Excerpt from Michail

Below is an email update from my husband's mailing list, called Quad on a Mission. His website tells his story and includes some messages he has shared with young people and some other groups. http://quadonamission.com/  The following email was sent out shortly before we left on a 3 weeks trip to Wisconsin to visit my dear family and friends.

Shalom dear friends and family!

Please allow me to give you an update and give glory to Adonai (the Lord) for His goodness in our lives.

Melanie and I are so blessed to be married for one year and eight months!  Our wedding took place in Wisconsin on August 2, 2011.  This year we will celebrate two years of marriage!  Here is a picture of from our wedding day, showing us exchanging our vows with Rabbi Eugene Banak from Canada and Pastor Dave Adams from Wisconsin in the background. We have been fellowshipping and serving Adonai at Eitz Chaim Messianic Fellowship.  In Hebrew, it means Tree of Life Messianic Fellowship.  We love our "mishpacha" (family) of believers.  We have been learning and growing so much to love the Torah and to walk in the footsteps of Yeshua the Messiah. 

This year, Passover was a very special time for us.  We had seven guests at our Passover table.  The presence of Adonai was so indescribable in the whole evening as we broke the unleavened bread together, drank the fruit of the vine and remembered Yeshua's sufferings and atoning death for us.  Many around our table, including myself, shared testimonies of how God has brought them from slavery into freedom in Yeshua the Messiah!  We completed the evening by washing each other's feet and praying words of blessing over each other.

What prompted me to send today's update is something that transpired this past week.  The seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread follow the Passover (Leviticus 23:4-7; Numbers 28:16-18).  During this time we celebrate Yeshua's resurrection three days after the Passover on the day of Firstfruits.  For seven days we eat unleavened bread to remind us to live a life of holiness and separation from sin following the sinless example of Yeshua, a life of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Last Monday evening, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Melanie went to park the van into the garage.  She was almost positioned where she parks the van, and then, she firmly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes.  She knocked off the support post that holds up the overhead shelving.  The overhead shelf came crashing down into the windshield and the van continued surging forward, crushing five of the supporting wall studs in half and pushing the exterior wall bricks out with the bumper.  It's like something you would see in a movie.  I was already laying down, and my caregiver was getting me ready for bed.  The crash of the van into the wall felt like an earthquake!  The whole house shook.

I sent out my caregiver running to check on Melanie to make sure she was okay.  I was thinking to myself that something fell down in the basement and I wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt.  Melanie came walking into the house, completely shaken up and barely holding back the tears and told me what happened.  I said to her, "It's okay honey.  The main thing is that you are okay and that you didn't get hurt."  I gave her a tight hug.  Melanie couldn't hold back the tears any longer.  So here we were, with my caregiver still in the room, and Melanie just crying a flood of tears as I was holding her.

We had no idea what to do next.  So we did what any other believer would do.  We prayed together to Adonai and asked for help.  I immediately called my friend Paul only to get his voicemail.  He came over later that night. Then I remembered my friend Arthur who is a builder and I called him.  He came to our house at 7 a.m. the next morning.  He said, "It's no problem, I will replace the five wall studs for you for free and fix the overhead shelf."  Then my friend Paul said to me, "It's no problem, I will relay the bricks for you for free."  He is a professional bricklayer.  My friends, you have to realize something: the whole back wall of the garage is going to have to be redone.  It's a very labour-intensive process.  Melanie and I have just been so overwhelmed with the support and love of our mishpacha.  It cost us only $40 for the wall studs to cover the cost of the materials.  It cost of us an additional $67.50 to pay another friend to clean the old mortar off the bricks yesterday after the high Shabbat of the last day of unleavened bread.  Adonai is so good and His love truly endures for ever!

On Tuesday we had to get the windshield replaced on the van; there was no other damage except for a tiny dent on the front bumper.  I called a place here in London, and the gentleman was so courteous: he came by our house, picked up the van and quoted us a really good price for the windshield replacement job.  I had a physiotherapy appointment and a follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon, two appointments back-to-back to have a look at my left arm that I fractured back in November (I learned a very important lesson that you shouldn't operate a motorized wheelchair and swing out your left elbow while going through doorways—the door post is stronger than the elbow.  I was getting ready to turn on the lights in my study. The light switch comes after the doorway, not before!).  Melanie and I took the city bus to the appointment.  Before I left the house, a friend called and said, "Mike, I have $300 for you to help you cover the cost of your windshield replacement."  I was so overwhelmed by Adonai's provision.  The cost of the windshield was $250 plus tax, totaling $282.50 all together.  Both of my appointments went really well.  I have another follow-up appointment with the physiotherapist in six weeks.  The orthopedic surgeon discharged me, saying that the humerus bone in my left arm was completely recovered and strong again. We called the technician from St. Joseph's Hospital after the appointments, and he graciously brought the van to us right to St. Joseph's Hospital and we were able to drive it home.  We handed him $310 to include a tip for picking up and bringing the vehicle back to us.  The $300 our friend gave us was just enough. HalleluYah!

Recently Melanie received her permanent residence status, so Melanie and I are leaving town on Sunday, April 7 to spend three weeks in Milwaukee with family and friends.  Paul will be in charge of rebuilding the garage wall while we will be away.  One more thing: Elohim knew that I have absolutely no cash left before leaving for the trip.  So today, we had to take my mom to a hospital appointment.  She handed me an envelope.  I asked her, "What is this?"  She smiled and said, "It's a gift for you and Melanie."  Melanie and I opened the envelope and it contains $80.  I will need to $60 to pay my friend to clean off the rest of the bricks.  In His wonderful sense of humor, Adonai provided me with an extra $20.

We will update you all when we get back at the beginning of May.

Blessings,

Michail and Melanie