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Monday 23 October 2017

10 years of partnership on this "little project", and 10 things I thank God for.

10 Years ago 2 guys (who I love deeply for their gospel hearts), took a trip to Ukraine to see if there was a possibility of "killing two birds with 1 stone". They wanted to see if in God's plan its was possible to serve the global church with encouragement and deeply practical help, whilst at the same time develop their own men's ministry. After all church is often about kids and families isn't it? What do quiet blokes (who only talk about power tools, sheds and DIY projects) get to do together / talk about. On first inspection Ian and Mark were daunted by the possibilities of Ukraine, but in only the way that God can, he reassured them that their availability and willingness was all they needed for fruitful gospel work to begin. 10 Years later, I have just left Ukraine with our first construction project essentially complete. I have been encouraging men over the last 8 or so years to join me in what I think is the most profitable thing I've ever done with my time and energy. 
Why did it take so long you ask? A number of reasons...
1) Our "little project" turned out to be not so little. Housing up to 60 teenagers takes some significant space and resource, especially when practicalities are thoroughly thought out. Transition House is a BIG HOUSE!





2) Ukraine has not been without its "ups and downs" over the last few years. Wars, economic rollercoasters, DIY and building supply companies pulling out, embassies and mission agencies advising not to travel ... are just a few of the obstacles that we've negotiated by God's grace along the way. It is ironic that when people are going through really tough times, less people come to help because it is against the logic of health, safety and human wisdom.
3) When you start a gospel project, it is not long before you discover that the real substance of ministry is about people not bricks and mortar.  Ministry is beautifully more messy when people get involved, the theory is augmented by the reality of God working in time, space and characters. In addition to all the parents, grandparents and children of multiple children families who we now call our family, there are the church families, seminary staff, translators and not forgetting many team members from the UK. These people are God's people, they have become my people, my family, the reason I love to get up early for - the church in Ukraine is a pleasure to serve and to pray for.
4) The vast majority of guys who have come to serve on this project come with a heart to serve and rarely any qualification other than the enthusiasm to fit in. We have learned skills on the job. Some of us are now "skilled"  through practice. If you need some metal work fitting for a stud wall or ceiling, a bathroom tiled or a bit of plasterboard cut, these guys have a DIY qualification second to none.
5) I believe God has his timing (which is not always the same as ours). Had we quickly completed the project, had sponsors not moved on, would we now have the profound depth of relationship we have with these wonderful people? We have seen children grow into men and women. We've seen our friends from troubled backgrounds develop into youth-workers, children's workers, classy individuals with much to give and in some cases, wonderful families of their own. No amount of money can buy this stuff. When God saw our need, he came himself (John 3:16) and the golden jewel of all gospel ministry is relationship. Relationship grows and blesses when submitted to God's plans. 

In short this is much more than a building project. In God's plans this is an extension plan of his church, where new people are coming to trust in Jesus Christ all the time. It is a growing family, where each meal is both more open and yet more appreciated. Mealtimes in transition house are a complete joy. They are a rehearsal for heaven, when people from every nation will testify extreme gratitude to the God who brought them all together, for a purpose much bigger than themselves. God loves to take us out of our self centred comfort zone, and make us fit in with his much better plan. 

We will recount some major stories that will make you both laugh and cry over the coming months. This great family house will open in June 2018, and our involvement on a relational level will continue. However now the construction phase is complete, and we are looking to God with ready eyes, as he directs what he wants from us next as a group of blokes. We are very excited about all the possibilities on the table, however the bible studies we have done in Joshua over these last 3 weeks have really challenged us to expect to be taken out of our comfort zone again. When apartments are pristine you forget what it is like to ascend a 4 floor building without stairs, what it's like to travel on an outside "pully-lift" with a cement mixer, and  40 bags of cement. God is teaching us as a group of guys to man up again and be strong and courageous. So in an attempt to remind the fellas how good God has been to us - here is my personal top 10 things I thank him for today. The God who is the same yesterday, today and forever will not let us down, his gracious faithfulness is beyond comprehension. He is seeking people in trouble who need grace, he is bringing together his global people for great purposes. He is growing his family beyond what we can understand, so it's about time we started looking bigger, getting on board with his mind, and thinking his thoughts after him. After all his heartbeat for this world is still thumping with love, his Son has given everything - so who are we to hold back?

