Dan and Pris Gollan

(Written over five days during the end of December – finished today.)

? ? ????! (Ya v shokey!) I’m shocked! All that is left for us to do is land this year of 2012. Less than two weeks to go… did we pass out in the middle and skip some months or something?

What of import has been accomplished during the last year? Probably you’ve done very little in terms of world-changing accomplishments. And yet, the very act of loving and representing Jesus is culture-affecting. Is that encouraging?

As I type, frost is falling from a clear totally clear sky. It is -14 outside at 10:00am and the frost looks like snow falling. Pretty sparkles glittering in the sunlight make for a wonderland of beauty. The yellow-breasted birds flitting in and out of our little “bird-deck” just add to the magic.

At our local market, the seed and fowl-food sellers congregate in one area selling their different mixes out of their trailers. I bought leftover sunflower seeds again this year from “Vova” – four 12-litre buckets for $15. It should last “Priscilla’s” birds, (she calls them winter flowers), for the next three months until the snow melts.

I’m currently laid down with the heaviest flu bug I’ve had in a few years. God is good. May He never tire of teaching and blessing me with spiritual blessings. Yesterday as a church we read the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Two more people about whom it is written, “they were bezporochniy (blameless).” Incredible! How I’d love to have people say that about me… and about you, for that matter. Beautiful people raised John the Baptist. Keep working on me, Lord.

Talking about raising children… man! (What a lot of topics could be touched on in relation to that!) Our four are doing well. Jesse and Marie seem to be reveling in the student outreach times. It is pure pleasure watching them show love to the 16-18 year-olds who come. Their Ukrainian is probably not quite up to my level of Russian yet, but Marie surprised me not long ago by translating the entire Bible study I led in Russian into English! Not bad, kiddo.

Angel and Elle are doing well. Angie finishes school pretty late most days… Elle finishes her work pretty early most days. J Elle has just come in from some “snow-time” with David, a neighbour lad. Rosy cheeks are blooming.

I’ve noticed that the last few months, my beard has developed a suspicious habit of sprouting white hair. The respect that elderly gentlemen receive somehow seems quite a bit closer all of a sudden. The students who come out Friday nights are no longer young friends so much as my semi-adopted children… not grandchildren just yet. I do feel the comfortable weight of my age when hanging out with them now though. There are about 15-20 kids who regularly come out Friday nights and I’ve been feeling as if we may need to “pull them into the Family of God” rather than just letting them “examine the door and then decide themselves”. I’ve felt for a few weeks now that they are not far from putting their faith in Jesus.  

Building… it has been a good quarter. We’ve had several lads on site. One such, “Sergei” is pretty much totally deaf. We invited him to come join us Friday nights and he has reveled in the acceptance he’s found in this group.

The two regular blokes (Igor and Kolya) are both doing well. Igor just got married to a delightful young lady. They live a few minutes walk from us. Kolya just got officially divorced from a girl he married several months ago but never lived with. It was a pretty messy, painful and all-round saddening situation which received a lot of prayers and concern. God is glorified by the outcomes of nightmarish situations even if only by the consequences that result from them… He is perfect in all His ways. Delightful!

Priscilla:

Daniel and I headed out to prayer meeting this morning. It was minus 17, but absolutely beautiful. Now I am sitting close to the fireplace, remembering good things God has blessed us with, (that we noticed!), over the last many months. One of them is the fireplace! Our gas furnace had major problems this year and didn’t start working properly (until after a LOT of puzzling and work) til mid November! Although it wasn’t freezing outside, we were sure thankful for the fireplace and a few electric heaters.

Daniel mentioned Zechariah and Elizabeth who had prayed many years for a child. They were told that their prayers were heard and they were given a child - in their old age! Meanwhile these two people were upright and obedient…and hopeful. That is how I feel about Rzhishchiv. The results are up to God. What He desires is our love, obedience and faithfulness.

We work with some wonderful people:

Bruce and Deborah and their seven children-who besides tentmaking, are very involved with a bunch of orphans, are doing their utmost to get a café running in the center of town (Pray for them and the documents. We are so reminded that this is not a friendly country whenever we need to accomplish ANYthing that requires the assistance of others). They also help to oversee this small body of believers.

Cheryl - a dear friend who organizes the ladies retreats, women’s outreaches, helps with any and all the various ministries and visitation, and is generally a huge support and encouragement to the entire church body and community!

I don’t want to overwhelm you, but rather paint a broader picture. Shane and Jemimah - student ministry and generally involved in whatever they can; Tom and Lena and their two boys - prison ministry, ministry to the poorer in our community, generally available to bless and help; Simeon and Asia - opening a children’s home – (pray for these documents too!); Sergei and Tanya and family - general evangelism as God leads; Sveta – a precious local girl who blesses so much through helping with Sunday School and general serving.

This weekend we will have a community ladies outreach in “the room upstairs” - please pray for it!.

Angel and I loved being in America for three weeks. It has been about three years since I was there, (this was Angel’s first time), and we were able to be there for my Grandmother’s 87^th birthday, my Dad’s 70^th, my brother’s 27^th, and for American Thanksgiving! I was able to go to three different churches - that was really neat. It is beautiful to see the work of God and the likeness of Christ in a totally different culture than I am used to. Two of the churches had gone through many ‘quiet years’, but now are growing and vibrant. I felt new hope for the church here. These are ‘quiet years’ - lots of seeds sown, lots of walking by faith and not by sight. It is God who causes the increase, though - I look forward to seeing it if He allows!

I saw so many young men involved in the music side of worship - a wealth of them. I wished that God would put it on some skilled young man’s heart (who loves Christ with all his heart, soul and mind) to come to a difficult country, language, and people and serve this tiny body of believers for a few years.

I am looking forward to Christmas (as usual). I look forward to Heaven, and I cannot imagine the great love it took for Jesus to leave all that behind and come here to an unlovely place and to a people whom He had made who did not even recognize Him! He loves us a lot, and we have the joy of having realized that and chosen to walk in His love with obedience. How we long for the people in this town to not only believe with their minds, but confess with their mouths and start ‘following’. Enjoy remembering and celebrating Jesus! 

Surely a very small minority of people in the world really thought that the world would end today! We were not a part of that minority. But we are a part of the minority who expect Jesus to return and ultimately to reign over the entire world. The celebration of that day will surely outshine all celebrations! But until it comes, we serve and represent Him with joy and gratefulness in Rzhyshchiv, Ukraine, a frozen town on the banks of the Dnepr River.