Joe Ragan

I just finished reading Joshua last week.  I love this book and enjoy reading every time I do.

As a student at Southwestern Seminary, one of my professors told us that whenever we see a word or phrase repeated we should pay close attention to what the Lord is saying.  One of the words or phrases often repeated in Joshua is the phrase “be strong and courageous.”

The opening verses of Joshua find those words often repeated.  However, there is one that I especially paid attention to this time: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9 ESV)

God was preparing Joshua for what might seem like an impossible task.  He was going to lead the Israelites into the land which God had promised them after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  He had made this promise to Moses and now the time had come for Him to fulfill this promise.

I believe God was preparing Joshua mentally and spiritually for what was about to transpire.  They enjoyed many victories and a few set backs that were caused due to their disobedience.  By the time the book concludes, we see that God gives them victory wherever their foots set upon and they enjoyed peace with their neighbors.  God also fulfilled what He said to Joshua in verse 9.

A few years ago, as I was about to go through one of the most painful and difficult times in my life, the Lord drew my attention this promise: “I will be with you.”  This is my paraphrase from the various ways it is stated in the Old and New Testaments.

Oh, how I clung to this promise during those “dark days” in 2009.  Ultimately, this promise helped lead me through those days and continues to lead me to this day.  Whenever hard times may come upon me, I lean on this promise to help me see through those times and, hopefully, see the blessings that await on the other side.

Through this study a few years ago, I was ultimately reminded of Jesus’ last words to His disciples in Matt 28:20,  “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  I look at this kind of like bookends, God promised the Israelites as the Old Testament opens, and Jesus reassures His followers He will do the same.

Much comfort to come from those words… rest in them.

The last few days the sun has been shining and the temps have finally crawled above freezing and thoughts are turning toward spring and what God has in store.  Before long, summer will be here and June is looking to be extremely busy with Euro 2012.

Before then, however, I am looking forward to a busy spring.  I met with one pastor yesterday for an hour and was invited to help do some training with their youth.  I am fully aware that the youth are our future and we need to spend time getting to hear their hearts and what they are passionate for.  They are learning how to balance their passion for God with their need to earn money.

I am traveling to Kiev on Thursday to pick up a couple of college students who will be here until the first of June.  I am excited for them to be here and be used by God.  Pray with me that God will open many doors for them while they are here.

Next week, the weather forecast calls for highs in the upper 40′s and  lower 50′s.  I am hopeful that with the warm up there will be more chances to be outside.  Truly, thoughts are turning.

Sunday, March 11 found me in the small town of Selidova.  It is about 40 km from Donetsk.  It was my first time to this town and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Artyom is part of a group studying Experiencing God with me.  He just finished his medical studies from Donestk Medical University and is now doing an internship in a hospital in another city.

Several years ago, his family sold their house and other things and moved to Selidova.  They found a building and purchased it to begin a church in the city.  They turned part of the building into their residence.

Vladimir is Artyom’s dad and is the leader of the church of around 20 members.  Another young man, Igor, who also attends the Exp God  group, desires to help this church.  Igor is one of the first people I met upon moving to Donetsk and I am excited to watch how God wants to use him.

Artyom and his sister led in the praise and worship time.  Vladimer led the church in a time of prayer and then I shared my testimony in how God moved me to Ukraine the first time more than 18 years ago. (I cannot believe that much time has passed!)

After I shared, Vladimir spoke from Genesis 32:24-30.  It is the story of Jacob wrestling and receiving a new name, Israel.  Vladimir had titled his sermon, “Lord, tell me who am I?”

Vladimir preached with great passion that I have rarely seen in this part of the world.  I truly felt the Spirit of the Lord in the place and I was tremendously blessed.  I was reminded that Christ has already been victorious and that I should live my life accordingly.

Who am I?  I am loved by Christ, forgiven by His blood and eternally secure by His resurrection.

It’s Saturday in Donetsk and winter still has a grip on us.  However, the last three days we have had sunshine and I am so thankful for it!  It’s amazing what a little sun will do to your attitude after months of not seeing it very often.

