Kyiv (Anya)
Thank you to everyone who has been praying faithfully for God to be a shield to our team in Kyiv. Today he answered your prayers. Please don’t stop praying! One of our team members described their experience today: “Today, we went to a facility; suddenly, the air alert started ringing in our ears, reminding us to find shelter.
Marie and I looked into each other eyes. We were standing 10 meters apart.
She yelled, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”
I said, “I don’t know.”
I am someone who likes to have an answer. But at that moment, I had nothing. Two times every year, we have a fire safety drill. But we never got a war drill. So who can be prepared for a bomb?
A couple of seconds later, there was a loud blast close-by. We expected a loud explosion, and we were mentally ready for it. But our bodies were not; our minds were not prepared for it. We just stood there. Still looking into each other’s eyes, each holding a bunch of groceries we were about to deliver to someone.
These are the times when reason goes numb. You give up and are ready to accept the consequences of war.
When we arrived back home, I looked into Marie’s eyes. I knew she was a little shaken. We sat in the car for 10 minutes.
What should I say? Can I say it was nothing? Can I say it was okay?
It was not okay, and it was not nothing. It has been one month; we are not ready.
Nobody can be ready.
After the 10 minute talk in the car (more like 10 minutes staring at each other), we were ready to go, serve, and do what we were supposed to do.
That blast did not stop us. So, we live another day to love and to serve.
He says,
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

Today I heard a very touching story form the Hungarian border. A lady arrived with 4 children. When asked to tell her story, she said this,
“One of these children is mine. One of them is my sister’s. She went out to search for water and didn’t return. Another child I picked up on the street, she was standing beside her parents who were lying dead on the street. This other child was wandering though the destroyed streets so I took him in as well.”
This lady crossed the border with these children, each with a story begging to be told and a heart and soul that needed to be mended, ministered to.

Please pray for our many workers on the borders and at our centers in countries surrounding Ukraine who are working with ladies like this. The reports are heartbreaking and at the same time heartwarming.

These words from Mister Rogers from the TV program:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” – Mr. Rogers

We need more volunteers who speak Russian or Ukrainian.

Please continue to pray,
Pray for Ukraine, for the cities that are under siege, being bombed, that people can be fed and rescued.
Pray for Russia, that what is happening there with people calling for peace will reach a tipping point to bring change to the country.
Pray for the helpers all along the borders.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team