Our thoughts are on the upcoming missionary school training… Or rather, how to get to this training, which starts in April in Switzerland. It is the end of February and God has sent us a sister who has offered to buy tickets for our family. We need $11,000 for the first three months, so far we have raised $70. We wanted to sell the car again – but now it’s broken down, it’s been sitting under our windows for two weeks, no way to fix it.
I wonder how God will turn this whole situation around, if we will get on this course or if there will be some other lesson from the Lord for us….
For the last two months we have been in the same place, no new endeavors have been made and no new plans yet. My husband is working part-time in electronics, my son is studying at an online school and running to soccer, and I am mostly at home, I started writing a book about our life in Donbass during the war.
Sometimes I go out with my sisters, sometimes with unbelieving girls. In general, I meet with someone 2-3 times a week. Something special for me was praying with one sister in the central market of the city. I looked from above at the sellers and buyers, looked at individual faces, and suddenly felt a strong sorrow for these people, as if they had all died… But after a few minutes God reminded me of the place in the Gospel where Jesus raised Lazarus. God wept then and said: “Lazarus, come out!” – and out of the tomb came Lazarus alive. My sister and I began to pray that God would not let these people perish, that He would raise their spirits and bring them out of darkness into the light.
Also in February, our family traveled to the capital to renew our son’s passport. There we met with our favorite friends, missionaries from Belarus. It warmed our hearts to fellowship with people who are close not only in spirit, but also in culture! Once again I realized how much I miss Ukraine and our brothers-sisters… Maybe if God blesses us with training in Switzerland, we will be able to see our friends from Ukraine who are now living in Germany. Yes, in Christ Jesus we have a huge family all over the world, but humanly speaking I am strongly attached to that first family in the Lord that nurtured me for the first two years.
The board game club continues to meet every Wednesday, but in a new location, a private education center. We thank God for continuing to run this club, sending us both places, people, and new games. My husband and I did not give each other gifts for New Year’s Eve, but we did give a new board game for our family and for the kids in the club. It’s a nice, beautiful, expensive strategy game that can be played quietly, without rush or excitement, just enjoying the gorgeous design. We invite some of the guys over to our house to play in a cozy home environment.
Unfortunately, our relationship with the pastor of a local church was ruined because of our inappropriate behavior with the youth: we invited a few to our home to play and socialize with them, but did not anticipate the pastor’s possible reaction. The situation is petty, but we lacked the gentleness and humility to go silently into obedience, instead we wanted to find out and sort things out. The result was a ruined relationship with the pastor and an unspoken ban on fellowship with church youth. In some ways we can understand the pastor, but it is hard to feel like a sheep that the shepherd has turned his back on. We pray for mutual understanding and unity, for love in the spiritual family.
In general, there are not as many external movements as we would like, but we have enough internal experiences here. Perhaps this is also a kind of preparation, hardening, laying the foundation. Although time is passing, I would like to move somehow in evangelization, to have some visible results, at least a couple of repentant people… But apparently God has His own plans. Apostle Paul spent 14 years preparing before he went on his first missionary journey. And I, since time is short, go through everything in an accelerated order: in 2019 I repented, in 2020 I was baptized, in 2021 I got married, in 2022 the war came, in 2023 I already came to Tajikistan. Honestly, in 2024 I don’t mind leaving here already. Where God will lead us next, I don’t know. Someday He will lead us to Afghanistan, but when it will be and how – it is hard to imagine. Perhaps in 2-5 years, or perhaps much sooner than we think….