Thursday, November 28, 2013

Dan Perez #71 Monday the 11h of November Had an appointment in the morning to visit the head doctor in Ivano at the maternity hospital. As we arrived in the parking lot I notice the van felt different I looked at the front tire and it was totally flat, it was good that this happen in the parking lot. Had no time to change it then, wanted to meet with the Doctor because he is a busy man. He brought us into his office, my plans were to drop off the boxes and change the tire as soon as possible for we have two other villages to visit today. But we ended up taking longer than I thought; one of the things we talked about was abortion. He said in this hospital they do not perform this practice but said there are five clinics in Ivano that do. I stressed that this was sad, he said that this is practiced much more in the east of Ukraine. After some time we left his office he walked us to the hospital doors but outside his office door there were about ten people waiting to see him. We left some boxes with them and then started to work on the tire. We got four of the five bolts lose but the fifth one was a different size, we were able to fine a socket for it but as we were trying to loosen it the extension broke. Sasha went around the parking lot asking others if they had the right size, we finally found someone and were able to change the tire. By this time we had to cancel our appointment for the first village and dropped off the tire to get it fixed. We loaded up the van with some more boxes and headed off to the next village called Harushka. We met with the principal in the school, then with the kids; this is a small school about 170 kids. I spoke to about 50 of them and they all listened, well maybe too well, they were so very quiet. Then went to the Mayor’s office is to see if he or the assistant were there. The Mayor was away but we met the assistant and she was very happy to see us! We had some coffee and tea together and she asked if I can come again, she will get some people together to speak with them as in previous times. This was something that I was going to ask her about but she asked me. She said there are some homes that need to hear this message and perhaps I can visit them too. I told her I have no problem doing this and will call her to work out the time and date! Tuesday) Had our meeting in the new place, Yaroslav and I spoke. Before the meeting I went over words and passages with Sasha. After Sasha interprets for me we then sit together and he interprets to me while Yaroslav is preaching, this seems harder to do for most interpreters. All went well and they listened well, can only hope it is reaching their hearts too, not only their ears! Wednesday) Had a good talk with Luba , who comes to the meeting here and in fellowship at the Lviv assembly. She had question about Christian living and needed some encouragement. She said she knows no other Christians and at work others want her to go to the Orthodox Church, she needed some encouragement! Then went to visit Ivan ( the man who got his leg amputated). He has been having problems with his wife, they are now separated. She left with their two girls and is now living in Kiev. Ivan is heartbroken over this and slowly is realizing some of his wrong behavior; he did most of the talking I could see he wanted to talk to someone. He asked me since I knew his wife if I can call her and talk with her too, I told him I will. I then closed our time in prayer and told him we can come again and talk more, he liked that very much. Thursday) Sasha came before the meeting and we called Ivan’s wife Tania. She was open to talking with me and shared her side of the problems and feelings much the same way as Ivan. They are not a Christian couple and I shared with them both that God needs to be part of their marriage if they want it to work, they both think this might be true. Tania was glad that I called and said I am welcome to call again; this was good because I was thinking she may not want to talk. I then went over a few passages with Sasha before our meeting tonight. Once again the Cain and Abel in Gen. 4 took most of the meeting. There seems to be some reason to want to justify Cain’s behavior but I explain that in v7 Cain had a choice and he chose his own way rather than God’s way and said we have the same choices today. The meeting went well and then I took them all home. Continue to pray for each meeting and for this couple that they would bring God into their marriage and into their hearts! In Christ our Lord! dan
