Bryan Shufelt

I received this in my inbox the other day from Family Research Council and though I would share it with you. 

Where Poppies Blow

Until about 40 years ago, Memorial Day was observed–not celebrated–on May 30 every year. Eager Cub Scouts would work their way through the crowds at small town parades selling bright red artificial poppies. In reviewing stands, graying veterans would salute or place their hands over their hearts as high school bands marched by. Often a young girl would be called upon to read the World War I era poem “In Flanders Fields” that describes the poppies blowing row upon row among the graves of fallen warriors of the Great War. 

You can gain a real appreciation of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery. There, soldiers of the Third Army, the ceremonial “Old Guard” will place little American flags on thousands of well-tended graves. Visitors will be told the story of Arlington, how Col. Robert E. Lee paced the floors of the Custis-Lee mansion back in 1861, praying and pondering. He had to decide whether to serve in the U.S. Army to which he had dedicated his life or to leave the Union with his beloved Virginia. The terrible Civil War that followed for four long and bitter years helped to fill thousands of graves at Arlington, once Lee’s beautiful hilltop home. 

When the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in 1921 at Arlington, President Wilson spoke as a Bible was included among the objects placed in the cornerstone of this sacred space. Today, 24 hours a day, Tomb guards march their appointed rounds, honoring those who have fallen to defend our freedoms. The bumper sticker dates from our own time, but the sentiment it expresses goes all the way back: “America–land of the free because of the brave.” 

Americans have always loved their country. We love our country still. And we have a special reverence for those who gave what Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion.” Even today, with casualties in the War on Terror mercifully coming down, there are still flag-draped caskets returning regularly to Dover Air Force Base. There are fresh graves being filled daily at Arlington–and across America. So great is the call of America that even foreigners feel its pull. The Marquis de Lafayette–a brave hero of our Revolution–took home to France enough American soil to bury his earthly remains. In recent years, Memorial Day has become the occasion for sales at the mall, cookouts, rock concerts, and days at the beach. Our fallen heroes died for this America too. They knew that a certain lightheartedness, of ever-youthful exuberance, is a part of what it means to pursue happiness. It is for all of this, the paths of laudable pursuit, the fruits of honest toil, that America stands. May we always be worthy of those who died to give this America to us.

All I can add is: Remember and be thankful!  God bless America!

We recently found out about changes made to the immigration laws for Ukraine. We are trying to get clarification on what it means. Please pray that we will find out how these new laws affect us, and that our ministry here will not be hindered. I will keep y’all posted on what we find out.

  Wednesday morning, Jessie, Josh, Abby, Edgar, Daniel, and I headed out to the Skole region up in the Carpathian Mountains.  (This is the same area that we went to in 2006 and part of 2007)  Once we were able to get out of L’viv (and it’s traffic), we had an awesome surprise!  The roads which they had been working on in ‘06 and ‘07 were completed!  They were awesome!  It was almost like driving on an American highway (no potholes )!  We made really good time on them and soon we turned of onto some mountain roads, and the jostling began  

  Our first stop was in a village we were in in 2006.  This village was the only place so far that a priest has come to one of our film showings (From some of the answers he has given us, we think he might be saved).  We found him Wednesday afternoon and had a great talk with him.  He remembered Josh from 2006, so that was great!  After a small amount of discussion about the movie (we will be showing Fireproof in this region), he said he would support us and even announce it in his church!  He then compared Jessie’s van with the Apostle Paul’s sandals  With the priest’s blessing we went to the village head and we were able to set up 3 film showings in the 3 different villages the head was over!  One of them will be shown the first week of June, then the other 2 will be back-to-back showings the second week of June.  Praise the LORD, 3 showing set up in the first stop!  It was a great way to start the trip!  (BTW, we generally avoid the village priests, in our experience, they do way more to harm us then to help us, but there are a few exceptions)

  The next village we went to we had no problems setting up the film showing, so we have a village scheduled for the 3rd week of June.  One of Josh’s secret weapons on this trip was…

Good Morning, Abby!

