Voice of Ukraine

From: Lyuda Betina (Day 782): I woke up this morning and was surprised that I didn’t hear alarm sounds. The last alarm was at midnight and we fell asleep around one o’clock in the morning and slept without waking up. The last week has been very turbulent. Attacks became more frequent, in our small town where we always felt safe now we hear loud explosions. Something is happening very close. The enemy purposefully strikes infrastructure and power plants. Our country is in the most unstable situation of the entire war because of a lack of ammunition, manpower, and air defense supplies. The biggest challenge now is to keep the energy system from collapsing and I do not know if it will be possible to restore it before winter.

We expect more refugees to our southern area and prepare the place for them. It’s good to see that many of the refugees that came two years ago became volunteers and help us and help other ministries.

We had a good meeting with our refugee group on Saturday we talked about the strength of the character and what can make us strong. Most of the group find strength in God and in family. Many of them are parted with their children and grandchildren and I understand very well what they feel. But our group has been providing support and help for 2 years now. These people became good friends and enjoy the time together. They also come to the church and some of them have received Jesus and become church members.

I am thankful to God for the people with whom he surrounded me: my brothers and sisters of the church, our refugees who join our ministry and also want to help, the volunteers in our town who do so much to support our army and of course the military themselves who keep their positions and protect us with the cost of their lives.

The Lord supports us, gives us strength and does not allow us to fall, we communicate with our soldiers and I am glad that their spirit is strong and they are going to stand to the end, though they are very-very tired.
Last week was also difficult because there was no news from our soldiers. At the end of the week Paul Lukoshkin sent a video of the sunrise in the field and we got a message from Denis Dudkin, who wrote that the whole week he was on the front line (they call it Line Zero) and lost two soldiers from their detachment.

Our counselors continue to work hard, we meet with our clients in the office and do a lot of counseling online. Recently, many problems with depression and fears have reappeared. I am working with Natalie, she is one of our refugees. She was always very cheerful and joyful and supported and encouraged others.

Last week she asked for a meeting and came with tears in her eyes. She told about a problem with sleeping, negative thoughts and fears, she began to have flashbacks of some traumatic events from her past. Natalie and her husband are Christians, they love the Lord, they had to leave their home in 2014 when the enemy occupied Donetsk. They moved to another city and settled in a new place, but in 2022 when a full-scale invasion began and they had to flee again. Natalie’s husband is blind and she helps him with everything, they are always together. They have a teenager son. I hope Nataly will responds well for the therapy and feel better soon. Please, pray for her healing.

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Thank you for your prayers and for your support.
Please, send your donations to Pathway Ministries
E. Langston Haygood,D.Min.,Ph.D.
Pathway Ministries, Inc.
288 Huntington Parc Circle
Birmingham, AL 35226
(205)835-3325
http://www.pathwayministriesinc.com

In Christ,
Lyuda

P.S. There is a photo of Natalie and her husband Vladimir, who is blind, there are photos of the new room in the Refugee Center that will be ready soon and another family will be able to stay there and the photos of our last support group meeting.