Broken Things

It's funny how things over here are made to be disposable.  Ok, so things in Canada are becoming more disposable as well, but, it seems like everything here is made to break, or at the very least, break soon after you buy it.  We bought a fan, mainly because I am too cheap to pay the 50 cents per kilowatt hour, and this fan, the first time we used it to oscillate air around the room smelled like burning.  We discovered that there is too much resistance for the fan to move the propellers and the head and will burn out the motor so it is a stationary fan.  Also, the Lada, a wonderful Soviet car that is made to fall apart after 1 year and need fixing.  One such car needed repairs outside of our apartment and Colleen enthusiastically told me to bring the camera, I did, and this is what we saw.

Who needs jacks or tire ramps, just get a bunch of your buddies together and tilt it to the side and prop it up with a stick.  This kind of reminded me of my father-in-law, Les, as this is right up his alley, you don't have to pay for a tow truck, or a mechanic, or jacks, or anything else, just invite some friends over for a "car tilting" party!

Onto my subject of broken things.  Have you ever had a child that breaks everything?  Maybe all children do, but Ellianna is especially brilliant at said task.  I set up building blocks and she destroys them, I build a sandcastle, decorate it and she doesn't even think about the time and effort I put in, all for her, but all she sees is something to destroy.  Anyways, we have these wonderful shelves on either side of our bed and they are nice because they hold the alarm clock, glasses, lamps, etc.  Well, the problem is they are made of glass.  So Ellianna, my wonderful monkey of a daughter, thought it would be great to use this shelf to support all of her weight.

Needless to say, it doesn't, so if anyone knows where I can buy a glass shelf like this in Kiev, that would be great!  I was taking a shower, reflecting on the recent events and saying to myself, "Man, that kid breaks everything!"  Then a Casting Crowns song came to mind.  (I just googled how to add it to my blog, so hopefully it works!)

(I think it worked)

Well, the song mentions how our sinful self gets in the way of God's work and in essence "breaks the ministry."  Man, I get upset at my daughter for not listening and breaking things when I do the same thing to His work.  (Where should the finger really be pointing?)

I guess I just am getting frustrated with all this cultural mumbo-jumbo.  Like, if I want to give cookies to someone out of the kindness of my heart, they shouldn't be offended or think "now I owe him one" but just be grateful for the gift.  But culturally, that is not how things work here, if you do something for me, then I owe you one.  I will scratch your back, but you will have to scratch my back down the road.  We took in Bible School how education brings responsibility.  In other words, if you have the knowledge, you will be judged more severely, like if I know cultural no-no's and do them anyway because I just want to be me and not culturally respectful, that is not a great testimony for Christ.

I was venting my frustration to one of my friends and he mentioned to me 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 -

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became a Jew, to win the Jews.  To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.  I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

So why would I try to be anything else but culturally sensitive?  (Keeping in mind of course that the Gospel is counter cultural, in that it demands grace!)

So, a huge prayer request from this side of the Atlantic is patience for us as we adjust and try to learn how to not have people stumble over us on their way to His Kingdom!

A Month In

Wow has it already been 1 month since we left Canada?  It sure hasn't felt like it, probably because we still do not know the language and everything is still surreal to me.  Maybe I state this every post, but I am still in awe that God has called us overseas and opened the doors to get here.  I don’t know if I should or will ever lose that feeling or at least the amazement that God is ultimately in control and not that we need to sit back and enjoy the ride, but be living in His presence and keeping in tune with Him.

So, those of you who know, and those who don’t as well, I am a photography nut.  I love taking photos and as I was having a photo session with Jolen, we received an auspicious email, well kind of, it was more like one of those things you look back on and say, “Wow God, you were in control.”  Anyways, I will use some of the  pictures with Jolen to tell my story.

It all starts with the week we were leaving for Kiev.  Our house conditionally sold. Right before we left

The condition date for the sale to close was June 24 and that day came and went without any word

So, we signed an extension and then waited, but, rain came to southern Alberta and the process got stalled because all business down south stopped because of all the flooding

So we waited, and waited and waited.

Then, we got surprise email from our Realtor that the documents we had signed to sell our house were missing a zero on the price.  So instead of selling our house in the hundreds of thousands bracket, we sold our house for tens of thousands!

So, with us in Kiev and our house back in Bow Island, we were looking at quite a big deficit!

However, because everything was taking so long, we were able to correct the price

So, As we look to the future,

we know God is in command, our dates for possession have changed and hopefully the deal will close by the end of the month, but God only knows and we pray for Him to be glorified!  And keep smiling as we truck on in this life!

P.S.  Apparently clothes pins are not only good for hanging up clothes, they can work as hair berets too!

Settling In

So Colleen posted this picture on our email we sent out regarding the sale of our house.  For those of you who do not know, we are in limbo of our house sale as the prospective buyer is trying to procure financing.  So we wait on the Lord and pray for His will to be done, and hoping it is in His plan for it to sell as it is difficult to be a landlord and a few hours away by plane (oh ya and there is a big ocean between us too!).