Children are such a great ice-breaker, esp. here in Ukraine.  The building the Steele’s live in has a guard, and one of them is a grouchy looking old man, the only time I see him smile is when Abby is there  So, Abby went with Josh to talk to the village heads, and we didn’t seem to have to many troubles

Our next village though, we hit a snag.  We hunted up the village head (he was at home), and after talking with him for a short time, he called the priest.  He talked to him for a minute then handed the phone to Josh.  Josh spoke with him for maybe a minute, then was told by the priest, essentially, that he didn’t want us there.  The village head bowed to the priest’s demands, so we had our first rejection.  We will probably try to go to that village later in the summer and do a literature blitz there, but there won’t be a film showing.

After this, we headed to the next village (actually headed back, we had stopped there on the way to the previous village, but the head was out).  He wasn’t there again, so we found out where his house was and started heading in that direction.  On the way, we met the village priest.  As Josh and Jessie started talking to him, the rest of us were praying.  In the mountains, there is distrust between the priest and any missionary.  The beginning part of the conversation was akward, but it became more relaxed as the priest realized we weren’t a sect, and we realized he wasn’t going to campaign against us.  We found out that he had already been showing Fireproof in the village and was continuing to do so.  Josh exchanged contact info with him (we might try to show Light of the World  there in the future).  We were also able to give the priest (Oleg is his name) a Good and Evil, so that was great!

We found a great camping spot, though it took a little bit for the van to make it out there (we took Jessie’s van instead of the train on this trip).  It was right next to a creek/river, it was beautiful!  Here’s some pix:

Josh - 'This is how a tent that doesn't leak like a sieve works!' Bryan - 'Ahhhh...'

Forget the ramen, Josh learned a great recipe that's a lot better from his climbing buddies. Good thing that we were there to cook it, though. Josh had to get help cooking noodles. Don't worry, we'll teach him by the end of the summer

Jessie - 'No, Josh, you put the noodles in AFTER the water starts boiling!' Josh - 'Ohhh...'

Jessie's van along with 3 REI tents and 1 Cabela's... We should get a referral rate from REI We all stayed dry that night!

Jessie did the devotional in the morning.  It was on the Proverb of the day.  Had a good discussion, then pulled out and headed to the next village.

  In the next village (Tuklia), we hit some snags as we were trying to get approval for the film showing.  Apparently, we’ll have to get permission from a center in Skole or Stree to be able to show there.  Josh got all the contact info needed, and we’ll be working on jumping through the hoops soon…

The next village head we went to see was over 2 villages, and we were able to get both village scheduled for back-to-back showings on the 4th week of June.  It was interesting for me to be back in that village, cause that is the place I learned in 2006 how valuable a good tent is (I woke up with a pond in my tent in ‘06).

We went to one last village and found out the village head was out of town, and the others in there didn’t want to say we could without his permission, so we got the contact info for him, and we will be calling him once he comes back.

Our little 'secret weapon' trying on my glasses

After that we started our trek back to L’viv.  Stopped at a really nice truck stop (of sorts) and had a great lunch.  We had a great series of discussions on the way back in the van.  Made great time with those awesome roads, and we were back in L’viv Thursday afternoon.  Then came the

tent drying routine

Overall, we were able to set up 6 villages with film showings for the 4 weeks in June, we have contact info for 2 more possible showings to schedule in July, and only got shut down (completely) once.  It was a good trip!

Today, I have my language lesson this evening, and we have/will be sending out 10 more Good & Evil fulls.

That’s all from here, for now!  God bless!

So, I’m still getting things back to the way they were, so please excuse the construction dust
(BTW, like the new header color scheme?) 

