Dan's Report No 6

Dan’s Report #6

Thursday the 23^rd the of May

Sorted some of the boxes before our meeting. Then got ready for the new Thursday meet, did not think anyone would show since it has been raining all day but seven in total were at the meeting. It was good to see Igor out; he works at the prison and was one of the men that came with us as we visited each of the prisons. He has been coming since we started these new Thursday meetings and seem to still show some interest. This time God’s Holiness was our topic. Thought it a little harder to discuss than last week’s topic of Love but all listened well and had a good time.

Saturday)   Cloudy and raining for five days now, each time the rain stops and the sun comes out for ten or twenty minutes then it starts all over again, and in the evening the weather drops about 20 of 30 degrees.

This morning I talked to Taras who works at the government building. He invited me to the opening of a new bike path in Ivano. There were a couple of camera crews and reporters interviewing Taras, as he was in charge of this event. About a hundred or so bikers came out to the opening. Taras said that if I wanted to ride with them he would find a bike for me to ride, though very tempted I decided not to go and said maybe when I get my own bike. After the interview all the bikers went for their first ride on the path as Taras lead the group. This reminded me of some of the biking events back in Chicago.

I then went to visit Oleg at his shop and had a good long take about the language, business and the churches in Ukraine. I look at these times spent with Oleg as part of my Ukrainian lesson and a big part of Christian fellowship! As I was heading home from Oleg’s shop Taras called and ask if I wanted to see his new apartment that he is remodeling. We met in the center of town and he had an extra bike with him so we rode to his apartment. We rode over two bridges and when we got to his place we had to carry our bikes up to the eighth floor, the building is still new and the elevators and not working yet.

In Ukraine the owners fix their own condos. All they start with are concrete walls, floors and ceilings; everything else the owner does either by hiring someone or doing it themselves and Taras is doing it on his own. He said it will take about a year before him, his wife and little boy can move in.

Sunday)   Another cloudy and raining day. I still went out for a walk and practiced some of my Ukrainian by using memory cards. There was an area where about 25 or 30 police officers were patrolling. Every block had about 5 of 6 officers on each corner. Today was some kind of national holiday and along came the Red Party, which is the communist party. West Ukraine has always been anti-communist but that does not stop them from trying to gain supporter even in Ivano.

On my way back to the apartment I saw one of the neighbors; he is a Russian man and asked me once for a bible in Russian. I could not remember if I ever gave him one so I asked, he said he did get one and I think he said he gave it to his son. During our talk the IPhone dictionary was a big help in communicating with him.

We then had our meeting and one lady who I haven’t seen in a long time came one hour earlier thinking it started at 4 as in times past but she came back at the start of the meeting. Another lady came just before the meeting was over at 6 thinking it was a weekday. At the meeting Yaroslav and I spoke, I thought that Yaroslav had a good message as he talked about the Word of God.

Eric and Margaret Fowler will be arriving in Ukraine later this week, please pray for their safety and blessings while in Ukraine! Thank You!

In Christ our Lord

Dan

Dan's Report No 6

Dan’s report #6

Saturday the 18^th of May

I will be staying in Lviv for the weekend with Edmund and Agnes in hopes that all the paper work that needs to be done for the new van will be ready by the time I leave Sunday afternoon. Had a good day spent with Edmund and Agnes then we all went out for dinner with Misha, one of the elders in Lviv. 

Sunday.  Met with the Christian for the remembrance of our Lord and as always I can say it was a blessing! The van was not ready so will try later this week to make the trade. Headed back to Ivano with Yaroslav and Luba, they took the three hour bus ride to be at the meeting.  This is not the first time, they have been coming to the meetings on a regular basis when we are not here. On the way to Ivano the exhaust pipe started to drag so I pulled over and had to re- attach the pipe to the brackets, this is the second time this happen and last time Svetlana helped in her white dress, I thought she was quite the mechanic.  Made it in time for our meeting, Yaroslav and I spoke and all listened well. After the meeting went with Oleg and Ola for dinner again, this is their usual tradition on Sundays, we had a good time.

Monday.  Visited Antonina, her son Victor was not there. I went to drop off the prescriptions to her. As we started to talk she said to me I have the answer, I said what answer? She said the one you told me to think about, what will you do with God ( not quite what I said). She said to glorify God and keep the commandments. I told her that was good. She asked if it was wrong. I said not completely and shared God’s plan of salvation with her. She listened well and hope it can speak to her heart!.