Back to the picture, many people have asked if this is a picture of our house in Kiev.  Well, it is not, it is a picture of a landmark in Sumy, Ukraine, where we were helping at camp for a few days with John and Leanne Paetkau.  Those wondering what our place looks like, you can see the picture below.

Although to be fair, the door has been painted in the last couple of days.

On with the title, "Settling In"  Life has become quite normal for us, where things were once new and exciting, they have become commonplace as we live life here. For example, today, Sunday, we went to church.  This means getting up early and out the door at 8:45 so we can catch a marshrutka (bus pictured below) to go to church.

We waited for approximately 30 minutes for the bus to come, which was packed, but thankfully people on the bus give up their seat if you are holding a small child.  Paid our 5 grieven (62.5 cents) and rode the packed bus (35 people or so) 45 minutes to church.  (pictured below)

This church is very interesting as they are building a new building behind this structure.  So to avoid building permits for another structure, they set up a tent and that is where we go to church.  A typical service has singing and 2 sermons and then we had a little rain pouring on us as we walked back to our bus stop to wait another 20 minutes, soaking wet and hop on the bus and travel back 45 minutes home.  We stopped at a restaurant and picked our food, which ended up being 1 chicken dish and 1 fish dish, with a piece of pizza for Ellianna.

Speaking of Ellianna, this is a typical playground in Ukraine.  The buildings form a sort of square around the playground and she goes out to play on swings, slides and see-saws.  

Shopping is quite simple because there are about 100 stores just down the street from our apartment and a market just up the street.  The market is easy as you can tell what you are buying because they have everything in front of you, but the stores, you can't read the writing on the outside so you just have to go to each of them to find out what they are selling.

I guess that is life from this side of the pond for us.  I start at the school next week and am excited and scared as we went to a couple's house who has a grade 8 student I will be teaching me and the first question he asked me "do you believe in predestination or free will?"  Seriously, kid you are in grade 8, you should be asking yourself if girls are still icky or not.  I have my work cut out for me and we definitely are not in Kansas anymore.

God is great and He teaches me everyday I must rely on Him because in my own strength we cannot do this, but in Him, everything is possible.  Thank you for your emails and prayers, it is encouraging to know we are not forgotten as you are all dear to our hearts and are constantly in our thoughts and prayers.

We Made It!!!

Wow it's hard to believe that God really did call us overseas.  I admit for the last 7 or 8 years I have begun to be more sceptical each passing day.  Now that that day actually arrived on June 17, I am beginning to second guess if we are called.  Well maybe not second guess, but it is hard to uproot your family and move to a country where English is not prevalent, in the last week I have met 1 person in all of Kiev who speaks English (aside from missionaries).  And quite frankly, I feel just like Colleen does in this picture.  The kids are going crazy having a blast and we are fighting to keep it all together.  I told Colleen just today, "I think next time we go somewhere we will skip the orientation and just go straight into things, then it won't be so hard, right?"  Now I know it is in tongue and cheek that I said this, but honestly, this is exactly how I am feeling right now in the middle of things.

I was encouraged by a good friend of mine, whom I email once a month at least, by his observation of the situation and his quotes from Scripture.  It seems like any question I ask him, he points me to Scripture and I am super encouraged by this.  We may be at the end of the world (or so it seems) but God and His Word are there with us. His Word points us to Him in difficult situations as well as good!  I know this post is short, but honestly, that is what God has been teaching me/us this last week.  He is so good!!!

I have also included a few pictures of our time, just to prove we actually are over here.

 Colleen and her Mom with Big Ben in the background

 Blake at the London Eye (He didn't get to ride it as it is one of his goals in life, maybe next time!)

 St Michael's Golden Dome Monastery in Kiev (That is an actual monk in the picture)

 A playground in Kiev

Jolen eating his first meal!  (Try buying baby food when the whole box is in Russian/Ukrainian!)

Father's Blessings

It has been a while since I last posted, but so much has happened so fast that I have not had time until right now as it is Father's day and Ellianna has gone down for a nap.

Right now my wife is making fun of me because of my ties.  For Father's day every year I have told my family I would like a tie.  This year, I got many ties.  My wardrobe for teaching requires I wear dress pants and a shirt with a tie, so we spent 3 hours this last week in Walmart trying on different combinations of pants and shirts and ties.  I thought we were done, but then Colleen goes to a different store and buys me a solid pink tie.  I love the tie and will be proud to wear it.  Thanks for the Father's Day gift.

Looking at the picture you will see our children packed and ready to go, tomorrow!  Yikes, not weeks from now, or even days, but hours, about 30 as I write this.  We found out Thursday our plane will be leaving Monday so this did not give much time.  Also, we found out Wednesday night our house has sold!  Many, many blessings being poured out; where if you were to ask me even 3 weeks ago about our trip, I would have said we are patiently waiting and it feels like a dry time, where nothing is happening, but now the floodgates have opened and everything is happening fast and furious.

