“Surely he has borne our griefs 

and carried our sorrows…

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, 

and with his wounds we are healed. 

…He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, 

yet he opened not his mouth” – Isaiah 53

Last night we arrived at our hostel after staying at a yurt camp for our first debrief as a squad. Time for a new country!

*don’t worry – we are far from all the conflict (that’s why people fled here) 

The life of a disciple of Jesus should look like at any point stopping everything you had planned to be there for people in their time of need. This is a blog about that. 

God has people surrounding you at the grocery store, at the gas station, on the street corner everyday that He’d love for you to stop for. When did we become too busy to love our neighbor which is the stranger? 

So although we had our own plans of rest before starting ministry the next day, God had people at the hostel for us to talk to.

Russians who just fled their country and a friend from Hungary taught me about the conflict that quite honestly I hadn’t been watching enough news to know much about. I’d only begun to let God break my heart for the situation in Ukraine. Little did I know I’d receive first hand testimonies of people directly affected by it. 

A woman in her 20s asks where I am from. Then she goes on in a distraught countenance to tell us her and her roommates caught some of the last flights out of Russia. They are the lucky ones. She exclaimed this is not okay. She says my mom says this is just another thing we have to get through. But she couldn’t stomach it. Her birthday is this week. She had a huge party planned, but instead she’s unexpectedly potentially permanently moving out of her country. 

Another kind Russian woman with tears in her eyes begins to tell me the fear that filled the streets of Russia, the devastation.

Sanctions from other countries have left Russians economic situation at a serious threat : international food supply, banks, companies all being cut off. Young men could have to fight. We met a journalist who has faced opposition from the government. They fear nuclear war, really anything could happen. If they protest, they’ll likely be put into prison. 

She then came to sit by us, and I told her we are here to share the love of Jesus. 

All I could do is listen. Never have I looked into a face so immediately affected by unexplainable trauma. Her and her people’s lives had just been torn apart. I said after minutes of talking to her, can I give you hug?

I embraced her in a long hug hoping to embrace and comfort her with the Comforter living inside of me. A moment which my mentor said almost brought her to tears. 

There’s something about the unified humanity that comes with tragedy. A reminder of the mortal life we lived, and how all of us we’re the same in our humanity living on this same Earth.

We all were made in the image of God. We all are grieved by atrocious evil in this world. 

Followers of Jesus have the honor of carrying the only hope to that evil. No other religion has an answer to suffering. Jesus answered suffering when He, fully human and fully God, took all evil on His back and suffered the most excruciating death and rejection. He buried all that is wrong eternally. He overcame it all through His Resurrection and promises to one day come back to wipe every tear and bring justice. 

I heard in a podcast recently that demand for Bibles and hunger for the Gospel is increasing greatly in Ukraine. In tragedy, we too realize our need for God. 

 

Another couple told me to not feel sorry for them, only the people of Ukraine. This couple just had to move out of Russia on short notice for some time. The woman wouldn’t be able to keep her job if she stayed. She works remotely for an international company, and the restrictions wouldn’t allow her to work from Russia. 

The squad I led for four months is in Romania helping refugees out of Ukraine. You can directly help refugees here! https://togetherformission.com/donate-for-ukraine/

Another man we met is an engineer who also caught one of the last flights out. I don’t fully understand why he had to leave. 

We sat in this fire-heated outdoor room of the hostel with yellow lighting and books. We sat with three of the Russians and an American. At one point, a local Muslim brought out his prayer rug and kneeled up and down in the backdrop of our conversation. We hit all topics from Russia to gay marriage to God in relation to science. It was beautiful. We testified of a love beyond and hoped to love them extravagantly. 

That night I also sat with a local college student who I hope to meet up with later this month (I can’t wait to tell you more about our ministry for the month – pray big for believers here who are put to shame at times for their faith – pray for many here to come into God’s Kingdom family). 

Lastly, I got to sit with a Hungarian man on his birthday. 

He had just visited Russia and seen how everything within the country is so censored. He told me about how all Russia’s surrounding countries are now on edge. After Ukraine, who is next? He told me about Russia’s threats to any country that might try to interfere. This will affect all the economies. Even the country we are in is likely to have less money available at the ATMs. 

 

We talked about the pure evil this is. We also talked about the eternal hope and justice of Jesus Christ. He grew up a Christian but doesn’t really practice much. He had met my whole squad and said he saw the peace we carried. I got to pray with him on his birthday and encourage him to return to doing life with the Body of Christ. He was overjoyed by the encouragement we gave him.

 

So reader

D o    n o t     b e     a f r a i d 

t h i s    i s    n o t    
t h e    e n d    o f    t h e    s t o r y

 

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’”  – Revelation 21

 

 t h a t,    G o d’ s     b e l o v e d,    i s    t h e   e n d    o f    t h e     s t o r y

s o     r e m e m b e r   o n l y    t h i s :

 

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33