Voice of Ukraine

From Lyuda Betina (Day 360): Dear brothers and sisters, We had an interesting day yesterday, we visited a boot camp where different groups of soldiers do their training before going to the front line. Our friend Rain invited us and showed the training location. Most of the things there he created himself with the help of some volunteers. It’s like a base located in a small wood where soldiers learn the skills they might need in the war zone.

First of all it’s surviving skills, they create conditions close to real where new soldiers have to learn how to dig in and make a shelter and then they sleep there and have rest. There are shooting ranges and places with hills and pits. There are places where snipers sharpen their skills and the places for assault groups who move a lot running and hiding on the location. It was interesting to watch soldiers doing different things there.

We took them some food and vitamin mixture that our church ladies made. While having tea with them we could talk. They told us some stories of the soldiers who were trained at that camp. One group was able to survive and get out of the surrounding due to a good dugout hiding they made that was connected to trenches that led them out. We asked if we can bring our youth group to see that place and Rain said that he would be glad to give them some training there. I know that Sasha’s boys will love it.

We received an alarming message from Vika yesterday. She asked us to pray because there was a fire in the next door apartment. A short circuit has occurred due to power outages and power ups that caused a fire while nobody wat at home. Praise the Lord the fire brigade came fast and stopped the fire, the apartment of the neighbors was ruined completely but Vika’s place was OK, there was just a lot of smoke. They opened the windows and by the evening everything was fine and Vika could join our Zoom meeting.

We are very glad that new people who join our counseling center share their resources and materials. Yesterday Nastya, a young lady from Odessa, who lives in Brasov, Romania now, made a presentation of fairy-tale therapy that she uses with children.

Nastya told about different types of fairy-tales that can help children calm down and get rid of stress, the stories that teach new skills and give new knowledge, can help to solve a problem and learn a new model of behavior. Nastya wrote many stories, she even published a book of fairytales. She does a great job helping Ukrainian children in Romania, she works with their traumas and fears, she does group therapy and works individually with some of them.

Please, pray for our new counselors who are interested in Christian counseling and want to grow in their profession.

In Christ,
Lyuda