10 THINGS TO THANK GOD FOR in our 10 year partnership.
1) That many. many children have grown up in the amazingly loving context of grace baptist church, their three "Priut "shelters and multiple children family homes. Across Odessa there are trophies of God's goodness - people whose lives are on track because someone went out of their way to care in Jesus' name. God is good !
2) Peter and Lydia. Now the much loved grandparents to many many people. When they answered the call of God to love children in need many years ago, I don't think even they had a vision of what God would do. Now their children have children, now those they have cared for are caring for multiple children families. God is good !
3) That children and adults who have mental and physical disabilities have not been forgotten or sidelined in a desire to look after kids. The church do an absolutely amazing thing in looking after those for whom care is demanding and constant. They are in a good place under the shelter of God's people just north of Odessa. God is good.
4) We have had the opportunity to share God's truth in so many different contexts. I am always amazed at the end of a Sunday morning preaching at grace church by 2 things. 1) The Holy Spirit's presence at work through his word, into peoples lives. 2) That people come to kneel publicly before hundreds and confess that Jesus Christ is LORD. I shouldn't be surprised, this is what we pray for - this is the kind of God we serve. He is active and dispensing his grace and mercy which is fresh every morning. I thank God for all the opportunities we have had to tell of his love, and every individual who has committed their life to him, including our dear friend Alina last Sunday morning. God is good!
5) We have opportunity to be real with each other ... both in our morning devotions and throughout the day. Blokes get tired of pretending. Being honest about who you are with those you can trust is life affirming, exhilarating and beneficial, especially when done under God's word. The friendship we have after being on a team together is on a different scale of affinity and closeness. My team mates have become my best mates for life. God is good!
6) Blokes go home different. Whether it is seeing those who are in a struggling situation who make you appreciate all you have (especially in family) or those who are just out and out stars for the gospel... whatever it is, we all go back with renewed vigour to live for Christ where he has put us. I will never forget the wife who phoned me to ask "what have you done with my husband? He is washing up, he's spent the day with the family, I have a cup of tea in bed now, and the bloke who used to zone out in front of the telly is now zoning in to read the bible with his Kids." God is good... we have so much to be thankful for and so many opportunities to live well for him.
7) All our needs have been met and we have been given the privilege of passing on God's money. There are many times a new expense has arisen, yet God has enabled all the guys to fly out on their own expense, and all the materials to be provided for by the gifts of God's people. There are also time when individuals have responded to the prompting of God to give for needs of people. Is it coincidence that someone gave me £150 to pass on to the work just before I got on the plane 3 weeks ago?  The exact same day, a little friend needed some money for some help with his eyes / opticians. When I arrived - I heard about it for the first time and asked "how much it would cost ?" - how much do you think they said ?... Yes you guessed it £150 ! It is this kind of thing that turns even the hardest sceptic on our teams into committed followers of the God who knows and provides. I shouldn't be surprised, the bible says he knows how many hairs still remain on my head... (Matt 10:30) God is good! 
8) There is an army of people praying for us. The texts, the private messages, and the people I know who are praying for us, have been the fuel in our tank. The God who answers prayer has been with us, answering every sort of prayer we can think of, from that of eternal significance to issues of power and water. God is good to you and me today.
9) The generosity of those who have given. I will never forget my niece being one of the first to give of her pocket money in a desire to get "project Odessa" off the ground. God is not interested in how much you give, but how you give. The cheerful gifts of those who don't have much are precious to God, and many have given in this way. Pocket money gifts will never make the business pages of the broadsheets, but they have been invested in the God who is never our debtor. He knows, and has taken the loaves and fish and done something massive with the little we have brought before him.
10) In thinking we have come to serve, we have been served. There are those; who wash up for 3 weeks, those who clean our toilets, those who get rid of the dust we create, those who cope with 10 hours of SDS hammer drill banging into their living room floor from the basement. The servants of Christ carry a towel, bowl and a heart of humility to wash the messed up with grace. We have been blessed to discover more servants of Christ than we could've ever expected. Odessa has some messed up people, and some messed up situations in it, but Jesus is the answer and Christlike servanthood is the method to win a nation... these folks have it in skip loads. We've learned so much from your willingness to get down in the mess and lift others up. Thank you for teaching us the profundity of Jesus' grace in such obvious and practical ways. God is SO GOOD!

We could go on, but you've listened long enough. 
We'll keep you up to date with our growing plans for 2018, but for now ...
BE THANKFUL, 
with love, 
BLOGSKI.


Friday 20 October 2017

Project near KOMPLETE... 3 weeks komplete... schnips kaput, back nearly kaput but BIG SMILES ALL ROUND!

As we come to the end of our 3 week stint in transition house, things have progressed exceptionally well. Our hope was to fix metal frame-work in a number of places (very time consuming), so that ceilings and walls could be completed as individuals had capacity. As it turns out, despite a number of individuals struggling (with bad backs, knees and joints etc), God has helped us achieve some tangible finish points.

