Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 506):

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
Psalm 56:3-4

Some things are entirely out of your control, and you can do nothing about it. However, even then, you can choose your attitude. You can choose to get bitter and resentful. You can choose to victimize yourself and feel helpless. You can distance yourself and avoid the pain. Or you can choose to trust God and allow Him to show how He wants you to use your circumstances.

Ukraine is going through a unique experience, and although it is painful, there is much to learn. Many of our challenges come from the fact that no one knows how to respond to our present circumstances, as no one has experienced anything of this scale (at least in modern days).

Ukraine does request modern ammunition from our allies. However, providing this aid is in the best interest of other nations as Ukraine gives them a unique opportunity to test their weapons in real-life situations and improve accordingly. We’ve seen several cases when Ukrainians could maximize or even greatly exceed the official capacity of certain weapons. We’ve also seen cases when we put too much trust into something that was considered invincible yet turned out to be vulnerable in the field. Defense industries of other nations are taking notes and learning from our experience that is paid for with Ukrainian blood.

Ukrainian medicine inherited many of the Soviet characteristics. Our people often looked for ways to get better treatment from qualified doctors abroad. We still lack modern equipment and need the help of other nations. We are grateful that we can send our wounded defenders for treatment and rehabilitation abroad. However, there are reports about some medical workers requesting to come to Ukraine to help and learn. The Mechnykov Hospital in the city of Dnipro is one of the leading hospitals where our defenders are treated before being sent further away from the front lines. The doctors of this hospital work non-stop, performing complex surgeries several times a day. Limb reconstruction, post-amputation recovery, neurosurgery after severe brain damage – these cases are rare in peaceful times, so many practicing doctors are ready to take advantage of this challenging time to be better prepared for the future.

I can continue the list with incredible things we’ve learned and helped others to find out through this war. For example, over the past year, our teachers learned that the internet, technology, electricity, and sometimes even lesson plans are something you can do without when juggling wartime circumstances with your students, but overcoming these challenges together helped them build stronger relationships with their students and create an impact that will yield fruit in the future.

The examples above are challenging. They often come with fear and a great responsibility, but when you trust God, when you trust His plan and are ready to allow Him to use you for His purposes, you shall not be afraid, for there is nothing flesh can do to you.