Skip to main content

The protests in Ukraine

Janna and I live only about 5 miles from where most of the violence is taking place, but when we walk to the neighborhood grocery store, you can easily forget that we live in a country in turmoil because everything is going along just like normal.  At church, we’ve spent a lot of time praying about recent events, and about the future of Ukraine.  I can see the concern on everyone’s faces.  But on the other hand, last week when we went to the orphanage, not a single kid or teacher asked about events in Kyiv.  People write us everyday wondering if we are ok, if we are safe, when we are planning on evacuating the country.  But Tuesday night we went over to Second Chance and did English lessons with the girls, ate lasagna and played games.  Life is going along like normal, except that we check the Kyiv Post more regularly than usual.  At least for now, we aren’t in any danger.  But even if things get worse, I don’t want to leave, I want to keep working with the kids so that they will have a hope and a future and know the love that God has for them. 

We do appreciate the concern so many people have shown for us and our safety.  And we do ask everyone to pray for the situation in Ukraine, as temperatures are dropping, but tempers are rising.  But Janna and I are not afraid.   We have confidence in the Grace of God, and I know heaven is going to be amazing.   I used to say all the time, “We’re all gonna die.  And its going to be fantastic!”  What is there to be afraid of when Jesus has taken away the power of death?

If I may be so bold, one of my greatest frustrations is people who say that they are Christians and say that they believe in an all-powerful, loving God, but are afraid of  … well … everything.  Have faith, and keep perspective.  While we were in the US, speaking in Churches, someone in almost every church asked us, “Is it safe?”  and every time we had to fight the urge to respond with, “Does it matter?” As soon as we start living in fear, we stop living in faith. 

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life … which of your by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life.  Matthew 6:25,27

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Freedom in losing

The last day of our summer camp, I told the kids about my first tennis game in high school.   It was a game that skill-wise I should have won, but I was so nervous and afraid of messing up that I totally blew the game.   It was only after I was one game away from losing the match that I relaxed and just played, after all, in my mind I had already lost, there was no stress.    And then I started winning.   But after winning four games in a row, I thought, “Wow, I might actually win this game.”   Then the stress returned … and I lost.   I focused on that time in the game where I had pretty much lost, but the game just wasn’t over yet.   There was an awesome freedom that comes when you know you’ve lost and you just get to play.   You can experiment, and if you mess up; who cares you’ve already lost.   If you do good, it feels good and you can enjoy it without worrying if it’s good enough.   Life is a lot like that tennis matc...
1 comment
Read more

Anya’s operation “The whole story”

Brace yourselves:  This blog is 3309 words long.  Honestly, I cut a lot of information out and simplified it so much to keep it short.  But the story of Anya’s operation is a monster and I wanted to tell it start to finish so that you have one place to come learn about Anya and what she’s been through these past months, as well as what it has taught us about the lives of orphans here. The core problem:  Our helplessness to help Anya A few weeks ago a friend from the states wrote me a few emails asking about Anya’s situation.  At that point Anya had been in the hospital for almost four weeks … waiting.  Her operation was first scheduled for the day after she was checked in, but it kept getting pushed back again and again.  It was incredibly frustrating, mainly because no one in Kiev had the authority to check her out of the hospital, and so she had to stay there for four weeks..four very boring weeks.  I would have gone crazy. Normally, the par...
2 comments
Read more

Christmas in Ukraine Part VI: Nat and Tiffy come to Ukraine

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of hosting two sisters here in Kiev, Tiffany and Natalie. When they came to Ukraine from America, they brought 280 blankets to give out to children in need! The blankets were awesome! Natalie and Tiffany go to Liberty College, and they had decided to do something for kids in Ukraine. They chose to make blankets. With the help of many prayer groups at Liberty, they came up with 280 beautiful, colorful, warm and fuzzy blankets, and each one had cards inside with Bible verses and notes from the people who made them. What a wonderful idea! We spent three days going around to different places to hand out the blankets, and it was precious! First we went to our orphanage, Komarivka. The majority of the kids had gone home for the holidays, but about 30 kids remained. You should have seen their faces! Such big smiles all around! One of my favorite pictures ever of two giggling girls, Luda and Vita! Some of the older girls, Larissa, Natasha, J...
4 comments
Read more