Another reason I have not blogged much in the last while is I am going through Ezekiel in my devotions and it is a difficult book.  It feels like day after day it is God pronouncing judgement on Judah and the surrounding countries for turning to the idols of this world and I will have to admit, I don't feel like I am growing.  But as I look back on the last month or so, God has moved me from a carpenter to a teacher, kind of like Jesus whose example I am following.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I can get caught up in the day to day that I forget to look at the big picture and see God is moving in our life.  Kind of like our children.  We met Emily Willms last night and she hasn't seen Jolen since the middle of April, 2 months ago, and I have not seen much of a difference in him, but to Emily, who did not see him everyday, he has grown a ton.  So, if I look at where God has moved me from doing deputation to different churches to now, ready to leave, He has moved me and prepared the way for us to go, but I, being in the moment, cannot see it until I step back and see the big picture.

So my next blog will be from Kiev, Ukraine (God willing) and I will be happy to share more of what God is teaching me.  Blessings until then!

A town called Smith

When I was at Bible School 10 years ago now, we had a chapel and the President of PRBI spoke.  He always had great stories as well as a different sense of humor.  He began this chapel by telling us of his family.  His father was a teacher at PRBI and they had no children when they came up north here and while they were here they had like 10 kids.  "Before my parents came up here, the town was just called Smith."

Grace Bible Fellowship has been our home church while we are living up here and it feels like home.  This is the church we were fortunate to share with this week.  I was telling Colleen earlier this week that I prayed hard that God would keep us here in Sexsmith, I even applied for a job teaching shop at the high school, but they had just hired a new shop teacher when I applied.  We are thankful each day that God has us here as it is our first home as a married couple and Sexsmith will always have a dear spot in our heart.

God really challenged me this week about His plan and His work in the world.  If you read previous posts from 2011 you will read that we were planning on going to Mozambique but we did not go, however, we raised a lot of money, and the same people that gave are giving again for us to go.

I asked God, "Why are the same people giving who gave before?  They should not be giving because they have already gave and it is counterproductive to give again."

God the asked me, "Who are they giving to?"

"Me and Colleen, of course, who else would they be giving to?"

God replied, "How about me?"

Then it clicked.  I was convicted.  The focus was on me.  People are not giving their prayers and finances for our sake, but for God's sake.  People are giving to God and therefore, it makes sense to give again because God is their focus.  So, in a few short words, you, reading this letter have been an encouragement and a rebuke to me.  You are not reading this letter because I am such an eloquent writer or explaining God's truth in an amazing way, You are reading because of God's work in your life.  You are excited by God, not me.  Thank you for all of your support and being a great example to me!

Little Ukraine

So this past weekend we were blessed to share at the Vegreville Alliance Church.  I really enjoy preaching and was given the opportunity on Sunday, but what happened afterwards really hit me.

First, on a lighter note, as my title mentions, Vegreville is like litte Ukraine.  We love Ukrainian Sausage from Stawnichy's and you really haven't eaten real Ukrainian food unless you have had their kubasa!  Well, my parents had a big barbeque afterwards and, because we are in Vegreville, we ate kubbie burgers as well.  My cousin David, who is not from Vegreville, asked what a kubbie burger is.

"It is like a Ukrainian sausage that has been made into a burger patty!"  I exclaimed.

He then shook his head, ate the kubbie burger and we laughed at the ridiculousness of the kubbie burger, yet, it is Vegreville, so the kubbie burger makes sense, only in Vegreville!

I am sure as we go to Ukraine, there will be many things that don't make sense, but they will only because we are there and it wouldn't work anywhere else!

Onto the afterwards stuff - We were visiting our good friends the Proberts on Sunday night and we got talking about how they came to Vegreville.  It is quite an amazing story, but to make a long story short, they tried for 2 years to move on their own and it didn't work, the trusted God completely and it ended with a miraculous yet random phone call on the side of a busy highway in Washington.

They said "We have no idea why God moved us to Vegreville, but we knew God was moving us to the area."

After our visit, I turned to Colleen and said "I know why God moved them here, It was for me!"

I worked for them the summer I graduated and looking back, I was probably not a great worker, yet they kept feeding me and letting me work.  At the beginning, I was eating lunch at their house, by the end, it was breakfast, lunch, supper and probably bedtime snack.  I will never forget that summer.  We did not necessarily speak of spiritual things but we talked about life and they shared their home and food and time.  And for that, I am eternally grateful.  I don't know where I would be without them in my life.

For a teenager, having someone take them under their wing has eternal value.  It wasn't about them needing to share their wisdom or immense spiritualism with me but to share life.  You can do that too, just be yourself.  You don't need to know what you are doing or how to mentor someone, just be real.  It will make a world of difference to someone who is trying to find out who they are in this world.