  • Main hall, electric,  metal work,  and all ceiling boards - KOMPLETE
  • 2nd hall, electrics, metal work for ceilings and boxing in, all ceiling plasterboards - KOMPLETE
  • Changing room, metal work for ceiling, electrics and all plasterboard- KOMPLETE
  • Back entrance Hall metal work and OSB walls and 2 doorways KOMPLETE
  • Rear Hall, metal work and boarding for walls metalwork and plasterboard (+electrics), plus floor-tiling KOMPLETE
  • Technic room, metal work on walls and electrics KOMPLTE
  • Large Communal room, flooring, feature walls (tiling) walls, electrics, ceiling, ceiling cannopy (for presentation area) metal work and plasterboarding  - KOMPLETE
  • Kitchen area, Flooring, metalwork ceiling Komplete (awaiting electrics)
  • Front hallway, flooring KOMPLETE
  • 2 Bathrooms, TILING KOMPLETE
  • STAIRWELL CEILING metal work KOMPLETE
  • LARGE Front hallway into MAIN HALLS and CHANGING ROOM, boarding, electrics, ceiling metal work and plasterboard KOMPLETE..
  • Entrance stairs are now also tiled and looking GOOOOOOD!
 In short the basement is nearly KOMPLETE in construction, what remains in the main is cosmetic (filling, plaster and paint). This means that the building is just about KOMPLETE

We are so looking forward to 2 things
1) The day (expected to be JUNE) when the building has its grandopening
2) Going bowling again with  the children. Tonights 10 pin bowling was the funniest thing you have ever seen - We were able to take 25 of our friends to PAPASHON, a lively (loud DJ'd) alley whcih just ramped up the hype (and children ready for bed) more and more. Mark was singled out by the glamorous compare to win numerous prizes which he kindly donated. The coolest of the prizes was definately the lollipop, closely followed by the free time in the ball pool.

Our bodies have some aches but our photocards, hearts and spirits are full - full of gratitude to GOD.
GOD IS GOOD - Hope you can enjoy these pictures of some selected work, the photos may not mean a lot to you but they do to us. Please stay tuned as we fly home tommorow, more will appear hear - including before and after comparisons and hopefully news of our next projects and steps. Full of gratitude to God - this is BLOGSKI logging off in Ukraine for the moment, ready to resume in the world of less bumpy roads (you try typing in a minubus on the way to the black sea camp)

Much love
 BLOGSKI
PS (oh and I forgot to tell say... Mark won the bowling - he wooped the kids - no compassion - but we're not talking about it!)












Thursday 19 October 2017

Amazing day of progress in the big house, even without our best buddy!

This week has been full of challenges. On Tuesday our great friend Emlyn had to fly home becuase his lovely wife was unwell and needed help. We praise God for Emlyn and Carol, and everything they have sacrificed and contributed to this project.  Emlyn contributes way more than his work (which features throughout the building)., His enthusiasm, love and generosity towards the children, endless supply of sweets, banter, arias and practical jokes are but a few of his best gifts. Most of all he has the servant heart that sets the tone for a team to set off on the right foot. We miss him and pray for him, but rest assured the team have carried on with the tone he set (just with less sweets.)


This evening we have been to Priut (church home) to share some fun with our younger friends, it has been the best if times. Mark introduced them to the electronic shock game (I hope they don't need counselling). There were more giggles per hour than I can ever remember having anywhere. It was also fab to chat to some of the older teenagers about them getting into transition house soon. I look forward to making them a brew next time I visit transition house. I will post more photos tomorrow of the completed work and our evening out.
...However... today we would really appreciate your prayer as we consider the very important decision making we are contemplating. You will see from the photos tomorrow that we really are very near completion of this big house. Over the last three weeks we have met some amazing people who have helped us explore future projects both here in Ukraine and further affield. We do not know where God will send us next and how things will pan out, we just know these 5 things.
1) God is speaking to us and teaching us to trust him for the way ahead, and the completion of Transition House will mark the end of an amazing journey of faith, We don't know how God has done this really, we look back and trace his amazing goodness. We would love to have other adventures like this in his plans if that is what he wants.
2) We want to carry on supporting our friends here to keep going. We see this as a family thing, This is not a project, these are our people, we love them, and they are God's people which means our friendship will last into eternity.
3) We know that the world is a very broken place so we are not ruling out those places where war and relational mess leave a trail of destruction.
4) There are some small projects which would make a huge difference, we might look at these in the interim before the next project starts.
5) We can't comprehend how much more God has given us than we have given him. We've done a bit of glorified DIY and yet we have gained lifelong friends, met some of the lovliest people on the planet, and had the privelege of meeting some absolytely  fantastic kids who appreciate everything they have.

Thank you for your prayers, especially in the decisions we make,
speak tomorrow as we sumize our trip,
Big love from the BIG HOUSE
BLOGSKI

Sunday 15 October 2017

Tag building, a growing church family and the start of week 3.

The last 48 hours have been an emotional rollercoaster, but an amazing testimony to how God brings people together for his glory. Friday night was the start of our Airport trips the other side of the city (in the swanky new arrivals terminal) . I really appreciated some quality time with my wonderful brothers Pieter and Sergio. We talked about many things (some deep lessons from life, and some not so deep things like how to grow apples and pick them in a proper way). Pieter has sown unsparingly into the orphanage work. He is now reaping the fruit of a life well lived for God. Those he has invested in are now having their own wonderful families and blessing Pieter with them.
On Friday evening we welcomed 6 great fellas from Gwersyllt, and started tucking into pizza as midnight approached. Blurry eyed, early Saturday we said goodbye to John D, Rob, Nick, Dennis and Ken. I thank God for each of them, their work, their encouragement and genorisity to God's people here in Odessa.