Then met with a family that comes to the meetings and had a long talk about salvation. Mikilo    (the husband) asked questions, like how do you know if the bible’s origins are true, I would try to explain then he would ask, how do you know the writers were true, then he would ask how do you know if the translation was true. I did what I could to make it understandable, maybe it helped? They then asked for help to buy a tester that measures your blood sugar level.

Tuesday.  Had our meeting today and it went well.  After the meeting boxes came in with two wheel chairs and two walkers from Lance-Au-Loup, a thank you to them for their care! 

Wednesday. Made a visit with Luba to see that young lady in the institution for the mentally ill here in Ivano.  While there the head doctor seem interested in us so I ask to talked to her and she welcome us into her office.  We talked about the young lady and had a mutual interest in wanting to help her. There is a lot of red tape that makes it difficult for her to get help but her mother might just be the biggest problem. After talking to the doctor we had a good talk with the young lady and gave her a few more bible materials and a hymn book. She use to come regularly when we had the time when we practiced singing hymns and enjoyed very much. I hope this will help her while she is in there to look to God and trust in his salvation plan!    Please continue to pray, much help is needed in our visitations and in each of our local meetings,

Thank You!!! In Christ our Lord,

Dan

Dan's Report No 5

Dan #5 Report

Monday 13^th of May 2013) 

I did some errands in the morning then made a visit with one of the ladies and her son that come to the meetings. I had a good visit as we talked about our health; many here are on some kind of medication and there is always a need for prescription drugs though I am not in support of all these prescriptions that they take. I do know some are very important for maintaining  some measure of health. We also talked about spiritual things and I left them as I did with some others with this question, what will you do with Jesus?

I then sorted some boxes with Svetlana in the evening. On Sunday Yaroslav told us that his son’s wife had a baby girl last night, we all congratulated him!

Tuesday we had our evening meeting, Yaroslav and I spoke. It went well and all listened well. It was also good to see Andrei out, this was the first time I had seen him since I got back; he was the father in-law of Vadym our old interpreter.

Wednesday)  I went to visit Andrei at his work, he left right after the meeting and I didn’t get time to talk with him last night.  He told me he was in the hospital for ten days and found out two things, he needs an operation and he has diabetes. He needs to take some pills for his diabetes and is not very happy about it. He thought this was the worst thing that can happen to him but then he told me that in the bed next to him was a man that was in worst condition and he thought to himself that what he had was not that bad after all.

Today I meet with Andrei at the charity, for the first day of his English class after their Easter celebration. We waited ten minute after the time and no one came so he went to plan B and I had a Ukrainian lesson, my first one since I got back.

Thursday)   Visited a lady named Maria. She has serious diabetes and cannot walk too well or for long but this never stops her from cooking something when we visit her. I always tell her not to cook for me but she just says “ sit and eat”. Then we went to visit Vitalic (Yaroslav’s son) and his wife Mariana at the hospital and saw their new baby girl. I talked with them about the importance of having a child and that it was their greatest investment with eternal consequences. Then we talked about God’s plan of salvation. They listened very carefully and can see somehow that the Lord was speaking to their hearts!

Then we had our new Thursday meeting. It was small again, just five of us and this time the whole meeting was spoken in English with no interpretation. At this meeting we talked about God’s love that all the peoples of the world experience while here on earth and the love of God that fewer people will experience that comes through the way of the Cross, one is temporal and the other eternal. They once again listened very carefully and the meeting went  very well, with all  thanks to our great God!

Friday)   I did some errands in the morning then got the van read to go to Lviv. The van will be traded in for another van that is a couple of years newer. Had plans to meet with Edmond and Agnes before meeting but left Ivano later than expected so will go straight to the hall. There were some improvements on the road but still took over two and a half hour drive.  A good number out to the bible reading, they are in John 17, The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. Many good things were brought out. One of the things in the prayer is the Unity that Jesus prayed for in his church(people). I would hope that unity would be as important to each one of us that are part of his church as it was to our Lord!

Please continue to pray, Than You All!

In Christ our Lord

Dan

Dan's Report No 3

Dan #3 Report.

Sunday the 5th of May 2013

Had our meeting but a small number were out some told me ahead of time that they will be away, I understood that others would be away for the Paska Holliday( Easter). This time is also a time where many go out to the fields to plant their crops so never sure how many will be out.

After the meeting we went to visit Natalie who has MS. She was able to talk but cannot move and it looks like the MS is progressing. Her mother was there and an orphan girl in her teens that the mother is trying to adopt. They reminded me that I have been visiting them now for three years and started to talk about our differences and said, Malcolm like to laugh, Howard is calm, Louie shows much kindness and me they said, I’m like one of them; not sure what this means but one of my purposes is to blend in with the people in order to reach out to the people, I’m hoping their comment was on the positive side?