Pix break  
Sunday, all of us (expect the Beal’s) met after church at the Steele’s apartment.  (Alexandria was getting over being sick, so we didn’t want her to catch something else…)  We had lunch and then our game(s) of Catan.  It was a good time of fellowship and refreshment and, of course, food  Afterward, Daniel, Josh, and I pulled out our computers to use the wifi, and to get a few things done (including fixing this blog).  Here’s the pic:

Working on the laptops...

So, here comes the windows joke, if this will offend you, please skip this paragraph and go to the next.  There now, since all of the weird people are gone jk…  Here is the title Josh has for it on Twitter – ‘Of Macs and Men’  My thinking was – “An Apple a day keeps the Vista away!”  Both Daniel and I are Mac converts primarily because of that sorry piece of trash called Vista  Ok, now I’m going back to the normal account of the week.  :-P

Daniel Courter arrived Friday night for CMO.

Daniel Courter

He arrived about 2 weeks before the project started, so he’s been helping me at the Ministry Center (also known as my apartment, at least to me ) prepare for CMO.  We’ve been able to get a lot done since he’s arrived!  The room that holds all of the ETO materials (tracts, lessons, Good & Evils, literature, etc) looks really great!  I would put up before/after shots, put, alas, I didn’t take a before!  Anyway, Daniel will be living in my apartment until CMO starts on the 1st, which is also when the CMO apartment we are renting becomes available.  It’s been an encouragement to me having Daniel here.  I have been able to translate for him a little (mostly at the store and in greetings), so I can see my language studies have been helping!

Speaking of language studies, I had a really good lesson on Monday!  Last Friday, though, was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum.  I was soooo ready for the weekend after that!  We really had to wrestle through the concepts of telling time; though I had the main ideas down, the words just weren’t coming.  Then, towards the end, my brain placed itself on lock-down, so that didn’t help things either  But, they tell me that is normal…  Like I am ever any thing near normal!  lol  Thankfully, Monday was a really good lesson, so I am not dreading my next lesson

Tonight is English club/Audio Bible Study.  It starts in 3 hours…  We would appreciate your prayers for this ministry.  Tonight, Josh is teaching out of Romans.  He will be picking up in Romans 3:21.  Josh posted some about what he’s been teaching, to read it, click here.

Tomorrow morning, Jessie, Josh, Daniel, Edgar (a Ukrainian friend), and I will be heading into the mountains to do a scouting trip.  We will be collecting contact information from the village heads where we plan to show a film, and tentatively setting a date to do so…  We will be returning Thursday night.  Please pray for safety, productivity, favor with the village heads, and no interference from the village priests.

I added a twitter feed on the right hand column.  I will be able to update this while in the mountains via SMS.  So, if you don’t have a twitter account, you can check here to see what going on in 140 character or less!

Lastly, I found out today that a friend of mine, Joshua Muse is heading to Sudan for 2 months this summer to work with a pastor there sharing the Gospel.  There is a window of opportunity to share the Gospel there that might close next year with another civil war outbreak.  Please pray for his protection, boldness to share the Gospel, and for God to help him learn the 2 languages spoken there.  God bless you Joshua!

Joshua Muse

Keep your lights burning for the LORD!  There’s a big world of darkness out there!  It only takes a spark…

God bless!

We just finished a reload of my blog, updating/fixing several bugs. One of the major things is that you can now comment on an entry. I should have an update on here tomorrow.
Have a great Lord’s day!

Hope all you mothers out there are having/had a great Mother’s Day!

Some updates from this week…  We had 14 in English Club and 13 at ABS Tuesday night!  It was a great group.  Thank you to those of you praying for this ministry.  English Club starts at 7pm (11am CDT) and ABS starts at 8pm (12pm CDT).  If you think of it, prayer (esp. during these times) would be greatly appreciated!

An encouraging word about our Bible Course.  Denise did this research earlier in the week, and she passed it on to me.  We have already sent out over 300 lessons this year (since Jan.), and have had 31 students enrolled in our course in the same period with 66 of the above lessons being sent to them!  Praise the LORD!  It has been a great blessing to be a part of such a awesome outreach!  The best part of all these numbers is that we are only a third of the way through the year, and CMO (we usually get a lot of new students from this outreach) is still coming up!