Dan Perez #70 Monday the 14th of October, Arrived in Moldova safe and sound, Praise God! Was picked up by Gabriel who is from Romania a commended worker that has been here for a number of years. The village where the assembly is, is about two hours south of the capital where the airport is. We rushed back to make it for a meeting they were going to have to discuss the preparations for the seed sowers distribution. As the meeting started I greeted every one and just sat there not knowing what was being said. I started to get sleepy, hardly any sleep on the plane. They saw that I was nodding off and said to go to sleep on the back couch but I took a walk outside instead. We then went to Gabriel’s house and met most of the family; this is where I’ll be staying while in Moldova, a town called Cahul that mostly speaks Romanian south of the country. More than thirty thousand people live in the town. Tuesday) The kids went to school in the morning then Gabriel and I had breakfast and afterword went to a place where some were preparing for seed sowers and I joined in and helped. There was an older couple there from England what may also move to the area to help with the work here. We then went back to the house where I prepared invitation for the Gospel meetings and Gabriel went to pick up his wife from the maternity hospital. When he got back I met his wife and their 4 days old new baby boy, they now have one girl and four boys. The rest of the evening we continued with preparing the invitations. Wednesday) The kids went off to school and Gabriel and I went to distribute the invitation house to house. It rained some throughout the night and in the villages there are no paved roads, you know what that means, mud everywhere! Some of the small hills were difficult to walk up and I kept sliding down though Gabriel seemed to do better. Once we got up these hills there were two to three houses all this only for two or three houses, you got to love it! There is a heart here to reach the people with the gospel message which is good to see and makes it all worth the mud slides! Two and a half hours later our shoes and pants were filled with mud but were able to distribute all the invitations we had! We got back to the house and after dinner prepared more invitation for tomorrow. Thursday) The kids went off to school and Gabriel and I went to distribute more invitations. There was no rain last night so made it not as muddy as yesterday. There was another man that helped from the assembly here named Oleg who lives in the same area. As we were passing out these invitation we visited another man that lives in the area also from the assembly, he was doing a big remodeling and addition to his house. We then went a little further and came to Oleg’s house and stopped in for something to drink. As I enter the yards to his house Oleg tuned to me and ask ” how long have you been saved” with a serious look, he continue to let me in I guess I gave the right answer? We continued with the distribution and came short, there were still houses that did not get an invitation. We went into town and printed more out and went back to finish the area, we needed to hurry because tonight is their meeting night. All went well in the end we think the total was 700 invitations; the distance between houses and the rough terrain caused it to take most of our time. The meeting went well. After the prayer meeting I gave a little word to try to encourage the saints here. There is a large new building that has been purchase by the Adventist’s and has discourage some but I reminded them that the truth will always stand in spite of any obstacle that stands against it, we can never lose if we are standing on the truth!! We will be starting three days of Gospel meeting before the seed sowers and need prayers for these meeting! There will be some coming from Scotland and some from Romania on Saturday to help. Please pray for safety and blessing in this time and for this assembly to be strengthened, Thank You!! In Christ our Lord! Dan

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Report of our visit to Ukraine from October 23 to Nov 7th. (Malcolm & Jean Stanley)

I was privileged to have my wife Jean accompany me to Ukraine this time. She
had been with me in 2003 but not again until now.
We arrived on Oct. 23rd from England, where we had spent two weeks visiting
our remaining relatives and friends.
We settled into Flo Kancir's former apartment and spent time with Gilles and
Helene Plourdes as well as Agnes and Edmund Johnston.
As the Annual Conference was to be held on the 25th and 26th, things were
quite busy getting food etc. ready. There had been a glitch in the
arrangements for the location when Edmund was informed that we could not
have the meetings at the church as they had booked a youth retreat on the
same weekend, but we could still use the sleeping accommodation. This meant
that another venue had to be found in another church. This was done but the
place was almost a half hour from the sleeping quarters, hence a lot of
shuttling back and forth.
Well all things worked out and it was felt that all were blessed by being
there. We believe there were about 60 people present from several different
locations. A brother from N Ireland, Leslie Craig was one of the invited
speakers along with Nick Mazerolle and me from Canada.