They leave behind much more than a load of pristine and perfect metal work. They leave behind a legacy for a future generation. When people ask - who built this wonderful home, they will say - good men who put their heart and soul into it because they loved Jesus Christ and they love people.
Saturday morning we also collected another 4 fellas from Gwersyllt.
The new guys got stuck in immediately in the basement - this is tag ceiling construction.

Sunday morning we started by praying together; for the week, our families and churches at home, and the church here in Odessa. I had the privilege of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and how we can have a new start in him (as individuals and churches). Praise God one of our young friends from the shelter at Church publicly commited her life to live for Jesus Christ. God is good. We then had lunch with our good friends pastor Igor and Svetlana Kucher. It was wonderful to hear of both what God is doing in Ukraine in his church, and the great possibilities of the growing orphanage and transition house work in the future. This afternoon we went for a walk and did all the "touristy things" in the city center. We also drank some seriously good coffee for 60p.
I will post more of our final week's projects tomorrow (internet providing), but for now there is a need for rest.Yours with love, gratitude and now also with the Barry White voice, BLOGSKI.

Thursday 12 October 2017

We are winning (we think)!

Good evening blogski friends,
It is fair to say we have been working like trojans today and feeling some of the effects of doing so.
Emlyn started the week singing like a BEE-GEE but alas he now serenades in the BARRY WHITE register. It is hard not to laugh when you hand him a requested tool and he says in the style of THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL "thank you very much". This is rock and roll basement building - life on the edge ! The dust and damp is a contributing factor to our aches, pains, frustrations and ailments, but praise God we are winning !!!!

The metal work in the second hall is going up apace. We also plasterboarded the rear hall and completed the rear corridor today. All in all the end result looks terrific but it has taken some perseverance.


 I will post full photos tomorrow.
 Here are some snaps from the last week...
Sunday evening the youth band led us very helpfully at church.

We were really pleased to hear our young friend preach and to see that grace church is giving opportunity to young preachers - he is wearing the beautifully handmade national costume.


Last week we were of course at the stunning opera house -designed by Fellner & Helmer,.


Yesterday afternoon was our trip to the camp.

This was the view from the top, the cross that can be seen for miles around. It is a happy holiday home for many children and families who come to hear about Jesus Christ.

Every day these three chaps are guarding Emlyn's bed.
The children generously gave myself and Emlyn their treasured soft toys to say thank you for the gifts that we brought. We have learnt from experioence that this is their opportunity to give, and we do not want to take that away from them. They are cheerful givers and we are humbly grateful to be trusted to look after such treasured possessions. 
Speak soon, much love from blogski and cuddly friends.
xxx

Sunday 8 October 2017

Week ONE KOMPLETE

Hello friends, just back from church. The rainy season has definately arrived !!! As one of our Ukrainian friends said, we can thank God that the thunder has not come (yet)


After another morning of encouragement at grace church, superb translation from our faithful friend Viktor and the choir on finest form, we had a wonderful lunch at church. Over lunch we met with church leaders and celebrated God's goodness in bringing us together as gospel partners. God is doing great things in Ukraine. To mark the 500th celebration of the reformation last week, Christians in Ukraine planned to meet in Kiev city center. Their estimate of 100,000 people gave the police and authrorities some concern, but in reality they needn't have worried. Nearer 500,000 turned up but there were no issues. God is good! Today is a day of opportunity for the evangelical church in Ukraine. Peter was also with us for lunch and was reminiscent of the times when things were not so easy for Christians. The bible says make the most of every opportunity, this is something we need to rememeber in the UK. I fear in days to come missionaries will be sent from Ukraine to England because of the tragectory of our nation. God has ways of humbling the proud, scattering the church and growing the church in the reality and honesty of hard times. Maybe the season we are entering in the UK will require us to listen more carefully to our friends in Eastern Europe who have gone through hard times before us, and therefore show the 24 carrot maturity of tested grace.

 Summary of week 1.

We have completed  2842 miles on a 'plane, 4 walls, 3 portions of ceiling, 21 beautiful meals, 1 opera, several souvenier purchases, too many boxes of busicuits, 6 chapters of Joshua, the delivery of 3 large loads of gifts to wonderful children, 1 city tour, sveral purchases of materials and tools, 1 delivery / carrying of many OSB boards and 40 bags of 25k cement,  and numerous belly laughs. Apart from that we haven't done much!

