Five Orphans from Slovyansk

Update from Buddy, missionary

You will remember from last weeks update that I am in Turkey trying to help get the 5 kids from the orphanage in Slovyansk placed in homes. Their refugee status was to end by the end of August, so it was imperative to get them safely placed, at least temporarily, so that they would not be deported and again displaced. I want to thank you for thinking about and praying for them this week. We have been able to get an extension of their refugee status for 6 months and that gives us time to get them into a permanent situation. The 5 foster homes that they are currently living in are fine Christian homes and those parents are actually very hopeful to get to adopt them. The kids seem to have adjusted well in the homes and now our goal is to make that a permanent situation. During this six month period, the homes have to pass some inspections and vetting, and then the final decisions will be made at the end of January. There will be a lot of paper work and then financial questions that will need to be completed, but we are really pleased and grateful that this has gone as it has. I will be here until Sunday and then I will return to Romania and then on into Ukraine once more.

The monument once known as the Arch of the Peoples' Friendship between Ukraine and Russia sits on the Dnieper river in Kiev. Not long ago we visited there and took this photo.  A "crack" was painted on the arch to symbolize the fracture of the Ukrainian-Russian relationship.

WHO IS ACTUALLY WINNING THE WAR ON DAY 170?

This is an often asked question. In military terms, neither side is making much progress. However, Ukraine seems to have momentum but are thwarted by the size of the Russian advance, which also seems to be dwindling. They are pommeling each other and people are getting killed, but neither side is making very many important gains at all at this time. So, I think it’s fair to say that everybody is losing this war. Russian is losing because its reputation is in tatters, its social and economic development has been thrown back decades and the Russian people are now living under a Stalinist regime of oppression and suppression. Ukraine is losing because its people are getting killed…and humanity itself is losing this war because it is a daily atrocity. Every day there is new reports of multiple deaths and not just deaths because of military warfare, but because of ruthless and barbaric attacks that reveal a lack of conscience that we thought could not occur in the 21st century. Words and phrases such as mass graves, torture, castration, rape, and deaths of children, fill the stories to the point that, if we are not careful, they become too familiar and lack reasonable human response of disgust and sorrow. We see the photos of dead civilians lying in the streets next to their dogs, having been killed as they were simply out for a stroll. Again, if we hurry on to the next thing, we stop trying to enter into that pain, stop attempting to bear that sorrow and stop praying together for our brothers and sisters involved in this devastation. It’s not anything we expected to see in this modern day, and yet it speaks loudly to remind us that man has not changed and continues to be in need of saving. It is the story of the Gospel and it is the story that will be more urgent as the “day” approaches. So, it terms of who is winning right now, we long for and expect a Ukrainian victory for the sake of all peoples everywhere…but, over all, in war, by long definition, everybody suffers loss.

QUESTIONS CONCERNING VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY

Unless I miss my guess, you have heard rumours galore lately about President Zelensky and tons of Russian propaganda concerning how horrible he is and how corrupt is Ukrainian government. I have received several inquiries over the last 5 months about the Ukrainian president, so I thought I’d take a little time to respond. First, I will tell you honestly that until the war began, I paid no attention to him. While in Russia, I heard about a comedian becoming president of Ukraine and I thought it was interesting, but I truly didn’t give him any thought. I did not know his name. All of that changed when the war began, and it changed universally. Now, everyone knows who he is. I have since learned a lot about him from the ground in Ukraine. I have learned that he is 44 years old, 5’7” and married for 19 years to Olena. I know that before the war, there was lots of skepticism about him and his politics. No one was really sure what kind of president he would become. Ukrainian politics is historically corrupt, as are politics in most every country that you can name, and he was in the process of trying to make some changes. How they would have turned out, at this point, no one knows. As a person, he was a television comedy star, and lived the Ukrainian “Hollywood” type lifestyle. I have watched some of the famous TV show that he starred in and that he helped produce, and I think he is a good actor, but I didn’t like or agree with all the things in it. (I keep in mind that Ronald Reagan was an actor, and that turned out pretty good.) Zelensky is Jewish, but does not seem to be Orthodox or devout. No one in Ukraine really speaks about his spiritual side and it is not apparent in his lifestyle or in his speech. This part of his life is veiled, but I very much want him to be a Christian. The people of Ukraine have come to highly respect and be proud of him…as have I. I am always cautious to endorse anyone wholly and I am cautious here as well. What I can say is that he has inspired me and, it seems, millions of people around the world by his courage. Courage is a trait we are losing worldwide and, to me at least, he has helped to bring a bit of revival to old fashioned bravery and manhood. For this, I salute him. My son, Gordon, wrote the following about him, and since I could not say it better, I am using his words:

...There are certain individuals in history that thrive in times of conflict. Their worst qualities were put on hold and their best virtues were put on display. Churchill was a terrible peacetime minister. Patton was a bad guy during times of peace. FDR would not have won four terms in times of prosperity. George W. Bush defended the country aptly from without but struggled from within. During a time of peace, Zelensky may very well have been yet another corrupt Slavic politician. Such is the way of Eastern Europe. He may hold beliefs that you and I would consider wicked. He may be rude to his inferiors. His breath may smell bad. But right now he has one job: that is to keep his country a country. He is doing a masterful job of it. Or he is allowing his listeners to do it, which is the same thing. If he wins, he can join a long and austere list of flawed, broken people who won for their country the freedom to criticize those who led when no one else could. Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, Caesar, FDR, Alexander the Great, and many others await his company in history…

God has used some very unusual and unsuspecting people in history to accomplish His goals, and it seems He is repeating Himself. Judge for yourself as best you can with what you know and sense through the Spirit of God who he is. Whatever you decide, I urge you to pray for President Zelensky as he leads in what may be one of the most complex and difficult situations in all of world history.

Thanks this week for every thought and prayer.