July 26, 2010
By Bruce | July 26, 2010
Finished saying good-bye to the Boldings, we had a wonderful time hosting our friends the past few days. We setup a mini-retreat for the missionaries here and gathered to hear from both of them. Bo shared a few sessions on Vision, particularly the ‘purpose’ of the new testament church. I hope it blessed the group, I know it was good to hear again God’s heart for discipleship and Kingdom of God expansion. Beth shared a few times with the ladies from our church, at the retreat and after our Sunday service. Our boys enjoyed having Brady here, although they spend far too much time behind gadgets and gizmos (my mother is saying, “you sow what you reap!).
We are about to receive two more friends today, Tracy and Dana from Texas. Deb is excited to have some girl time with them, and let them taste some of her world. They’ll be here for a week. Deb plans to take them for an overnight in Kiev, we found some nice apartments you can rent downtown that are cheaper and nicer than available hotels.
Ok, update on the trampoline. Nobody was confessing, however one of the kids that I know was involved came asking to play on it. I quickly called Alyosha to come so we could spend time talking to him. Alyosha put the fear (not sure if fear of God or fear of police) in him, but I simply asked him to tell me the truth. We talked about truth, how God loves truth, that I expect it from my kids, and the only think I’m asking from anyone that plays at our house is that they are always truthful with me. He was very nervous, and wouldn’t look me in the eye. He knew who took the ATV several times, and provided their names, but would not confess that he did it (but that he watched from a distance). It’s hard because several of them look alike, they are actually brothers and look like twins. He eventually looked me in the eye, and said he did not take it, but also promised that he would always ask permission for using anything first. With that he was permitted to jump again. Later he came back with his little 4yr old sister, so it’s neat to see a few more people coming back. We also had 4 more newer kids come, unaware of the issue and pretty confident they have no idea about it, so I allowed them to jump as well. The stinkers have yet to come around yet, but as more and more jump away, I think the pressure will mount.
In the meantime, we had some more theft (maybe I shouldn’t have inserted the law! It has incited a desire to break it!).. Bronwyns tires from her new bike are gone. It was in our shed but the lock had recently been broken (by me, but I think it was already tampered with). In any case, we are suspicious of some older boys that did this, and have put the word out to the kids that they need to be returned. They stole the wheels because you can use them without being caught.. the bike frame was left but someone is riding around RZ with some new wheels! Pray for Bronwyn, she has struggled with the liberty in which kids have and are taking things. I will get her new wheels, don’t worry grandparents! We feel challenged (Deb and I at least) to be liberal in our grace, to trust and take their word, even if they are lying, to show them love when they deserve a smack on the head. It may come at a bit of a cost, but we believe the gospel message is more than just words, it’s communicating through actions, earning a right to speak into lives takes time.. and maybe even some bicycle wheels.
Thanks for checking in!
Bruce & Deb
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Trampoline is Closed
By Bruce | July 20, 2010
The past few days it’s been very quiet at our house. Partly because in 95 degree sweltering heat kids aren’t outside walking and playing around as much. Partly because we closed the trampoline. We found that a few of the kids were sneaking the kids ATV out from the garage, into the woods. It doesn’t work without the key, which I rarely supply, it becomes a difficult thing to control. I thought it was odd that they’d would be pushing each other on it, how could that be fun? I didn’t think much of it the first few times I saw them pushing it back, I talked to them and warned them not to take things without permission (a unique request for some of these kids!). Then the other day I figured I would get the key and start it up, allowing some of them to roam the neighborhood trails. To my shock, the ignition was completely ripped out, the wires leading to various parts of the engine unplugged, the battery wires all stripped. These monkeys had been attempting to hotwire it, and in the process has completely destroyed parts of the ATV.
The next day we were eating supper on our deck, and heard some voices in the forest, then kids running. They had taken it again! Right from under our noses! They were pushing it back into the garage when one of them noticed us eating outside and signaled to the rest.. off they went, parking the ATV on the edge of the treeline.
I have a pretty good idea which kids were involved, but not certain. Instead of guessing, we’ve decided to put group pressure on them (it’s worked before on similar issues). We’ve taken the bouncy mat off the trampoline, and placed signs around the property which state:
”The trampoline is closed today. We will open it again when the kids that took the ATV without permission come and see me - bruce” .. in Russian of course.
Well the note has caused a bit of a stir. Every day we have kids coming and reading the sign. This afternoon we had a group of teens on their scooters come and park out front and discuss the situation. They all love the trampoline, some of them come and lay on it, play cards for hours. It’s just a metal frame now, awaiting the guilty party to come and talk to me. Bronwyn thinks I’m hoping in vain, she may be right. I know the pressure is on the guilty party though, I want every kids around to know that I’m ready and willing to open it back up once those kids do what is right, and come take responsibility.
There is a conscience inside of these kids, even if it’s abused regularly. They ran off into the forest each time because they know what they did was wrong. They are professional liars too, so convincing. I have been extra kind to two of the kids I know were involved. I’ve had a heart to pray for them, and show them love. I’ve rewarded them just last week for helping me find some missing items (which they probably hid), took them for ice cream. I think this event could be a life changing one, because they are used to yelling and physical intimidation from adults. I’ve never raised my voice, and always asked for respect for property and our instructions. They will be banned from the trampoline for a season when they do confess, but ultimately I want to show grace and see Christ continue to work on their wicked little hearts.