In a nutshell, we've achieved way more than we thought we could, and are raring to get cracking on the rest of the project. We're looking forward to the 10 guys coming next weekend, which will give us extra impetous tomorrow in a damp and dust filled basement. Thank you for being with us, as we hit the business end of the work, please pray ...
1) that we get ceilings up sharpish and that  all the complex alignments match for doorways, recesses and maintance access.
2) that we are a huge encouragement to the awesome people here who live to the glory of God and to love those who are struggling.
3) that we continue to work well as a team (it was great to hear from one of the pastors how our team ethic was a huge encouragement to him - and that he knew when he saw us at work that this work would soon be completed.)
4) that we can encourage each other in God's word to live lives of adventourous faith with great courage and stickability. 
5) that as we preach next weekend we will encourage the church to take fresh steps of couragious faith as they elect new leadership teams for the next generation.

In all these things we look to GOD who can do immeasurably more than we can think or imagine. I encourage you to listen very hard in the UK. If you listen carefully enough you can hear the sound of 6 men having their afternoon sleep. The walls are moving as we speak, but the heavy breathing is very jsutified.
 Big love to you all, BLOGSKI.  

Friday 6 October 2017

Fab Friday!

Hello folks, so sorry for the drop in communication. It has been a combo of 3 things ... drop in internet / electricity, a busy schedule and the need for r+r after a long day. We have been trying to make the most of the opportunities knowing that the weekend will bring wet weather.

We are just back from visiting our friends at church. This is always the highlight of every trip and tonight will go down in the memory for some time.

We were able to introduce our new friends Ken and Dennis, I think they went down pretty well :)

We were also able to share some small gifts which we pray will be useful for every day life in the Big house where 30 growing children need the odd thing or other here and there. All the gifts were a hit, but especially the 40 high school musical bags (thank you Kelly Ann - you star) and funky water bottles to take to school. We also heard about one or two needs, (things like prescription specs which are not at all cheap) so if you want to help, we would be keen to hear from you.
The building work has come on a storm. The guys are smashing the program, and doing an immaculate job in record time. Rob is the brains of the outfit ! He has clever lazers and everything ! The light show is completed by Emlyn's fascination with producing sparks with a grinder, it really is like Nov 5th every day of the week...

Apart from having way too much fun, we've managed to finish a number of walls and the massive sports hall ceiling is coming on really well.


Working with your neck stretching to the skies with an SDS is not the easiest all day. These guys are complete stars, and their heart to do this both for God and the kids is what motivates them - He is certainly enabling them above and beyond, there is a real buzz in the basement, and it isnt just the chorus of Makitas, stanleys and xtremes giving it some, it is the joy of doing something really worthwhile and having a complete laugh doing it!.
Some of us are being tested in our concentration...


Last night was pretty awesome with a trip to the Opera. Andre (who sings in the chorus) kindly arranged for us to have tickets  for a beautiful version of Madame Butterfly. Some of the guys had their own interpretation of the libretto, ("Bloke fancies woman, goes off, theres a bit of pollava and women tops herself just like in every opera (but manages to sing like an angel as she does")). Give or take - not a bad summary.

As always the hospitality is as warm as an electric blanket in the sahara, and the food is humblingly good. Lydia seems to have adopted a new method of making us eat 5 helpings. She now just wanders around the table piling our plates, knowing that we are often slow to go back for a 3rd helping when there are several more being kept hot in the oven. You have to bear in mind that there are a minimum of 14 of us for lunch each day.



I'd love to tell more, but we are in need of some rest, so hopefully over the weekend the internet will be better and we'll be able to upload some more photos.

Big love to our familes, friends and supporters. God is answering your prayers in an awesome way. Thank you for being with us,
BLOGSKI

Tuesday 3 October 2017

Tremendous Truths for Tuesday.

