds the Bible School staff and provides space for several ministries including the church and weekly youth events.

Photo from ‘6pm’ youth gathering in Minsk, Belarus.  This is the property where the Bible School/Church meet and we will help manage.

We’ve been praying for God to connect us with more of His Kingdom, to work alongside those with the same vision in this part of the world.  God has been so gracious in answering this cry.  He hears prayer!

It’s also pretty cool for our family to be the answer to prayer for others seeking vision and leadership that by God’s grace we can provide.

Last week Deb and I flew to Seattle to meet with the founding family, Minsk directors, and supporters. This was the first time we had met them in person after a series of Skype calls and correspondence. Actually, I had met the Brunk family in passing over 20yrs ago during a short term missions trip to Minsk.  Their family made an impression on me then, and their sacrifice still encourages us in our similar journey of faith.

We were there for only 3 days, leaving the kids back in Ukraine with my parents who arrived the day before we left.  We had several long, fruitful meetings, as well as prayer together.  They totally spoiled us, and they fell in love with Deb.. go figure!

Last weekend worship and prayer, almost all young people from surrounding villages.  We want to see more worship gatherings in more places across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

This is a big step for all involved.  So many have given sacrificially with this network of friends and families.  In the coming weeks and months we’ll be sharing more.  I wanted to at least let everyone know our trajectory and the peace that is surrounding us collectively that God is orchestrating.

There’s still many logistical hurdles for our family and the ministry in Minsk over the coming few months – we ask you to pray for us!

We will need greater measure of wisdom and insight, and favor as we deal with a much more strict government in terms of religious liberties.

Claire trying to sneak in our suitcase before we left. She’s short enough.

We will have to consider next steps for social media, our blog, videos – Ukraine is so very free, we have no fear expressing our faith and being embraced by the community here.  As we step across borders, this landscape changes and how we communicate with the west will change at some level.

So, allow me to list a few bullet points for prayer, things we are working towards:

• I will be attempting to get long term, multi-entry visas for our family in Belarus.  We need some miracles.
• We are planning to return to the US/Canada in May or June and travel around to supporting churches for a few weekends.  If you are open to hosting our crew, or would like us to share at your church, let us know!
• We believe God wants us to be ‘in’ Minsk for 3-4 months this year, how that works out, we don’t know.  Ukraine, and our home here will remain home-base for now.
• We’ll be improving the way supporters can give, it will much easier and via the MIR Charity so everyone can receive end of year tax receipts.  We’re also working on Canadian tax deductible option.

Think about Ukraine tonight.  700km south of us in the town of Avdiivka, just north of the devastated city of Donetsk , several soldiers have been killed and many more injured as potential city-wide evacuations could be immanent as things escalate.  We wonder about the timing of this outbreak. You can read more about it click here.

Tomorrow we are hosting a Pizza Day for college students.  We’ve posted on line ‘free pizza from 4-6p’ – no idea how many will come, but I suspect it will be quite a few!  We’ll be inviting them to our music club and Wednesday nights.

Just heard from Bronwyn, our adventurous soon to be 18yr old daughter.  She’s finished in Kenya, and now back in Ethiopia for her final 3 weeks.  She’ll be returning beginning of March, just in time for some pretty cool outreaches taking place – we’ll need her help.  For those that also think about Toto when you think Africa, go ahead, you can listen. 

We have many needs beyond our abilities, both now and moving ahead.  It’s difficult to ask for financial help, but it’s both prayer and money that keep us moving ahead.  The US dollar goes so far here in this economic crisis.  Don’t underestimate the value of your gift – $10 is an average day’s wage.  We are employing 8 Ukrainians right now, we’d like to employ more in active ministry and will need to as we try to free ourselves up for more focus in Minsk.

Please take a minute to learn how you can immediately make an impact as part of our growing and generous team – click here

Sincerely – Bruce & Deb

Does anyone else still find it strange to write 2017? The other day we were estimating the potential year of our death, if we each lived to the ripe age of 80. Have you ever done that?  For me, it would be 2055.  Doesn’t seem that far off when you think of the decades already peeled away.

I think of the scripture often;

‘Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Ps 90:12

How could it possibly benefit us from counting, or numbering our days on earth?  To start with, none of us could possibly know for sure. Then there’s the morbidity of it.  Our culture wants death removed from sight, consumers need to be happy and feel like we’re gonna live forever.

Yet, there’s wisdom promised for those that step back and consider ones mortality.  We begin to think about the blessings surrounding us. The things we begin to take for granted come into sharper view, nothing visible will last.  The involuntary beating of our heart, we are so very small, so very fragile, so dependent.

These seemingly ‘morbid’ topics actually can wake us up to a sharper image of reality, and in doing so, make us lean into Jesus.  As the recurring payment of death trickles from our repository of life, we are forced to look past this life for hope.  There’s wisdom in that!