Monday. Met with Oleg and Olah and their Son Taras and his wife Ivana( they are still in their first year of marriage). Being a holiday both Oleg and Olah were not working so they invited me to go with them outside of town to a new restaurant and hotel. The food was good and not too expensive this is always a plus .The place was very modern and had private booths on the lake  where we ate, they also had a cage with many parrots and a large cage with dear, peacocks and other animals it was a nice place.

When we got back to town in the evening I tried to visit this lady who cannot hear so well to drop off the prescription but once again she was either not at home or could not hear the doorbell?

Tuesday.  I was invited to Andrei’s house for some coffee and tea. He runs a charity in the center of Ivano. I meet his wife and two girls; they seem like a very nice family. His oldest girl is part of an exchange program and spends part of autumn in Germany and in the spring a German student spends part of the spring with them. Andrei can speak  German fluently.

At the charity he is having English lessons and asked if I can help with his intermediate class which deals with conversational English and in return he will start a Ukrainian class for me, I just may be the only one there. It sounded like a good idea so we plan to start next week. He is also a Christian and would like me to preach the gospel as part of an English class to foreigners that can speak English but have no church to go to. We will see how this develops! Had our evening meeting and all listened well!

Wednesday. Made an appointment to visit one family in a town called Harushka, Howard and Malcolm visited them last month. I made the appointment later than I would like because Svetlana will be tutoring until late. Her last student cancelled but instead of visiting this family in Harushka I wanted to go to the lady who can’t hear well to give her this prescription. I do not know what it is for or how urgent she needs them, so we knocked and rang the doorbell (that no longer works anymore because we drained the battery). But as we were about to leave she opened the door, hurray! She was pleasantly surprised that we put the effort to meet with her and even bought the prescription for her. We then began to talk about salvation and the “prescription” for our soul. I ended with telling her the most important question that she will have to answer is “What will you do with Jesus?”. I told her just to think about this question. We then went to visit the family in Harushka and as we got there they had dinner prepared only for us, they ate earlier. Yuri the husband said to me, so what did you have for breakfast? As I tried to think what I had and said a few things to answer his question he then said , brothers in Christ ask this question to each other meaning our spiritual food. I felt like I was wearing donkey ears for not understanding what he meant. We talked about the Bible and the teaching of eternal security and having a sound mind. He then shared with me the situation he and his family are in, living with the unsaved mother in-law. Yuri and his wife Oksana are Christians but not the in-laws. He showed us the property that was bought on credit and he is slowly fixing it so that his family could move in as soon as possible; we were able to help with some funds for materials.

Thursday.   I had an appointment for the Van today, the speedometer and odometer was not working. After waiting more than an hour they did a diagnostic and the only problem was one fuse, this was good news!

We then made a visit to a place for the mentally ill here in Ivano. One young lady that we know was put in there by her mother who, many think that she should be in there, not her daughter. We went together with Luba and Maria her daughter. Tania, Maria’s friend went with us, they were all friends and neighbors to the young lady in the home. They all came to the meetings many times. It was good to see her but not in that condition, they put them all on some kind of drug to keep them calm and they keep a watch on her so she does not escape. We brought a few things for her and before leaving I told to her to read her bible to keep her mind from flipping out! We plan on bringing her more bible materials.

We then had our new Thursday meeting, it was small just four of us but all spoke English and very little interpreting was done. I wanted to interact with them but I did most of the talking and they were very willing to listen! We talked about three of God’s attributes Love, Holiness and Justice and how Jesus was the fulfillment of all of them and that Jesus was the fulfillment of Truth and how Jesus fulfilled God’s salvation plan, it was a good meeting I thought.