Hi great friends, supporters, and prayer trojans.
Today has been an awesome day when the privilege of being part of this great project has really hit home. We can summerise it in 5 truths.
1) It is a great privilege to provide good people with good things to do good work for God (who is always good). We had the privilege this morning of presenting our friends at transition house with the gifts for materials and tools that the church and friends in the UK sent us with. Exceptional gratitude was communicated to us, but our hearts were full and united  by how awesome our God is in providing for his people. We are very grateful to the generosity of the Barrane foundation and the churches  in the uk which enabled us to contribute to the provision of much needed resources at such a critical time in the project. We were able to present our great brother, friend and foreman Igor with some wonderful new tools, which will grately help us rattle up some walls and ceilings over these next 3 weeks.
We are thinking of asking the diy store to buy this photo off us for their Christmas advertising, with the caption "new toys make big boys very very happy!".
Truth 2) Ukranian markets sell everything !. To acquire tools and materials today (at great prices) Pieter Kindly drove myself and John accross the city where we entered the street market quarter. To say it was "eyeopening" is an understatement. You could buy any pet that was required, (whether to walk, eat or dunk) - I particulraly enjoyed the terrapins and tortoises. We think we counted 15 stalls selling tropical fish and numerous others with fairytale castles and plants for said fish to live a happy Ukrainian life. Of course next to the fish were... yes you guessed it ...the power tool stalls.. (I think we hid our surprise very well.)
 Pieter is a shrewd man. After entering "Aladdins cave for big lads in overalls" and signing the store card entry for maximun discount, we purchased one item and looked at several (hundred). We then exited the shop to repeat the process in several stores just to see if any of the store owners would buckle under the pressure and offer further discount at the prospect of multiple sales. They did and we exited as very happy bunnies, with a new Dewalt SDS drill light enough for ceiling work, a new angle grinder ideal for metal work, new intellegent drivers (ideal for boarding), and various magnetic spirit levels,  and drill bits ready for the mission ahead.
Truth 3) Ukrainian driving is ... unpredicatable. On our journey home we encounterd a section of road wherby due to road works, 6 lanes converged into 2. The large Ukranian man who drove the large artic truck decided he had chosen the slightly slower of the two lanes and so used a local custom / "temparary throttle system", in the hope that every time he dabbed the accelerator, someone would be gentlemanly enough to move out of his way. They weren't, and they didn't !!!! ...but praise God we escaped the carnage that ensued. There is always mess and mangle in this world when it is every man for himself !! We were grateful to be reunited with a team where everyone is united in one purpose, and where God brings people together to construct and not destroy.
Truth 4) We should be thankful for water and electricity. Thank GOD if you have both today. Yesterday we were without water, today it was electricity, (at least for a good portion of the afternoon session)  which just makes you appreciate how precious these things are - you can't do a whole lot of building work (or anything else for that matter) without either.
Truth 5) God is bigger than all the ups and downs of life. As we awoke this morning to put the kettle on and meet for our bible study this was the view outside our room...
As we started a new day we studied  Joshua chapter 2. It is all about a new day for Israel in God's forgiveness and a new day for anyone who trusts God in the mess of this world. Verse 11 says this..."for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." Joshua chapter 2 is about how God uses insignificant people in his gloriously big plans. Rahab, is known only for being a prostitute and a nobody up until this point. She is normally not into trusting men too much (it comes with her profession) ...but this new day she  trusts two men from God and puts her trust in the God who offers sovereign protection as we trust ourselves to his faithfulness. Reading the story in the big picture of the bible we see that this was the best of days for Rahab, her faith was exceptionally wisely placed. In Matthew  1:5, we are reminded that she was engrafted into God's big plans, and after being rescued by the good news of who God is, married Salmon, became the mother of Boaz, and ultimaely the line which produced the greatest tesminoy to God's faithfulness to all generations, the birth of Jesus Christ. As she professes that God is good, so her life becomes a staggering story of the God who loves to take messed up people and turn them into a lasting story and trophy of his protection and possesion. In turn she posseses all the privileges of a God who never ever, ever. lets down those who trust in him. Today is another day when God is faithful, his mercy is new every morning and his faithfulness lasts from one generation to the next. As a bunch of messups, we as a team have been blown away by God's failfulnnes in forgiving us, and bringing us together in his great purposes. God is good, however "not good you are", turn to him today, you can trust him,  he loves to accept those who do.

With deep gratitude in our hearts, some more walls and ceiling metal in sutu, and some shiny new tools in our kit bag. We have a good God. We have had a great day in his big plans. You are part of his goodness to us, thank you for your prayers and support - you know who you are, and hopefully you know how much you mean to us.  Much love till we chat again, BLOGSKI.

Monday 2 October 2017

Off to a great start!

"Chello from Ukraine"
We are here safely friends, after an eventful journey. Everything was fine until our arrival at the clapham junction of the airways, Istanbul. The weather was more akin to Manchester, and the torential rain seemed to throw the airport into chaos. Having arrived at our gate (212 if I remember correctly) we were then told to relocate to another (303 if I am not mistaken), before the same genlemen raised his hand to propose a trip the other end of the airport (gate 400 and something, I don't remember now - it is all very blury). We did eventually take off an hour and half late, leaving our welcoming commitee standing expectectantly in Odessa for the same length of time.Those of you who know Istanbul airport will know we succeeded in getting our stepometer quota for the month.  Praise God it didn't dampen anyone's spirits for 3 reasons. 1) We met a lovely guy who was travelling around europe sharing the good news of a new start in Jesus Christ. I was able to exchange details with our new friend with the promise to pray and keep in touch. Through happenstance in God's timing we had our own little Sunday service outside gate 400 and whatever. 2) John Davenport and Emlyn kept us supplied with confectionary which balanced / complemented the cheese (6 different ways) diet we had  recieved from turkish airlines, and 3) the smiles of our welcoming comittee made up for every inch of Istanbul airport we have explored (a number of times).

