Not Forgotten
I was talking to a friend recently and complaining that the war in Ukraine seems to be second-page news anymore. I was distraught that Ukraine was being forgotten in the midst of other world news. He assured me that Ukraine is not forgotten but there are other wars going on in the world. I began to ‘google’ wars around the world in 2022 and got a variety of responses, yet no specific number. Wars rage from Africa to the Middle East to Asia, in various levels of danger and awareness. I was looking for a specific number but what I saw was thousands upon thousands dying daily due to continuous armed conflict. Thousands of families ripped apart, human trafficking, slavery, and famine. My mind and heart could barely take it in. My heart is already aching and full for the people of Ukraine and Russia. That particular war with its missiles and invasion and horrendous cruelty directly hit our homes and hearts.
All of the following photos have been used from ministry updates coming out of Ukraine and surrounding countries by our volunteer workers.
Yet, I am reminded our Father God’s heart aches every second for each and every soul in the farthest corners of the world affected by wars we rarely hear about. Man’s free will, choices, greed, and selfishness have transformed our world since the Garden of Eden into a world where nearly every family worldwide throughout history and presently is affected by war to some degree.
Ukrainian children orphaned by the war.
I want my heart to ache as God does for those afflicted by the wars of our world. I don’t think it does, fully. Honestly, I think I can handle only a portion of the pain and for me, right now (and I think always), it will be for the people of Ukraine and Russia. Many are STILL dying, being displaced, and suffering horribly due to the madness of one man and his circle of like-minded men. Cities and villages are still being bombed. We hear only a portion of what continues to happen.
We pray daily for Ukraine and Russia. We have many friends working sacrificially inside Ukraine providing food, medicines, and relief to those displaced from their villages. They work 24/7 (no exaggeration) helping to rescue those still fleeing and needing care. We send money and teams to help in the greatest areas of need. And in the middle of death and destruction, God continues to move and bring hope and restoration.
Early on in praying for the people of Ukraine. I was reminded of something Brother Andrew said in a challenge God brought to him in the 1950s. Brother Andrew, a Dutch missionary, began his ministry in communist nations during the Cold War and smuggled thousands of Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. He said God challenged him to ‘strengthen what remains’ referring to the ’underground church’.
I sensed the same thought as I’ve prayed. Strengthen God’s people in Ukraine and Russia. Those who have chosen to remain have opened homes, churches, and other facilities working continuously to bring hope to many. As the war and invasion continue to rage, their own hearts and bodies are suffering from the stress.
An excerpt from the pen of a worker visiting Poland where ministry is reaching out to Ukrainian Christians needing rest…
Yesterday we visited a very special place. It is an apartment that opens up to a view of old town Krakow, Poland. The inside is furnished simply but comfortably. As soon as you walk in you feel the presence of God, of love. This house was built on a vision of a leader from one of our centers in Ukraine. She saw her staff, whom she loved, giving of themselves selflessly around the clock. She saw her friends, pastors of churches, and their wives tirelessly living out their lives for others. Who is giving back to these people— who are pouring love back into their lives that are often drained of that same love?
Out of that vision came “Respite.” A ministry that welcomes these selfless workers (from inside Ukraine) into this apartment and works on restoring and giving back that which has been poured out to countless people across Ukraine’s war-torn cities and towns.
They travel to this apartment in Poland--some are couples, tired and with little left to give. For a week they are blessed with beauty, comfort, listening ears, and ministry. Karen, one of the staff says, you should see the difference in their faces from the time they come to when they leave. One pastor escaped with his family from a bombed-out city and delivered his family to the safety of the center. He then immediately returned to his city to bring more people out. He continued to do this risking his life each time but not being able to stop until his body could take no more. He was able to finally breathe and get his life back as he was ministered to by the staff and Holy Spirit.
One of the rooms at Respite where Ukrainian workers can be refreshed physically.
Will you stand with us in prayer for this important ministry? Pray that tired and wounded souls can be restored. They return to Ukraine with the things they learned to help restore the people in their towns—this is especially true of the soldiers who desperately need this ministry.
Will you please pray for those inside Ukraine who do not want to be forgotten? We are bombarded daily with news of shootings, natural disasters, court decisions, political and governmental chaos….all-important and definitely needing prayer. The needs are overwhelming. But God has not changed. He sees it all and His heart pains over the condition of mankind.
War. There has always been and always will be war…someplace—until our reigning King returns. Have hope in the midst of this life. He has not forgotten us. Let’s strengthen each other. Strengthen our brothers and sisters all over the world who are experiencing physical and emotional pain we can’t begin to imagine. Let’s remember those who are in greater need than we. We can pray; we can send messages of encouragement; and if we can…go. We can give. There’s always something we can do, no matter how large or small it may seem. A drop in a big bucket…but our big Heavenly Father holds that bucket and He knows just where to pour out those drops of blessing. If you would like to donate to the above ministry of Respite, you can give through this link and designate it for Respite or any need in Ukraine.
“You will hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off; see to it that you don’t become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come. For peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world; all this is but the beginning of the ‘birth pains’”
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
“Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
“It may seem that those who are poor and needy have been forgotten, but God will not forget them. He will not leave them without hope.”
We are here in this time of history - for such a time as this. Let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus to reach out to a hurting world.