Pray for these two boys (and whoever else in involved), that they would see God the father in me, that I would represent justice and mercy, give them a picture of responsibility but also forgiveness. I’m not able to change their hearts, but God can and I think wants to win some of these more troublesome characters for His glory. I keep looking at these little guys and seeing godly husbands and fathers some day. I think these little experiences will help work on their hearts and through prayer bring them closer to a real relationship with God.
In the meantime everyone is paying the price for their folly, and it’s a shame because most of the kids are truly respectful and are great to have around. I’m going to give it a few more days, the weather is hopefully cooling down and the boredom is sure to increase… even the boys who did it will be itching to get jumping again and swallow their pride… I hope!
Our kids have enjoyed playing in their yard by themselves, it’s been months since our yard has been a sanctuary.. at least for us. I’m ready to open the trampoline up though, because I think for a large number of the kids, our yard is a sanctuary for them as well from difficult situations at home.
Bruce
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July 19, 2010
By Bruce | July 19, 2010
Praising God for working in the life of Kolya. He’s a young college student who has been working with Dan on a house project. He’s attended a few church events and conferences (Passion etc.) and I actually thought he was already a believer, or close to it as his heart seemed to be very open to God’s will for His life. This past week Kolya attended Camp 120 and testified that He had surrendered his life to God.
Pray for Kolya, and for all of the young men in our church. God is working in hearts as several unbelievers continue to attend Tuesday night meetings. The church in Ukraine is in need of young men like Kolya to influence and make a difference in this culture, pray His light will shine to his family and friends.
This week we host Bo & Beth, along with their son Brady. The kids have been anxiously counting the days. They love when guests roll in to town. Clark is our softy, he is quite upset when the guests leave and holds back the tears. It’s been wicked hot the past 3-4 days. 90’s (even into 100’s). This weekend we camped out in a few rooms with a mobile AC unit, it kept things bearable but you didn’t want to move. Thankfully we have a basement, it’s hard to sleep in our sauna upstairs. Deb and I are amazed at how hot it gets here, we never imagined Ukraine would get so hot, most of our mental preparation for moving was to ‘russia’, and we pictured 2-3 months of spring type weather and 8 months of Siberia. I think Deb would take Siberia, she loathes the hot weather. Who knew we’d bring Texas with us!
***Special thanks to those that helped donate toward the boat motor for camp. From what I hear it worked well and even able to tow kids on a tube. The camp was on an island, a 30 minute boat ride, over 70 attended this year including Broderic and Bronwyn.
Sincerely,
Bruce & Deb
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July 12, 2010
By Bruce | July 12, 2010
What a weekend! I’ll give you the bullet version with some pictures, but first, check out this quick video of how we spent our Saturday night!
- Friends Yura & Lilya from Latvia with their two children visited (driving 16hrs for a 5 day visit).
- Took a group of 15 to Kiev for a Third Millennium day conference, Dr. Richard Pratt (author and seminary professor).
- Got stuck in a severe wind/thunderstorm which knocked down trees/branches.
- Hosted a Children’s Ministry Meeting (mostly for camps) to hear from Norry (from Scotland here visiting Simeon & Asia) and Yuri and their experiences with kids camps. Norry in particular was great to hear from, he’s volunteered/led in over 200 kids camps, an interesting and very down to earth fellow that encouraged us.
- Played in a concert for the city (our makeshift country western band!).
- Dinner with the City officials and a group of professional choir/singers (about 30 of them, and they sang the entire time at one long table, it was a true cultural experience).
- Electricity went off in our town Sunday night, just in time for the World Cup Final game. We didn’t care, but our friends did.. so we fired up the generator and had them all over to watch it. Latvian, 2 Scots, Kiwi (New Zealand), Ozzie, and a Canadian American transplant.. watching ‘futbol’ in Ukraine, cheering for Dutch or Spanish teams.
Phew. Now it’s Monday, and time to get to work! For some pictures. Today is the start of Camp 120, where half the church pretends they are from the dark ages, lives on a sandy island for a week without electricity, running water.. Broderic and Bronwyn have gone this year with the Gollan crew. We would go if it was for a few days, but an entire week… as one missionary said last week, “being in Ukraine already feels like we’re camping.’
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July 6, 2010
By Bruce | July 6, 2010
This Monday we took advantage of the office (in Texas) being closed, and shut off a bit of the world… we took the family to a nearby village and had a picnic. We setup a little campfire and went swimming in the Dnepr. Here are some pictures from our day. It was as close to being in America celebrating the 4th of July as we could get, we even had hot dogs (still fairly new here).
[tucker and clark eating a wafer]
[nice time, despite Clark’s face]
[Noah double tasking, cookie and hot dog]
This week Yuri (from Ireland via Latvia) is driving to Ukraine to visit us. It will be interesting to hear how it plays out at the border. I’ve been wanting to drive ‘out’ of Ukraine and visit some of the neighboring countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Romania). They sound so ‘remote’ but they are just a day away.. like driving from Texas to Florida. Anyway, will be nice to see Yuri again, he’s a few yrs younger than I am, their church in Latvia would like to consider getting involved in this part of Ukraine with us in some way.
Better go, bless you all!
Bruce & Deb
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