Here are 5 things we are praising God for today.
1) We have been thrown out of our normal rooms. This is a good thing... Transition house has made significant progress in our absense, both in building work and function. There are some new guests fully enjoying living on the second floor, and so we have been relocated to another part now in use for the first time. Praise God this place feels more like a big community every time we arrive.
2) The work which has been done in our absense is top notch. 3 Ukrainian gentlemen have worked solidly over the last month transforming the basement dining area from less than a shell of a room to a beautuful and trendy place to be. The floor tiling continues today, but this is a picture of what it generally looks like. You will see that the spacers are still in situ in the beautiful parkay type floor.
3) You will see from the large imposing shadow on the left that the "BIG MAN" was with us this morning. It's fantastic to resume fellowship with IGOR BANDURA, in the basement and celebrate all that God has done through the mission.
4.) WE ARE ON TRACK TO FINISH THE BASEMENT, COMPLETE THE BUILD and APPLY FOR A LISENCE BY THE END OF THE YEAR.  This is nothing short of staggering considering the extra phases we added to the project.
5) ROB HARRIS brought his new toy for us to play with... a lazer ... which not only gives off a pretty disco effect but saves us hours on marking out new walls and ceiling profiles from a blank canvas. This is the main reason we have had a great start and much progress on our first Monday. Not the best photo but hopefully you can see the clever red line which has transformed our lives.
We have had a brilliant start to the trip.
Emlyn is back in situ with his favourite angle grinder...
This is the "special" grinder that has an "on-off" switch which is
 more erratic than Boris Johnson's hairstyle. 

We have a great team system in play already, 1 team working on walls in the main back corridor and 1 on the ceiling in the large recreation room. Our Ukranian friends continue to work like trojan's creating tilling which makes even Rob's laser look wobbly.

We have started this morning as we mean to go on...
 We woke after a sleep which searched  for quality knowing that quantity wasn't an option, (our meal last night of fully stocked Pizza was prepared for us to kick off after midnight  - and it was a little rude to travel so far and then retire to bed). We started at 6 uk time with bible study and prayer. It is a great thing when blokes do this together, and you couldn't get a more blokey book of the bible than Joshua. He's a guy with responisbilities bigger than he can handle, but as he trusts a God immensely bigger than his understanding, he discovers that he is walking into the inheritance and priveleges God has already won for him. We are doing the same, our God is doing amazing stuff, and we have the privilege of walking the journey in his massive, good, and worldwide plans. For your prayers, kind wishes and practical support we are deeply grateful. This idea of a transition house was a "crazy big" plan, but it was Gods' plan and so it is nearly there. He finishes everything he starts. Tomorrow we raid the trade stores for new tools, please pray that accelerates the work even quicker from hereon in. We could also ideally do with some running water tomorrow as we havn't had it for the majority of today. From a happy bunch of smelly blokes, much love and appreciation, speak soon, BLOGSKI!

Friday 22 September 2017

Going places ! 3 reasons for an attitude of gratitude.

Hi friends, family and faithful supporters.
We'd like to encourage you to give thanks to GOD. He is awesome in all things, He does nothing badly and does everything to unimaginable perfection. For us as a team his provision and answer to prayer for our little project in Ukraine has been so encouraging these last few days. If anyone should have the attitude of gratitude today it is us.

REASON 1: A LITTLE ARMY OF GREAT WORKERS AND ENCOURAGERS
Many of us have been praying that we can give the work in Odessa a big push at such a critical stage. I am so pleased to share that 17 men are going out to Ukraine to work on transition house. Our desire is bigger than to build a few big walls and level some ceilings. We hope that in a small way we can encourage God's good people to keep going in the amazing work they are doing for children who need a helping hand and the care of a loving family. In a small part we hope to make a small difference to the lives of the 60 potential residents of transition house.

We have a great team provided by God and as we pack we are raring to go...



REASON 2: "ANY DAY YOUR FEET GET OUT OF THE BED IS A GOOD DAY"

I said to a dear friend a few days ago, "I hope you have a good day!". This was in the context of his many health issues, looking after his beloved wife who has been ill for some time (and will not get better), and numerous personal issues with his grandchildren and extended family. I regretted it as soon as I opened my big gob (my Nikes firmly implanted in it!) ... how glib, how stupid. His answer was astounding and gracious. "Thank you brother, to be honest we need to remember that any day our feet get out of the bed is a good day ". I want that attitude ! Today you are alive in God's world, he has given you breath. You may not have thanked him for that - but he did it anyway! Some of our team are matured like fine wines. They are getting on a flight with some small limitations (like knowing their next big birthday will be their 80th). They also however get on a plane with a BIG HEART full of GOD's love for broken and messed up world. Today is a gift from GOD. Jesus Christ has changed us from being a bunch of men who use to do their own selfish little thing, into blokes who have joy in working together in God's massive purposes. We know we don't deserve his grace, we get up today absolutely sure though that because of his forgiveness our lives are u-turned and we are going places with him. We just want each day to express appreciation and yes LOVE to him. Don't live today for selfish purposes, moping around thinking you are hard done by. When I do that I am the unhappiest chap on earth! Say today "for me to live is CHRIST", get over yourself and get stuck in.

