Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 353):

God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
Psalm 53:2

Sometimes, when you read the news, you feel like the whole world is in turmoil. We read about rumors of war, famines, and earthquakes and cannot help but wonder if that’s what Jesus had in mind when he warned his disciples in Matthew 24. His words both terrify and encourage,

“you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:9-14).

While it’s tempting to arrogantly think that Jesus was talking about Ukraine, I remember that He was talking to his disciples about things many of them could witness in their lifetime. If we shift focus from ourselves and look at the big picture of history, we will see many time periods that match these words. However, the main message of Christ hasn’t changed in the past two thousand years, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). Let us keep watch, be conscious and ready at all times, and let us be faithful until the day He comes.

The world needs our prayers. Turkey and Syria are still trying to come to terms with the aftermath of the earthquake – the death toll exceeds 25,000 but rescuers are still finding life and sharing incredible miracle stories. May those hurting meet Jesus face to face in their suffering, and may His name be glorified in all the miracle stories.

Another country that needs our prayers is Moldova. Ukraine’s intelligence service discovered that Russia wants to destabilize the situation in Moldova. This story goes back to the early 1990s when Russia occupied 10% of Moldovan territory and proclaimed it the “Transnistria” (the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic). Since then, Transnistria has been one of Russia’s puppet “republics,” such as Abkhazia, Artsakh, or South Ossetia, used to destabilize the situation in the region. The “Transnistria” shares the border with Ukraine, and Russian military bases in the region threaten the southern and southwestern parts of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s intelligence discovered that Russia is planning a coup d’état in Moldova. A Chechen group (loyal to Kadyrov) that was in Ukraine in February 2022 with a mission to kill the political leaders of Ukraine has now been sent to Turkey under the disguise of “rescuers.” Our special services, in cooperation with other forces, are closely monitoring their activity to make sure they don’t “accidentally” end up in Chisinau (Moldova) to destabilize the situation there (source: https://censor.net/en/n3399280). Please, pray for Moldova, for the protection of civilians from possible provocations, for the wisdom of the government and police there, and for God’s intervention.
We’ve seen how prayers and bringing Russia’s plans to light caused the enemy to change their plans. Let’s pray we see it happen again.

I will finish on a brighter note. If you ever wonder how determined Ukrainians can be, look at this survey (https://bit.ly/3xd1HQO) commissioned by the Munich Security Conference for its annual report. 89% of Ukrainians would keep fighting the Russian invasion even in the event of a nuclear strike. There’s no turning back.