Joe Ragan

Throughout the month of December I wondered if winter was ever going to arrive in Donestk.  Even though it was cold (by a Texans standards!), it was not as cold as it could have been. As January 2012 rolled around, we had a few snow storms with a couple of heavy snowfalls.  Yet, after a [...]

Sunday evening found me at Gethsemane church in Donetsk.  This is the church I attend the most.  I knew showing up so early meant that I would probably be asked to preach and of course, one of the first people I see is Pastor Anatoliy. AND, of course, right away he asked me to preach. [...]

I have been in western Ukraine for the last few days and do not have regular internet.  Therefore, my usual Monday Morning Message will most likely appear on Tuesday night after I get home.

This morning I was looking at my twitter feed and noticed that my tag states: “Enjoying life in Donetsk.”  It caused me to think if that statement, which I have no idea when I wrote it, was still true today. I must say emphatically “YES!” First off, let me say that I have enjoyed every [...]

Eastern Europe celebrates Christmas according to the old Julian calendar date of January 7.  However, they celebrate New Years by the new Gregorian calender like most everyone else. So, I went to church on January 7 to attend a Christmas Day celebration.  Toward the end of the service they had prepared a video that was [...]

During 2012, I hope to spotlight different people who have impacted my life in some way.  Today I would like for you to meet Tanzilya.  Tanzilya, or Tanya as some of us still call her, is an Uzbek immigrant to Ukraine. Tanzilya was around 11 years old when we met.  I was living in Lugansk [...]

Happy New Year 2012.  Every January 1 brings the opportunity to have a “fresh” start.  Many people set New Year Resolutions. If the person is goal driven he may actually follow through on those resolutions, but I bet most of us aren’t and those resolutions fall by the wayside rather quickly. I joined a Bible [...]

Many years ago, I tried doing some NY resolutions.  However, I found by mid to late January I had stopped trying or wasn’t motivated to continue. The organization I work for started a process where I would need to have several goals for the year.  These goals must be achievable and related to the work/ [...]

Christmas 2011 is now a memory for most of us.  I enjoyed Christmas very much by hosting dinner for other expats living in Donetsk.  There were 10 of us and it was a good time. As I read Facebook this morning, I learned that my cousin passed away on Christmas day.  He had been in [...]

So, I was in Kiev last Sunday and heard my former pastor, Vova, preach from 2 Kings 5.  As I listened to him preach, I looked around me.  What I noticed somewhat astounded me!  Many of the people were taking notes!  I know that this may not “shock” many of you as you may see [...]