REASON 3: WE HAVE AN AWESOME TEAM LEADER

Isaiah 41:10 says  Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.
  The 17 of us will start each day looking to our team leader for guidance. He is the one who makes everything happen and although he calls us co-wokers, it's a bit like me when I was 7 and my Grandad pushed me in his wheelbarrow to his place of work. He's the one who does all the hard stuff, we just hitch a ride. Over 3 weeks we're thinking about how JOSHUA was encouraged to walk into the inheritance God gives his people. We do not win the victory, we piggyback on the greatest victory ever won. Our job is to obey and trust.

If you want to come with us on the trip, please keep reading the blog over the next 4 weeks and if you are up for it, why not pray with us, we would appreciate that more than anything. We pray to the same amazing God wherever we are on his little planet.

Pray for 

Oct 1-14th: JOHN, ROB, NICK, DENNIS and KEN
Oct 13-21st: MARK S, SAM, ALUN, PETE, MARK D, IAN, DARREN, ROB, CHRIS, and DARREN CH.
Oct 1-21st: EMLYN and PAUL. 


We're nearly packed...

It'd be great if you can come with us by following the blog.
GOD IS GOOD!!!
SPEAK SOON BLOGSKI


Monday 7 August 2017

I love it when a plan comes together.


I don't have a pimped up Van, but a very "middle-aged" family estate. I don't have a cigar but a Bic biro has just moved out of the corner of my mouth ... I couldn't help saying it with a big smile... 
"I love it when a plan comes together"...
(as another guy signs up for OCTOBER)

Many of you will know that the transition house project has been a "GOD thing and not a man thing".He  has inspired, instigated (in the hearts of people) and progressed this from inception till now. His provision has been astonishing. In 2016 when we thought we were nearing completion, God prompted us to start an extra phase to convert the basement at transition house for community space, recreation facilities and learning / study space. We want transition house to be running at MAX capacity and be fruitful in doing so. 
What is transpiring is nothing short of amazing. Just like B.A. and his buddies, a few bits of metal and some OSB is transforming a dusty storage space where things were discarded... into something much better - a living space for precious young people (made by God in his image) to grow, learn, develop and be nurtured for lives of fruitfulness. 
October 1st -21st will mark the big push this project needs when men from the UK will fly out in a desire to do as much as they possibly can to get this place up and running as soon as is practically possible. Our job is to do what we can. To that end we have been praying for £27,000 for materials (what was calculated to get the basement converted and complete some other jobs on the building). Was this an Impossible task...?  especially when people had already given much, and maybe some had grown a little weary with this big project which has taken so much already. 
Our GOD doesn't ever get tired, and for each new obstacle in his purposes he gives his people fresh resources. Since that prayer was started we have seen God provide nearly £20,000 for materials. He has encouraged not only those of us who go out to work, but those who are faithful in seeing this project through in Ukraine. God is good, he always has been and always will be. 
What are we praying for now...?
1) The remainder of the funds to come in so that our BIG PUSH team can have as much material to fit in OCTOBER as their hands and limbs can cope with.
2) WE NEED THE A-TEAM - WE need a bigger team on this!!!!
We have 13 guys signed up so far, many have been out many times before. A couple more fellas have got in touch with me in the last 24 hours and we are trying to get them there, but ideally we need more hands on deck folks!!! This is a big task !!!
 I wonder if someone reading this can wangle a week of work to do something of significance with us. Yes on a simple level it is cutting , shaping and screwing metal... sawing OSB board and making some straight walls out of it. 
BUT ON A MUCH BIGGER LEVEL... we are part of a bigger plan (GOD's PLAN).

  • Joining this team helps us have a small part in changing people's lives for the better.
  • Joining in this team gives us an opportunity to encourage a CHURCH which has a wonderful heart for people who need help. They say "you can chose your friends but you can't chose your family". Maybe so... but I'm so glad God chose my brothers and sisters in grace church to be part of his family ! I want to do everything we can to encourage them to not grow weary in doing good. 
Maybe you feel insignificant - a bit of a small cog in a big world.

You are just the sort of person this team needs. We are all small cogs in this, but held together by GOD, and what he accomplishes when we all pull together is something quite awesome! He has this project in hand. 
In 2017, a crack commando unit was sent to Ukraine by a God who loves people more than we can understand. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security minibus to the FONTANKE underground. Today, still wanted by their wives to complete jobs at home they survive as soldiers of no fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, I wouldn't bother giving them a call....
but..
If you want to be part of something worth while, which may have eternal payout... give us a call, we'd love you to be part of the A-TEAM

Thank you to our faithful supporters, you know who you are -- and God does too. (Matt 6:4)
Praying with you,
Paul