Things were somewhat quiet this weekend as the hard work of rescue, feeding and transport of goods and people continued. Lot’s of work on the borders and centers in Poland, Romania, Germany and elsewhere. Here are some of the reports from the frontlines.
Sergei is former ywam student who now leads Teen Challenge, he reports,
On March 24, Russian soldiers attacked one of the rehabilitation centers near Kyiv.
All the students were able to escape, except for one.
And one staff Oleg, was taken prisoner.
Pray that he is kept alive and released!!!
Sergei reported today that Oleg was released, praise the Lord….
This was from Marie our German staff gal in Kyiv in a discussion with a friend:
“This war is all about your faith. If you were not a believer, you would be sitting in your home country by now. What reason would you have to stay? But you stayed because of your faith. So this war is not merely physical, but it’s a battle against your faith. In the end, victory will not be measured in terms of surviving or not. It will be measured in holding on to Jesus or drowning in sorrow and agony.”
Her husband Japhin added these words:
“I just wanted to say how grateful I am (we are) to all the people who have come alongside us in this journey. I am amazed by the love, prayer, support and encouragements you all have been sending our way. Thank you for that from the bottom of our hearts. If not for your sweet messages and prayers, it would have been way harder for us to go through all this.”
A number of our former YWAMers have returned to Ukraine or to the border areas to volunteer. Here is a report from Deborah and Chan the founders of the Ternopil base.
“It started as a deep desire, then turned into a reality when the leader of The Mission Inc. agreed to drive us into Ukraine. Chan and I hadn’t been back since 2006 for a wedding. We bought a truckload of medical supplies for the front lines- all the things needed for trauma kits, antibiotics, antibiotic creams, irrigating solutions, IV supplies and then filled the rest of our truck with diapers, formula and wipes. We were there less than 24 hours. We arrived just before curfew but driving in we noticed everything was pitch black. None of the street lights were on, none of the city signs were up. Google maps was extremely helpful. Our good friends, Sasha and Luda met us, we experienced the greatest Ukrainian hospitality- even during a war – and had one day to unload our truck, see everyone and encourage as many as we could.
So many stories, some too difficult to tell, but these heroes need our prayers. They are exhausted- emotionally and physically, yet every day they keep going. I am so grateful that we were able to participate in some small way. Please pray with us for freedom and peace in Ukraine.”
There are many good articles on how this war affects Europe and the rest of the world. This is a war that is being fought in the heavenlies with world-wide consequences. Here is an article by a good friend, Jeff Fountain laying out some things we can pray for in regard to this.
Al Akimoff and The Slavic Ministries Team