That our ultimately home is not earth, our ultimate body not the one I presently manage.  The very date set for earths departure transitions from a morbid thought to an anticipatory one, and a longing, even an eager awaiting.  I begin to charter my life with renewed purpose, let nothing be a waste.

The search for hope and meaning, for those that believe Jesus was God incarnate, finds it’s anchor in the resurrection. If he rose, we will rise.

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Col 3:3

As believers, we reach hold of this truth, possessing now what is promised, though we yet remain in the throws of this life.  When I die, I will find life again in Christ.  I cling now to Him, I dare not wait for another day.

Lord Jesus bless and strengthen the struggling heart today, affirm your perfect love and assurance of things to come as we trust wholly in You!

Three generations, two widows and a grand-daughter in this sweet family.

Winter has deposited a solid 2ft of snow this week.  I woke up this morning to a cold house and my talented wife starting a fire – dreaded radiators acting up again.  Winter is work, we take nothing for granted when it comes to heat here.

Our town now has a tractor running about doing it’s best to clear the main road, but most neighborhoods haven’t been plowed yet.  In the center of the town, in the center of the street,the tractor piled a mountain of snow – kids are now collecting and sliding down it.  Off to the side next time tractor man!

This morning I was privileged to visit some of our Widows from our feeding program.  What was particularly humbling is that they asked for me.  This is no small thing for local Orthodox Christians to invite foreigners into their homes.

I don’t like to call it a feeding program, because so much more is being accomplished.  Yet, the reality of the name, ‘feeding program’ drums up images that are realistic given the real economic crisis in Ukraine, particularly among the pensioners in winter.   This is survival food, and opening hearts for some neat relationships to form.

As I’m writing now, this little bear cub plops down beside me. She loved meeting her big brother Broderic this Christmas.

One of the visits was particularly special to me.  The grandmother, a widow, her daughter, a widow, and granddaughter who is actually the girlfriend of Max who works at the Cafe and helps with Club 180 Youth.   As we sipped tea and reminisced about their past, I felt a love swell up in my heart for the grandmother.   She’s held a family together through some very difficult trials, and continues to beam an innocent joy and softness.   She worked for 36yrs in the local radiator factory, has seen so much in her lifetime.

We opened scripture, shared from the Psalms and prayed together.  Such open and thankful hearts.  Several times during our visit the grandmother could be seen wiping tears. She was full of joy, enjoying and giving love.

For too long, I’ve imagined (thank you America) the Gospel to be a complicated, amway-like program designed to instigate mental ascent.   We like things packaged, measurable and repeatable.

Yet, how simple, how profound the revolution that is love!  Think about it.  What conquered your heart when you finally surrendered to God?  Simple, powerful, life-changing love.

As believers, our calling is love.  That’s it.  Everything else is religion designed in hell to puff men up and make God appear small.

When God flexes His muscles, He suffers on a Cross.  That’s who He is; power constrained, humility in action for the good of others.

These dear ladies have so much to offer.

On another visit today, a sassy but sweet widow offered us her three last apples – a rarity in winter, shriveled (sorry Canada, it’s not ‘shribbled’) and unappealing to the eye, the Widows mite.  Humbled.

Humility in it’s literal sense is to be ‘made low’ or to ‘come under’ something or someone.  When someone loves you sacrificially, all our pride is pressed upon isn’t it?  Oh this welcoming but difficult sensation of humility in combination with love.

It’s a cold dose of reality – we are unworthy of the care of others, and we know it.  So, when the King of the universe stoops down and sets His gaze upon us, it becomes the greatest challenge of our lifetime – to believe it is to be pressed, crushed and emptied of all self love and falseness.

The humble love of God towards us is the battleground of faith.  To reject it is to be in denial of it, or so delusional that we think we deserve it. To accept it is to made lower than our deepest fears, but then raised to the highest of heights!

“The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters” – Psalm18:16

To believe it, to embrace this love personally from God the Father, is the fountain head of dispensing this miraculous love to others.   We love, as scripture says, because He first loved us.

Today I was humbled by love.  The love of precious ladies and the love of a beautiful and perfect Creator.   I felt a very real love for people I had just met, the love of God working through me.  This is powerful love, it’s the real deal love.  I want more of it.

Ice rink is being used daily,and nightly and providing plenty of sore backs with all this snow!

The Ukraine government has revised again their tax code for business effective Jan 1, and it’s not good for small business.  With the economy hemorrhaging and a continued war in the East, they’ve instituted a war tax, along with doubling the cost to legally employ.  To double down on private business that might think to avoid this tax (as most do), there’s a new 90,000hrv ($3,500) fine for violation of this tax code.  We met this morning to update our Cafe taxing system, keeping legal here is important for us nor our employees who we’re training to pay their required taxes as well.

A very small sample size of the amount of paper receipts we try to make sense of for end of year taxes.

It’s difficult to try and convince our staff that a taxation system is actually good when their dollars rarely do anything visible (roads, hospitals, schools, still in Soviet conditions).    These new taxes make it harder on everyone, especially those already doing business for ministry.   I anticipate many more businesses closing this year, but pray this makes our witness even stronger.