Friday.   Made plans with Vitalec,Yarolav’s son, to visit some orphanages and give them onions that Yaroslav  had grown and if he keeps them any longer the onions will go bad. He wanted me to help deliver them to these orphanages. We went to the village in the morning to pick up the onions and met Hallya (Yaroslav’s wife) who knew where the orphanages were. Hallya stayed behind as Vitalec and I loaded the van with ten crates of onions and headed towards a town called Sniaten where four orphanages were. Then we came back to the village and had a little something to eat that Hallya prepared, Svetlana could not make it so my only interpreter was my iPhone which was a great help! We loaded up the van again with eight more crates of onions, now we headed back towards Ivano. One orphanage was supposed to be on the way but after spending much time to try to find it we found out that it was much further than we thought and it was too late to go so we went on to Ivano and dropped off half of the onions at a large school/orphanage in Ivano that I don’t think we had ever been to. Then we took the rest to another orphanage in Ivano that is run by nuns. They knew Vitalec and were happy to see him and were very friendly. They were having dinner and invited us to join them so we did. There are seven nuns and about thirty kids and some adults that live there. There is no age limit to how long the kids could stay, they can stay until they find a job or finish their schooling or decide to leave. It is not a school, just a place where they are being cared for. I think the Catholic Church bought the building and may pay for some bills but for the food and clothing and other supplies the nuns have to find donors. The two nuns that I talked to were very nice and can speak five languages though English was the least that they knew. After dinner they gave me a tour of the place and I asked if it was possible to speak to the children some day? They told me anytime I like just let them know.

Sunday.    Met with Andrei in the afternoon at the charity and was able to preach the gospel to those that were there, they all listened well. Afterwards they had a small English lessen that I sat through and saw a little of the method that Andrei it trying to teach the people with, he said he can teach me Ukrainian in six days? What an advertisement!

We then had our meeting in the apartment and both Yaroslav  and I spoke.  I mentioned how people come to meetings all their lives and everything they hear comes in one ear and out the other, but those here that cannot hear well don’t even get that far.

After the meeting went out with Oleg and Olah for dinner and had a good time together!

 Pray for these local meetings, to strengthen what we do have and for wisdom to reach out to those who have not! Thank You All!

In Christ our Lord!

Dan

A note from Dan and Malcolm. If anyone is talking to or communicating with any of the people in Ukraine who we know, please do not mention anything you read on these reports. Some of them are very private and don’t seem to like the fact that letters or reports are sent around the world. We try to hide things that are private matters that they may have shared with us. Sometimes we share things that really need urgent prayer.

Please accept this in the spirit it sent.

Thank you in Christ’s Name.

Spring 2013 - Report No 12

Report #12 

Monday April 30th 

The weather is still lovely but in need of rain now. A little shower today but not enough to wash the streets. We are glad to say that the roads are getting fixed in town and on some roads out of town, but not much progress on the road to Ivano, according to Dan. 

Ruslan and I headed out to Yosopowichi to deliver two doors we had donated to the orphanage. One a metal one for the back door and a vinyl one for a store room. A local man will install them. 

While we were there someone told us that a barn was burning on one of the properties in the village. A little boy had been playing with matches. Thankfully, only the building was lost, not any lives. 

I came home and we had pilmene for supper. These are little pouches of pasta with meat inside. We eat them with smitana, a mild sour cream. Really very good. 

Tuesday, my last full day, bright sunny and warm. Ruslan picked me up and we went to a large new Mall to get some school supplies for another internat named Veliky Lubin. This was the first orphanage I visited with Flo many years ago. It is now a beautiful place for mentally challenged children, both girls and boys. Some are not really orphans but have been placed here as their parents either didn’t want them or simply were unable to care for them. 

They are well cared for now. I spoke briefly to them in the dining room after lunch. Some are able to read so can understand a simple message. We then went for tea with the director who has done a marvelous job with this place.

Then home for my last supper with Nadia, her mother and Misha a brother in the meeting who is single and lives in the same block. 

I will not write again until I arrive home next Thursday. Thank you for your comments and prayers while we have been here. Don’t stop praying for Dan Perez who will be here for 2 months or more.

Dan's Report No 2

Dan, Report #2 

Wednesday the first of May. I had a visit with one of the ladies that have recently started to come to the meetings, her name is Tania. Howard and I visited her husband in the hospital last year. He had some disease in his foot and the doctor suggested amputation but he did not go through with it. He said to Howard and I, how will I work or find a job with one leg. He went on to tell us that he was in his early thirties and wanted to change his life. Well, this year he had to have the amputation. He and his wife Tania have two little girls a two and a half and a five year old. Had a good talk with her about salvation and she said she has learned a lot of thing about the bible since coming to the meetings. 

Then I was invited to Ruslan and Anna’s house for coffee and tea, they both can speak English well and as soon as I sat at their table Ruslan said I have some questions and that began a long talk about salvation, the gathering together in an assembly and the accuracy of the scriptures. I believe Ruslan is a believer but is confused by many teachings he has learned thought his years as a Christian. 

Thursday) We had our new Thursday meeting a few showed up and others that we called were out of town for the holidays. We had a good talk; one of the ladies said we need to do good because we are like God, I said but our good works cannot bring us to God. She then said if our good works will not bring us to God how can we come to God, thus the door was open to share of God’s wonderful plan of salvation and only hope this would speak to their hearts! 