As I typed the title of this post, it took me back to my childhood and watching the Flintstones.  I loved the Flintstones and remember a particular song from one of their shows featuring Pebbles and Bamm Bamm singing “Open Up Your Heart (Let the sunshine in)”.  You can catch it here.   It was interesting to read that the young girl singing the song with her mother received only $500 back in those days.

I try to be thankful, even in the small things so I am extremely thankful any time the sun shines, especially in the winter.  As I was driving to the car wash, I was excited to be out enjoying the weather and the sun.  Even while sitting in the long line to get the car washed, I was celebrating the blessing the Father had given me this day.

Tomorrow the weather promises to be the same.  This excites me as I am traveling to a village church tomorrow morning, so it will be great to be out and enjoying the sun some more tomorrow.  Thank you Father for the gift of the sun today.

Since leaving Donetsk on Friday night I have had little to no access to the internet.  I have gone to McDonalds several times, however, their internet was working poorly or not at all.

I am testing a modem from one of our mobile companies and not too pleased with it.  It takes 20-30 seconds for a page to load and often the system will go offline.

Today happens only every 4 years.  Leap Day, Feb 29!  I remember a couple of people in my high school having birthdays on this day and they only getting to really celebrate their day every 4 years.

I am in in Kiev, attending a class on Strategy for organizing new churches.  The class is all in Russian and I have been pleased that I am understanding much of the lessons.  Being in class this week has also made me miss the intellectual stimulation brought from discussing ideas, etc in the classroom.

It has been great hearing from many of the brothers.  There is a brother from Azerbaijan and then the rest are from either eastern or western Ukraine.  Diverse cultures for sure!

However, great it is to be studying in class, I am ready to be home in Donetsk!  Ready to get winter over and that spring brings new opportunities.

I hope you have a great Lead Day and for those born on this day… Happy Leap Day Birthday!

The sun doesn’t shine often during the winter in the part of the world where I live.  So, when it does, one likes to get out and take advantage of it!  Thursday, I did just that!

It was a beautifully clear morning!  The sunshine beaming down on me and lighting up the room is what woke me up.  Of course, once I realized that the sun was out and the sky was clear, I jumped out of bed.  Immediately, I thanked the Father for the day and for offering this beautiful weather.

You see, I have guest at my house right now, and as it happened, I had planned for us to go on a long walking tour of the city, so the beautiful weather was a BONUS!  After breakfast, we bundled up and headed out.

First, I took Cile and Glenn to the Iron Works Park.  This park is developed in 2001 and has a variety of sculptures lining the walkways of the park.  They have sculptures of all the horoscope and recently developed a whole section devoted to the Euro 2012 championships.

With the sun shining brightly, it was a warm morning.  We walked along Artyoma street, the main street in the downtown area.  We walked past the central Orthodox church, universities and other businesses lining the street.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take them to see Paul, Ringo, John and George and the Liverpool complex.

We walked past the central library and the 5 star Donbass Palace and made our way to Lenin Sq.  Lenin still stands proudly over the square named after him and where multitudes of activities happen throughout the year.

We made our way to La Semeuse Coffee shop.  It had been more than a month since I had been there, so it was great to talk with my friend, Marat, for a few minutes before he headed out to their other new location.  I enjoy the atmosphere of this small shop.

Leaving there, we made our way to Pushkina Boulevard and walked back to my apartment.  I decided to take them to a souvenir shop near my apartment and we passed a Ukrainian lady who stopped us because she heard us speaking English.  She was a delightful lady who wanted to practice her English.

I love winter for the most part.  Growing up in Texas we never had much of the season, so as I have lived here, I have grown to appreciate it.  I don’t like that it can last for months and months and I am already longing for spring.  It is coming I know, but until then, I need to relish the days left of winter.

Today I drove up to Izum to meet colleagues from Kharkov, who were delivering some other colleagues from Budapest who are staying with me the next few days.  It was a nice drive up and didn’t get too bad until I almost got to Izum.

My colleagues were familiar with a place on the south side and so I stopped and waited for them to show up.  The place had a small cafe there and so we enjoyed a great meal that was reasonable.