CMO is starting soon!  If you would like to sign up for the CMO E-report (Weekly updates of what is going on written by different members of the team), click here.  Add your email address to the box in the top right corner, and soon you’ll be reading about what good is doing through the CMO project.

It’s been a great week here in L’viv!  Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the rement of our team in L’viv (Josh was in the crimea, and Nathan is in the States) went out to the Beals house in a village outside of L’viv.  It was a great few days of fellowship and productivity!  After a day of worship on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were started with Jessie and myself working out in his garden.  We cleared his fruit tree/berry bush area then planted grass seed to make a nice lawn type area for the Beal girls and the neighborhood children to play after it matures.  God only knows how that patch of earth will be used for Him in years to come  Inside, Kelsie and Theresa worked on the revision to Lesson 1 of our Bible Course.  Denise worked with the Beal girls on their schoolwork (no swine flu break from school here!  Though the village children didn’t have school because the bus was broke down…), worked on grading Bible lessons we had received in the mail, as well as answer some of the questions we have receive through the course (We’ve had questions ranging from, “who are the Sons of God mentioned in Genesis,” to “how do we know Jesus actually existed?” to everything in between).  BTW, Rebekah has just started walking on her own, it’s so awesome to watch!  All of us had a great time to fellowship together and be refreshed.  It was a productive few days!  (For pictures, check out Denise’s blog)  Tuesday night we only had English Club as we couldn’t find an interpreter for Jessie (Josh being out of town, as well as others we know).

Wednesday I had my Speech Therapy session and for the first time Dara and I talked for probably 10 minutes straight (she speaks no English), with most of our ideas being exchanged with only small amounts of non-understanding.  I only used my dictionary 3 times.  Needless to say, this was a real encouragement to me in my language studies!

Thursday was my ‘off’ day this week.  I went to the store and stocked up on groceries for the week, as well as doing some produce searches at the market.  It can be interesting at times  Denise and I went over to the Steele’s in the evening for dinner and a game of Catan.  Denise had never played the Cities & Knights version so Kelsie and I taught her how to play.  In the end I pulled out a win!  I was really excited  :-P

Today (Friday), I had another Lesson with my Speech Therapist (Dara).  I brought a “Good and Evil” with me to give to her (I had talked – in my limited vocabulary – about being a missionary the previous session).  She was very pleased with it and thanked me a lot.  We talked (again in our limited way) of why I was here.  I told here that we encourage people to read their Bibles, and we offer Bible lessons through the mail, to help with their studies…  I’m not sure of her spiritual condition, but with how eagerly she received the G&E, I think she is open to the Truth.
I had my first language lesson in a week this afternoon.  Veronica (my language teacher) was down with a bad back last week and was in the Crimea this week, so this was the first time we have been able to meet.  I brought pictures (Ukrainians love these) to talk to her in Ukrainian about (my vocabulary is strongest in the introductional category of Ukrainian, i.e. my name is, I am a, I live, etc.).  It was encouraging to be able to communicate pretty well in Ukrainian

All in all, things are going well over here.  Apparently, something I am minorly allergic to has started blooming (I have sneezed a few times and my eye is itching), but it is NOTHING compared to what I would be suffering through in Texas right now (Don’t mean to be bragging, all you Texas folks, … but I guess I am )

I was informed this evening of the passing of one of the deacons of my church in FW.  He has been having health problems for a long while now, and after spending time in the hospital, God saw fit to call His son home.   We can rejoice for him know that he has been freed from the shackles of his earthly body, and is now before our Heavenly Father able to commune with Him face to face!  Glory!  Please join me in praying for the family left here, esp. Miss Jan, his wife.  They would have been married 57 years (what a great example) in July, so it will be a difficult time of transition for her.

May God be glorified through all of our lives!  God bless