Friday) Friday was a sunny morning and I cleaned the van inside and out then did some errands and you guessed it, it started to rain and was on and off all night with lightning and thunder. During the evening there was a knock at the door and it was one of the men that come to the meetings. His name is Roman a 71 year old man that cannot hear well at all. His home life is not good and he often goes for long walks just to get away. The apartment here is one of his destinations. Though he cannot hear well or knows any English he seems to have the skills to communicate simple and difficult thoughts and after a half hour or more he left reluctantly. 

Saturday) Luba and her daughter Maria came from her mother in-laws village (Sterra Lisets) to the apartment to drop off what is called Paska Bread or Easter Bread that her mother in-law made and wished me a happy Easter. Then I drove them home and the road to her house was one of the worst that I have driven on. Some of these pot holes were so deep that when one of the wheels is in the hole you can hear the bottom of the van touching the road, definitely one to avoid at all costs! 

We then went to another lady’s house that comes to the meeting name Olah, she also can’t hear too well but I wanted to drop off some prescription that she needed. We rang the doorbell till I think the battery died out. Since she can’t hear very well we were not sure if she could not hear the doorbell or if she was not at home. No one came to the door so we will try again another day. 

Please continue to pray for these meetings that the Lord will use it to bring forth fruits of salvation and for these visitations and for the few Christians that are here, that they may grow spiritually! Thank You!! 

In Christ Our Lord! 

Dan

Dan's Report - No 1

Dan #1 for May 2 2013
Thursday the 25th) I made it back to Ukraine safe and sound with very little
problems, just a few strange looks that may have been because of the hair on my
face? I met Ruslan , Malcolm and Howard at the airport and made preparations to
visit a village about two hours away the same day, all went well! Stayed in Lviv
and tried to do more visitations till Sunday.

Sunday ) Met with the Saints for the remembrance of our Lord. Afterwards,
Howard was being taken to the airport for his trip back home and I was going to
Ivano-Frankivsk with Yaroslav and Luba (they took the bus to Lviv to make it for
meeting) for our meeting at five. We did make it on time three hours later, road
condition were the main reason for such a long trip!

A good number out to the meeting, I and Yaroslav spoke. Soon after my last visit
Yaroslav was received into fellowship in the Lviv assembly and looks like he is
doing well! I think it is great that the people here can hear and see a Ukrainian, one
of their own reaching out to them with the gospel message!
Monday) This week began the Orthodox Easter (Paska) celebration and schools
will be closed for two weeks; then after Easter they continue celebrating for forty
more days and greet one another with these words , “Christos vos Chrest” (Christ
is risen) and the reply is “Indeed He is risen”. Kind of a nice thing to do or say but
too bad there is no conversion with it.

I tried to organize things here in the apartment then went to visit Oleg at work and
had a good talk. Came back to the apartment and tried to fix the back door to the
van, can’t get it to open but my effort was unsuccessful so will take it in to see
what can be done. Throughout the day I have been texting Taras, the one that
works in the government building. He then came to the apartment in the evening
with his big German shepherd and I am thankful he is a trained dog! We had a long
talk together and he is still showing great interest in salvation. I shared with him
the justice of God and how we will have to pay a penalty for our sins if we do not
trust in the finish payment of the Cross of Christ. He did not seem to mind and said
he likes talking about this and would like to meet again but we made no plans.

Tuesday) Made plans to visit one of the ladies that comes to the meetings Lessia.
It seems that she and her son a five year old, a cute kid will be in the hospital for
some x-rays on the son’s lungs. So we went to the hospital but could not find her,
this is a children’s hospital where Tania works, she another lady that speaks
English and has come to the meeting in times past. Tania took the information to
try to find Lessia in the system but she could not. We tried calling her a few times
but no answer,, She did end up calling us back and we found out that we were in
the wrong hospital, oh-well , at least had an opportunity to invite Tania out to the new Thursday meeting! There is no visiting allowed not, even family members so she came out to talk with us. I talked with her about eternal things and eternal life and hope that her young son comes to know Christ at an early age!

We then had our evening meeting and Yaroslav and I spoke and I thought he did a good job as all seemed to listen very well!

Malcolm will be leaving this Wednesday back to Canada pray for his safety home and that God will bless their work that has been done while he and Howard were here! And please pray for this Taras who’s having soul trouble that his soul may find rest in Christ and that others here may find this same rest!

In Christ our Lord!

dan