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Quintus John Gollan

QShould you prefer it, you may now refer to me as “Grandpa” anytime you like. I’m the proud owner of a new title which speaks of a quite delightful happening in our family overnight. Jesse and Daniella welcomed “Quintus John” into the world of the breathing on Friday the 26th. They are thankful and happy parents.

Quintus, if you find this and read it in the future, know that I prayed for you on the day of your birth that you would give much glory to God through this life He has given you.  You will be asked by Him to sacrifice.  Don’t fear it.  Go bravely into the unknown and revel in the sacrifice!  What a privilege to do that for the One who is as incredible as our Lord Jesus Christ is! 

We are all hopeful that this new little family will be able to come back to Ukraine in a few months. Providing visas and permissions fall into place, they plan to be here in June and stay for several months to a year. We feel as if it is another totally unexpected gift from God… and are so looking forward to it.

 

Quarantine again… (A rather severe change of topic!)

About 300 people are dying from Covid each day in Ukraine right now… and we keep on hearing of people we know who have contracted it. This week, the first person in our church community, (Andrei), had a test for anti-bodies done… and was surprised to hear that he’d already had it. Considering this news, we feel as if it is nigh on 100% that we basically all contracted it during the winter months… as many had symptoms at around the same time as Andrei did. If we are correct in our assumptions, then we can be grateful that no one had a severe enough case to require ICU care.

Quarantine doesn’t really affect us that much as a church, but I’ll still be glad when we again dispose with masks at services.

Pris continues to do physio in Kiev. Her neck is doing well. This new phase of physio is for her right side which has bothered her for years. She has just gone through a couple of weeks of fevers and migraines associated with readjusting the muscles – quite an ordeal! Last night she was bemoaning the feeling that she hasn’t been of much use to the Lord for the last few weeks. Perhaps. But I got to thinking that a person can still give a lot of glory to God without leading Bible studies and counseling people or helping with different tasks. My giving glory to God is not dependent on my “output”. It’s dependent on something else. Anyway, Pris is seeing some improvement and we are grateful.

Elle has started taking photos as she walks around town and suggested I put one or two in the blog. They are worth sharing… so here we go:springnika elle

IMG_2099Our daughter, Miriam Angel, would love to come home at the end of May. Because of covid there are several hurdles that need to be overcome. Please pray with us that if it is God’s good timing, He would make her path smooth, and that we would accept His will with joy. She has been seeing major relief from the health battles she has gone through – something that also gives great relief to the hearts of her parents.

We have opened our second men’s home. A couple of weekends ago, I moved the two ladies we had allowed to stay on after rehab into a room in town. (They are both doing well. God has shown them mercy and they’re growing in the Lord and glorifying Him.) We already have five guys in the former “ladies’ home” … and no doubt will add to that number over the next couple of weeks. Please continue to pray that God will bring men here in whose hearts He is at work, and that in His mercy and grace He will draw them to Himself.

 

 

 

 

Max is back… his fourth time. Often we send people wanting to come back to us to another home. Max is an exception. It’s encouraging to see a different light in his eyes now and notice a humility that holds promise of good years ahead.

During the last big snowfall/freeze, we “lost” our van. Mitya was driving by himself on a straight road and slid off the side into some trees. Thankfully, he just experienced a “shook-up” and not a “busted-up”. The van, however, has flown off to… “Van Heaven”. It served us well for the last four years and was on its last legs as it was. But still, it is missed. We were able to get $1000 for it… and have put that into savings towards a new one. We would be thankful for your prayers about that. Right now we go out to the village to pick the men up, (whenever they need to travel), in a few carloads which works fine… but is a stop-gap measure.

IMG-2067IMG_2102We’re at a bit of an interesting phase regarding finances. Over the last year, we’ve had just a few thousand come in towards the expenses for the homes we run for addicts… and our latest figures show it costs us about $8,000 a year for one home. We’ve basically exhausted the money we had for repairs of the church building, too. I share this in case anyone is feeling as if God has blessed them financially and is wondering how or where to sacrifice for His glory. 

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We are about to start an after-school day-care next week and will start with the kids from the crisis families we know. Recently two of them had their alcoholic mother die… and were sent away to an orphanage. Four of them that regularly come to church are still here though and we’ll start with these two lads and two girls – feeding them, helping them with homework, playing with them and doing a devotional with them. There are many more in our town, but we chose to keep the numbers to four for the first few weeks. I’m excited at the step… and to see Jemi giving of herself with enthusiasm so that this takes flight… as well as to see the number of people from our church who are willing to serve in different ways to love these kids.

Cheryl has been running a kindergarten type program in her home three mornings a week for the kids with Christian parents who come to church. She will likely move that down to the church building within the next couple of months… if we are able to complete the room for that as well as finish the plumbing. Cheryl does an amazing job, and the children are learning good character as well as some English. The parents sure appreciate that her standards back up what they are wanting to teach at home, too. God is glorified.

I’ll finish up hoping to hold your attention for a moment longer…

We are worshippers of God. We have just gone through the book of Hosea as a church and been reminded of the way the Israelites were worshippers of God. They were like most of us in that they weren’t full-time worshippers. (God accused them of being adulterers.) My point in mentioning this isn’t to heap more condemnation on our very worthy heads, but to remind you of a simple and beautiful truth: You are a worshipper of God. What a privilege to understand your calling! You give Him glory by worshipping Him in the minutes of your days.  When I see Christians doing that, it’s a mighty encouragement. 

May you and I worship the Only True Loving God well!