Reflections from Ukraine...

War is horrific and the effects of it are more demeaning than anybody should ever have to witness!  It is difficult for people who have had these experiences to speak about them too graphically because you can see how deeply they have been affected!  Their voice and chins often start to quiver as they try to describe what they have seen and experienced...!  Only God can restore and bring healing to these terrible traumas...(even now as I write this post we have just received word that more bombs are dropping in our region and four more people have died.)  

But, as incredible as it sounds, Genesis 50:20 reminds us that what man means for evil, God can use for good! Today the churches are fuller than I have ever seen them before! Many churches are even meeting everyday of the week and fasting at least one day as well! There is an amazing unity between churches and even denominations! And crime is almost nonexistent- there seems to be one goal in the midst of a common crisis that is moving a whole Nation together in a singular direction!  How I wish this could happen for us in the U.S., without having to be forced into it by War!  

We have heard of many miracles to go along with this startling unity, especially among soldiers!  One we heard just last night was  from our pastors' home here in Dnepro.  It was about a Ukrainian soldier who was very outspoken with his faith, although not everybody in is unit appreciated his boldness!  But he started a little prayer group before they went into battle and not one soldier was injured!  This little group grew to include every man in his unit and then many soldiers from other units also came to be prayed over and God's mercy has continued right up to this latest report! Numbers 31:48,49...

I have heard of many stories like this where God's gracious mercy has intervened during this awful War- but it doesn't always turn out the way we would choose.  I met a soldier in 2014 that Stepan Bokoch had baptized before the War began that year. He was in the military hospital in Kiev.  He had been running across  the street as a sniper aimed at his heart, but as his arms were swinging back and forth with his running motion, his left arm came up and covered his heart just as the bullet was about to strike!  His arm was shattered but his life was saved!  He had a very tender faith, a wife and two kids but also a passion for his Country's right to exist!  Over the years he has moved through the ranks and become a senior officer, who has received advanced training in several Countries including the U.S.

I just heard last night that he had been killed recently when he stepped on a land mine!   Once when I was in Israel during fighting, I asked God why this never seems to stop! And He said, "Because people continually refuse to submit to the two Great Commandments I gave them!  To love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength! And to love their neighbor as much as they love themselves!"  There are only two Great Commandments and they seem pretty straightforward but who will listen!  It starts in our homes and could change nations, but how many are actually willing to lay their lives down to God and see this happen?  I hope that I would be counted as one of them-  II Chron.16:9...