Urgent Prayer Updates

You will be hearing a lot in the next days about the city of Slovyansk in Eastern Ukraine. It is the next city in the line of places that the Russian forces will try to take. I mention it because I want to remind you that this is the area where the children’s home was located that we had been working with for the last eight years. To refresh your memory, in the first couple of weeks of the war, with your prayers and aid, we were able to secure the evacuation of the 75 kids that were left in this home. We were able to rent buses to take them into the safe zone of the Donbas area and over the last 5 weeks they have been placed into different homes where they will be safe. Every time I hear the name “Slovyansk”, I am thankful that we were able to make that happen in time before the fighting becomes intense there. There are still our people that we’ve been working with in a senior home there, that we will be trying to evacuate now. The problem being their health and ability to travel. The people that we worked with there, have left and we are trying to work with whoever we can find to see if we can get as many of these senior people to safety as possible. These types of places are in every zone that you will hear about, and there is need to give them aid.

SCENES AS WE TAKE AID ACROSS UKRAINIAN BORDER

The terrible news that you are hearing about from Bucha and Borodyanka are regrettably true. We have talked with and met people with friends and relatives from that region and they confirmed what we hope was not possible. There seems to be a desperate evil that is pervading the hearts of people involved in this war. It is not a war between soldiers it seems, but an unleashing of desperation, frustration, and the wounded pride of defeated aggressors. The effect of these atrocities is boiling inside the souls of those most closely associated here and the gulf dredged between these peoples will be hard to bridge for generations to come. It will take the grace of our Father. For that reason, the real work in Ukraine will be more spiritual than physical and there will be ministry here for a long time for those who have the promise of His healing.

AID TO CHERNIVTSA

We continue to work in getting as much aid into Ukraine as we can. We have seen a lull in the number of refugees leaving Ukraine for other countries. What we are seeing is a larger number of displaced people moving west within Ukraine. If Ukraine was a seesaw, the larger guy would be sitting on the western end. Supplies within the country are getting more scarce and as the war drags on, I anticipate that needs will grow.

WITH SEMINARY STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

We took a supply of aid to the city of Chernivtsa last week and were met by a group of seminary students and teachers who will help with the distribution. When the war began this seminary was evacuated and the students spread out across Ukraine. It is important to realise that across Ukraine there are churches and pastors just like yours who are still within the danger zones and who are still trying to minister and care for their people. These are our brothers and sisters and these are people that we want to remember especially as we seek to aid. God’s love is for everyone and we reach out to everyone, but in our great desire, we must remember our own also, and realise that we are called to minister to one another within this worldwide church.

I want to thank you again for every thought and prayer as we continue on. The photos I am adding below are not mine, but are among the saddest that I have seen. It’s possible that you have seen them already. This little girl is just like some of the little girls in the camp right now, and much like my little granddaughters at home… and like yours. Her name is Vera Makovii. I have a granddaughter named Vera. She’s just a kid who wants to be a kid and enjoy life and this mama just so loves her child…like you do yours. When the war started this mama, in her despair and fear, took a permanent marker and wrote her little daughter’s name, birthdate, telephone number, and address on her body. Then she took a card and wrote all that information, and more, on it and put it in her coat pocket. When someone asked her why she did it, she replied, “ I wanted to try to make sure that if I was killed and someone found her, that they would know who she is and maybe they would take care of her. She is the most precious thing in the world to me”. The heart of that story can be felt all over this country. Families being torn apart and mama’s being killed and leaving babies orphaned, and worse, babies being killed and mama’s being forever broken. Pray for peace. Pray for comfort. Pray to a sovereign God that we find a way see His hand and to show it to the people in greatest need in Ukraine and around the world.