My parents, Lloyd and Dorothy Crowe. Hard to get them over here, but so thankful for family!
It’s the final week before school in Ukraine. Two weeks ago our beaches were jammed packed with locals and tourists, this past weekend they were desolate. It’s amazing how quickly summer has come, and now is fading away. The trees are starting to lose their green vibrancy and this past week we received a cool blast of fall weather.
Deb and I, along with Brent and Claire will celebrate birthdays over the next month or so – so we got them all taken care of in one blow!
The Cafe has been abnormally quiet too. It’s been nice. We’ve just completed our first anniversary, we opened in August of last year! It was a wild ride of learning. We know that once the students return, we’ll have many ‘regulars’ back, and some new faces coming for the free Wi-Fi and clean place to meet with friends. We have some neat new ideas for this fall I’m excited about, and some changes in our staff that will require some organizing. So, the calm before the storm a bit here in Ukraine.
We’re looking forward to some friends coming to visit next weekend, as well as encouraged lately by the amount of 30 something couples and families emerging in and around us. Some have always been here and getting to know, others are folks that have newly moved to the area and we’ve met via the Cafe. We actually meet this really neat couple from Kiev that just bought a house in a small village nearby, they spoke english really well and he is a Yoga instructor. Then today a nice looking couple with two children asked about our English nights. Deb and I both looking forward to getting to know more folks this fall.
Sveta has been appointed as our new ‘marketing director’ and has been adding nice little touches to the Cafe – helping to explain what these drinks actually are!
It’s been a perfect week for my parents to visit. It’s been a joy to take them to the Cafe, let them catch a glimpse of what’s been occupying our time, energy and money this past year. They’ve run up quite a tab – but I know where to find them.
In prayer, we believe this year holds some challenging but exciting things for our family and those the Lord allows us to serve with in Ukraine. We will be continuing some creative workshops this fall, as the Lord provides willing talent and resources. We’re also beginning to walk through some open doors and opportunities to connect with more of God’s church in surrounding cities and even countries. We believe it is a time to continue believing, in faith for God to awaken hearts to Him. It’s so easy to wane, to get loaded down with apathy by what we see with our physical eyes – Lord give us eyes of faith, to see the possibilities, what you want to do, and will do in and thru lives that surrender to you! We believe God is going to use the Lighthouse to continue to awaken hearts to Him, and be a place of opportunity for willing hearts to serve and give their talents to Him.Please pray for us as we make some travel plans this fall/winter. We’re currently praying about the best options for our kids schooling in light of the possible travel. Lord give us wisdom!
Introducing my mom to our Latte and sweet Claire loves to be held.
Good news! Broderic passed his state entrance exam for college. This is a big deal for us because he’s the first of our home-schooled kids. We had no idea how he’d fair with standardized tests – we’ve not followed any specific course, it’s been a mish-mash of customized online and DVD courses based on each of our children’s personalities and interests. He’s considering college this spring, and it’s relieving to know it’s an option! 🙂
Thanks for checking in – we miss all our friends and family! Bruce & Deb