Thank you for your support and financial blessings through the year – it makes a huge difference for us to receive even $50 extra in a month.  We have the coolest group of supporters – Deb and I are humbled at the core group, the ‘church’ that Jesus has given us for His work here.

Click here to see our support team, we’d love for you to join it if you aren’t already!

Going Where? This Friday my parents from Canada will be arriving in Kiev for 12 days.   It’s been 2yrs since their last visit.  The kids are very excited… it may also have something to do with belated Christmas gifts in Santa Nana suitcases.  Deb and I will be flying out as soon as they arrive (nice son right?!) to Seattle, Washington for 3 days for some ministry meetings as they watch our crew for us.   We have a busy Jan 13-20 coming up, please pray for us and our family as we consider some more opportunities, seeking the Lord for wisdom and timing for next steps.

I’d also like to make a note to anyone out there sensing a season of serving with us, whether for a few weeks, summer or possibly longer. We are prayerfully considering expanding our team in the near future and while our gaze is primarily towards leaders in the Russian/Ukrainian speaking world, we remain open to the call of God on all that surrender and desire to serve at some level.   It’s His field, but it’s your race.

Sincerely,

Bruce & Deb

Today my heart hurt.  It was a new kind of pain.   With a elongated hug and kiss on the cheek, my 19yr boy was off to college, again.   I’m not sure why the first goodbye didn’t hurt.  Maybe I wasn’t sure what was happening.  Maybe I was focused on a decreased grocery bill.   This time was different.

We’ve experienced a lot of diapers in our family.   A ton of training on first time obedience, about saying, ‘yes mommy’ and the power of the tongue.  We’ve been on cruise control perhaps as we aim to fire out these developing arrows in factory procession.  One problem however, we’ve never experienced the true nature of the sending, the ‘letting go.’

The nature of love. Is there anything more powerful?  To experience it is to embrace vulnerability, inevitable seasons of pain and even ultimate loss.  As parents, we pour ourselves into the development of these little lives.  We give our time, our energy, our soul.  We water these fragile plants daily, watching them wiggle up into shoots and rejoice with each blossoming.   We battle to keep the effects of this world from damaging yield.  We become motivated to refine our own inconsistencies in order to help them along a good path.

We have no idea how much we love our arrows, until we hold them in the arch with bow bent.

In that moment, when they are truly ready to be shot out, we realize they are no longer our kids.  When boys become men and our little girls become ladies, we must let something go.  Today I felt this truth, like really felt it.  I need to let the boy go.  The little boy, the tiny plant, the budding piece of wood God gave me to form one day into an arrow.   I need to let that boy go, well, because he’s already gone.   The toddler, the memories, the little dude that wants to be held before bedtime – he’s gone, and that’s good – but it still hurts.

As I hugged my son today, with tear filled eye, it hit me.  I wasn’t letting go of my boy to travel once again across the ocean to continue his own adventure. I was letting go of my boy, or rather his ‘boyhood.’  The parenting season we embark upon is designed to end, to graduate into something new.

Why is it so hard to let the season change, to let go?  Maybe we’re terrified the arrow isn’t ready and will crash hard.  We let feelings of regret or dashed expectations hold on like we can somehow turn back time.  Whatever the reason, holding on is not love, it can’t be.  Love never considers our own feelings first. We know from experience God’s grace is there when we are desperate, humble, and call out to Him.  Love is helping our imperfect new adults reach new heights and learn the grace of God for themselves.

 To let the arrow fly, in it’s proper time, I think, is to embrace the pain of this loss, for something even greater.

This is love – to lay down your life for someone, for their ultimate good.  Every parent does this, when we raise them up and send them out for Jesus Christ.

Deb and I enjoyed the fellowship of an adult this Christmas.  The boy returned a man, unrefined, imperfect, but a man.  We enjoyed adult conversations, we laughed, we caught a glimpse of what life lies ahead as our little monkeys travel this path – and it’s amazing!

I’m the sentimental one, but even today the steely Deb shed a tear at the airport.  We both felt it – it was the first time we truly let an arrow fly, emotionally, or whatever.  We’re learning to let go.  To say goodbye to the boy is to embrace the man.   Such new feelings, and with new comes some trepidation – uncharted waters.

I hope this encourages someone.  I’ve been pondering the love of the Father all day.  He knows about letting go, He is love.  To love is to risk, to sacrifice – without real vulnerability love cannot exist, it’s just a nice concept.  Love requires another person, by nature it cannot exist on it’s own. To know the experience of love is to both rejoice and suffer in it’s powerful wake – there would be no rejoicing return without the pain of goodbye.

I will, Lord willing, see my son again sometime this year – but many of you have said goodbye to loved ones on this side of eternity.   Love wins, love will re-unite, it must, if it’s born in Christ.

‘Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.’ Psalm 127:4