Gino (30 Jun 2024)
"RE: Chance: 06.23.24: dark underbelly"


Wowzers!! Utter madness!
I know a missionary who went there very shortly after the Soviet Union broke up.
A lot of churches were started, many people were saved, & a school for preachers started.
He had married a Ukrainian woman, and by the time Russia invaded, he even had grandchildren. Two of their younger daughters were dual citizens, and as their location began to be decimated by bombs, the people of the churches they started immediately went to other various parts of the country, the men to fight, and the women to help. The wives with younger children were sent to Poland. The missionary was torn between staying in Ukraine to somehow minister to the scattered members, or to get his younger daughters & his wife away from the hot zone. There was no idea if things got rough that possibly the girls too might be expected to fight, as well as the missionary himself being expected to fight.
The members that had gone to the western part, kept in contact, and made connections for the family to move to different locations, as they became hot zones. All the members wanted him to take his daughters to Poland, and as bombs starting exploding very close, he agreed, and they secretly moved the family to the border. At first it seemed they couldn't cross, as it looked like the Russians were heading to take that same crossing. They made it across, and safe.
     I said all that to personalize it. There were a great number of Ukrainians saved over those years. Also, back in 1992, the Ukrainian military invited the missionary to teach scriptures at their officers' school, possibly initially a knee-jerk reaction to the fall of communism, not sure how many were saved during those early years, but they all were taught from the scriptures.
Certainly not all the troops & officers were saved, but a number were, and they had no desire to defend bio-labs and traffickers, but they did want to defend their homeland and countrymen. There might have been far more atrocities, had he not taught at that school.
    The countryside destroyed, along with so many dead. It will be good for all the things you mentioned to be ended. Possibly the Christians there may have a far less corrupt place to raise their children, when the fighting ends.
    As a side note, the Baptist churches in Ukraine, that had to meet secretly during communism, immediately upon hearing of the dissolution, went to those still in charge in Ukraine, and demanded their church buildings back, that the communists had taken many years earlier, and it was immediately granted. There was tremendous amount of evangelism, and great numbers of people saved, especially in the beginning. Those Christians were not supporting those things you mentioned, at least not after they were saved. In fact, there were a number of ex-KGB in the main church. When they found themselves unemployed & not thought of too well by their fellow countrymen, they approached the missionary to see if they could do any translation work, as they were all quite adept with the English language. Also, until the missionary was comfortable preaching initially in Russian, and then Ukrainian, he would have them interpret as he preached the gospel in open air meetings in Kiev. They all became greatly convicted, repented, and believed on Jesus.
Please pray that not only the things you mentioned would be stopped, but that the Christians there, who have survived the war, can have the blessings of the LORD, to raise their families.

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