We stayed for the Lords Day as the assembly in Lviv and then headed back to
Ivano frankivsk for the meeting at 5 pm. There were a nice number out but
Dan Perez, who is in Ivano until early January, had not been able to get
hold of some of the regulars to let them know we were back. We let those who
were out to meeting, know that we had booked a room in the centre of town to
have meetings on a trial basis beginning on the following Tuesday. We felt
the need to move the meeting out of the apartment for various reasons.
As Jean and I had only limited time we wanted to do two things. One was to
sort out as many of the 40 or so boxes in both the apartment and a brother's
garage. Well Jean set to, getting boxes sorted into the various categories,
men, women, boys, girls and little children. The other priority was to
deliver the boxes as soon as possible.
We started with a run to two homes for mentally handicapped boys and men. As
usual, we were well received and had the opportunity to speak to a large
number of staff in both locations.
The condition of the roads still leaves much to be desired and adds to the
weariness of the day.
We had institutions or individuals to visit each day as well as meetings on
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoons. We visited Petriliv village, a
favourite one for me, and met with the lady mayor and then in the school of
only 35 students now. This village is dying gradually as the old people are
dying, 17, this year, and young families move away for work. We also visited
the "Half Way House" in Ivano as we call it, but there were no children as
they were doing a complete renovation, prior to opening again next month
with a different program for the children they get from the streets and
abusive or neglectful homes.
We had a lovely visit with our long-time friend Natalia, who is failing more
and more from MS. She is so sweet and never complains though now completely
bed ridden at only just over 40 years old.
I should say that we were breaking in a new interpreter, a young man named
Sasha who is one of the sons of Oleg and Oleh. He is doing well but has a
lot of bible words to learn and translate.
We were invited out to our former interpreter, Svetlana's, mother for a
lovely supper. Svetlana is presently in Dubai working for a year.
Our last long trip was to Virhovina, near the Romanian border to visit the
school where we had installed indoor toilets 2 years ago. We found they are
only now putting in the sewer pipes to connect to the city. Oxana is the
principal of this school of over 400 students, 200 of whom board at the
school from Monday to Friday. We invited her to meet us for lunch, intending
to treat her but when we got to the cafe, she had phoned ahead and ordered a
meal and refused to let us pay.               The last time I was there, I
mentioned that we didn't mind speaking to a larger group of students. She
took me up on my word and they crammed about 300 students and staff into the
auditorium! It was bedlam as there were grade 1 to 12 children sitting two
or more to a chair. We did our best but it was very hard to be heard as they
did not set up the PA system. We arranged to speak to classes in their rooms
next time.
The next day was a Tuesday and Edmund had suggested that they come to Ivano
and attend our meeting and then take Jean and I back to Lviv. We all met for
supper before going to meeting. I was fully expecting that Edmund would
speak at the meeting but he insisted that I give my "parting message". We
said our good-byes to the Ivano folks and to Dan who will stay in Ivano.
On Wednesday we had supper at Edmund and Agnes and, as it was the meeting in
Lviv I was asked to give my "parting message" here too.
And so Thursday came and we were all packed and ready to head to Munich and
on to Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg in good time.
It is always a bitter/sweet experience to leave Ukraine. We know how much
the people need help, both spiritually and materially, but the homeland also
calls and so, until the Lord sends us again, we come home to family and
friends.
Thank you, those who knew we were away and prayed for us.
God bless you all.
Malcolm and Jean Stanley

The Lviv Conference in progress
IMG_0411.JPG
Malcolm preaching with Brother Volodia interpreting.
IMG_0427.JPG
Nick Mazerolle, Leslie Craig and myself in the Lviv Meeting room.
IMG_0451.JPG
Morning Meeting in Lviv.
IMG_0459.JPG
Jean and I with Olga the lady mayor of Petriliv. (Peter Village)
IMG_0482.JPG
School children hearing a message in the Petriliv school.
IMG_0486.JPG
Jean and I with the school principal in Petriliv
IMG_0509.JPG
Speaking to staff of mentally challenged boys home.
IMG_0527.JPG
Speaking to staff of mentally challenged men's home.
IMG_0551.JPG