Voice of Ukraine

From: Lyuda Betin (Day 946)

News from Ukraine
The war continues and we continue our fight. We fight with the enemy, with our past that still dominates on our country, with the world that wants to influence the thinking and choice of people.

In order to somehow stop the enemy and his brutal attacks, our army entered Russian territory and is gradually advancing in the Kursk region. Although the enemy cannot hold its own territory and is forced to retreat there, in the Donetsk region the enemy is still very strong and continues to advance taking more of our territory. Dr. Anya told us that they have to retreat and leave some areas.

Dr. Anya is sick with cold and came home for a few days. We are praying for her recovery and for her rest.

New refugees come to our town. We received a family of six people with an old mother who is in a wheelchair. They told that their biggest need is diapers for their mother, they can not afford buying them. We helped them with diapers and other things.

The family from our church that have a beach house received the refugees and placed them in the rooms there. One family who came from Donetsk area worried so much about their elderly mother who refused to leave with them. The elderly are very attached to their homes and do not want to leave, they endure shelling and bombing in their basements, but remain in their homes. Finally, the situation became so bad that their mother told she wants to be evacuated, but our army retreated and the volunteers who evacuated people could not enter that territory. One of their friends, seeing their worries, said that he would take a risk and go after their mother to the territory where the fighting was going on. We prayed for that trip. Everything ended well, he knew the roads of that area well and was able to safely take the elderly woman out.

Yesterday the pastors of our churches gathered for a Presbytery meeting in Zoom. Sergey says that such meetings are very encouraging, it’s good to see the churches active and full of life. Our prayers are with the church in Kharkiv which is located 30 kilometers from the war zone, the city is constantly being shelled and bombed. But the church regularly meets, they bravely hold worship services and group meetings. It is nice to hear about young leaders who are preparing for ordination into the pastoral ministry. Another encouraging thing is about the seminary, it is actively working in Kiev, one of our churches meets there. Besides teaching its curriculum the seminary provides counseling training for ministers so that they can help people in war situations.

People in Ukraine are in great need of spiritual care, we see this in the clients who come to our counseling center and with whom we work online. Last week our counselor Roman worked with a group of veterans and their families. He could see that after the therapy they all felt better. But Roman himself needed to recover after this work, after hearing their stories and being present in their world. We all need recovering and every Friday the counselors of our center meet in Zoom to share our experience for the week, to pray, to study new techniques and methods and to have a Bible study. Now we are studying the book of Romans together which reveals many important truths to us. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s Glory, but the Lord reveals to us His wonderful plan of salvation. Jesus is our hope, light and life. This important truth should guide us in our work with people, giving us understanding of the problem and ability of accepting people as they are and directing them to restore the connection with their Creator.

Thank you for your prayers and 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 are photos of combat medics at work and the photos of the Bible study group at our Refugee Center.