The colleagues from Budapest piled into my car and we drove back to Donetsk just in time to get ready for the pizza party planned for tonight at my place. I love the chance to meet new people and was pleasantly surprised by all the folks who showed up.

We had some great conversation and fellowship time and then enjoyed pizza.  The pizza was good, but I really enjoyed getting to know some of the new people in attendance and especially the time with some old friends I haven’t seen in a while.

Relationships are important to our lives and I love the opportunity God gives me to spend time with old friends and meeting new ones.  Today was a great day to see that happen!

After my arrival home in Donetsk on Saturday, it began snowing in the evening and snowed all night.  So, a couple of more inches of snow are on the ground to add to what has already fallen.

I walked to the garage this morning to find my battery dead.  After living in Kazakhstan for 3 winters, you would think that I would have thought about taking the battery out of the car and putting it in my warm apartment, but I didn’t think it would be so cold for so long!

I shoveled the snow around the garage and then headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to church.  I was standing close to the street when a car passed by, covering me with snowy mud from head to toe!  For a moment, I just stood there wondering what just happened.  I tried brushing the mess off of me, but that made it worse.  So, I walked home to change clothes.

The CP team came over for lunch and to meet to do some planning.  Afterwards, a couple of the guys tried to help me get the car started.  No luck and they left.  I decided to go buy a battery when I met one of my neighbors.  He offered to help and we worked for over an hour to get the car started.

Finally, I called my mechanic.  I hate calling him on Sundays as he is also a pastor at the church I attend.  He offered to come and we worked on charging the battery for more than an hour and it finally started.  Almost 4 hours after I first started, meaning that I had been temps around 15 degrees.  My toes and fingers were cold, but not terribly.

The greatest thing that happened during the 4 hours: getting to share a little of my life with my neighbor.  I learned he doesn’t believe in anything spiritual.  He doesn’t call himself an atheist, although he said his father was.  I appreciated his honesty and felt our relationship went to a new level.

I did share with him that while he may not believe in a soul or spirit, he does have a good heart.  He stood outside with me for almost 2 hours.  He replied that he likes to help people, to which I replied, well, then, you believe in good works.  Like I said, it is a starting point at least to build upon.

So, while I may not have preferred to spend 4 hours of a Sunday in 15 degree temps, I found it all worthwhile in getting to know my neighbor.  “By this all people will know…”

At 5 a.m. this morning, my stress level went up.  My taxi driver sent me a text message saying that his car was broken down and he couldn’t take me to the Budapest airport.  I called the taxi company number he sent me.  Almost 5 minutes later, they called to tell me that they didn’t have any drivers available.

So, I had to hunt for a taxi number.  Fortunately, I found one and they said a taxi would be there in 10 minutes.  After 15 minutes I called to find out where the taxi was as my time was running out!  As I was talking to the dispatcher, the taxi showed up.  I quickly got in the cab.

We arrived at the airport and the line was long.  Fortunately, I was able to get my boarding passes at the quick check in, but still had to wait to check my luggage.  There were 3 young Hungarian guys in front of me obviously on a ski team.  They had lots of luggage.  One of the Austrian ticket agents spent the rest of her morning getting them checked in.

Our plane was actually delayed leaving Buda for a couple of passengers, who happened to be these skiers.  They sat in front of me on the plane and I learned that they are biathletes  I had an idea what that meant, but asked one of them to be sure.  It is cross country skiing and rifle shooting.

My dear friends, Antonina and her brother, Artyom, met me at the airport.  They have done this a couple of time now.  They brought me home and Toni had prepared lunch for us.  How great is that?!?  A nice meal with friends waiting for me.

So what did I learn from today?  That even though my stress levels may go up and back down, friendship is what makes life wonderful.  Thanks to the great reminder from Toni and Artyom.

Thursday was a good day!  After more than 6 months of being unable to chew on one side of my mouth, the dentist finished the work of putting in 2 implants and a new crown.  A couple of hours later I enjoyed a good (and expensive!) meal at Fridays.

I spent the day outside as the sun was shining and it was above freezing.  It was a day of happiness to see the sun and being able to chew!