Voice of Ukraine

From Lyuda ( Day 320): Dear brothers and sisters, Our day was cold and rainy yesterday but there were many people in the church. It was good that there was electricity and we could have heating and lights and it was warm in the sanctuary. Our elder Valeriy preached and there was a good music part. Vika, the girl from our youth group, plays the guitar and was very exited about it.

There were new people and we talked after the worship. It’s good that the people who have been attending the church for a while bring their friends with them. I don’t take photos of our congregation a lot because there are often soldiers present. And we should think about their safety and not share their photos. Unfortunately there are enemies around us and we don’t know who they are.

I want to share the story of one man in our church whose name is Serge. Many years ago he was a KGB officer. That organization was very viable and existed by itself several years even after the Soviet Union collapsed. The first missionaries who came to Ukraine in the early 90s immediately fell under their scrutiny. Their attention was also directed to new protestant churches that were like bright spots on the grey background of the wreckage of the Soviet Union. This man, Serge, used to follow Sergey, watch him, then he started coming up and talking to him. Finally he openly asked Sergey to cooperate with him and told that he wanted all information about our church. Sergey answered him then: “Our church is open for everybody. If you want to know about the church you should come to the church and see yourself.” He never came then and soon that organization lost interest to the churches and was reorganized.

One day few years ago we came to church were surprised to see Serge there. He was looking for a job and our elder Vitaliy ( who is in heaven now) invited him to help with the construction of something. Since then Serge is in our church, he is a good friend and a great helper. He is the one who knows everything about the work of generator and can easily connect it to our electric system, he repairs all electrical equipment and does many other things to help. But he needs our prayers. He has been in the church for several years already and is still closed when we talk about spiritual things to him. Probably because of his traumas of the past he is afraid to open his heart and his soul. But we see that God is working in him.
Please, pray for the people we interact with so that their hearts would open to the work of the Holy Spirit.
In Christ,
Lyuda
P.S. There are photos of our Sunday worship.