This phrase from Scripture has been especially poignant in our hearts these past few days. Our small family had already been tried to be separated by the military in Luhansk in early 2022, when the front line stretched between us. The roads were covered with wood, the bridge was blown up, but God, who gave me my beautiful wife, led me through impassable fields in front of soldiers on both sides to be a living testimony of Christ’s love for His Bride. And now, two years later, they tried to separate us again…
My name is Sergey, together with my wife Liliia and my son Andrei we lived in Kremenna in Luhansk region. During the outbreak of hostilities in our region, God made it clear that we should stay and support the civilian population during this difficult period. The Lord Himself led us to a neighboring town where we served for 8 months. We did everything we could: we delivered food to the frontline villages, took people to safe towns, looked after the church, which was without a shepherd. We did all this together, only in the most dangerous places I traveled without my wife, but she always had peace in her heart: “I know you will definitely come back, but try to be back in time for dinner, we have guests tonight.
In November 2022 we left the war zone, traveled through Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and in early 2023 we ended up in Tajikistan, where we lived for the next year. God miraculously gave us the opportunity to organize a board game club for youth there, and through this ministry we got to know the local guys and girls, built relationships with them, and shared about Christ (it is forbidden to preach openly in Tajikistan).
Then God opened the door for us (again, by a miracle) to the YWAM International Christian Discipleship School in Switzerland. After studying for 5 months, we were to return to Tajikistan to bring the light there with new knowledge and new strength. But in June 2024, while practicing in Albania, we found out that we were expecting a baby! This made us reconsider our plans and seek God’s guidance even more for the next period of our lives.
After much thought, discussion and prayers, we still did not receive a clear revelation from God and decided to go to Russia, get citizenship there for my wife and son, give birth to a child and return to Central Asia after a couple of years. I, on the other hand, have had Russian citizenship since 2016, but have not used a Russian passport for the past 4 years.
It was not an easy decision for our family, as our friends from Ukraine might turn their backs on us after this, but at the same time we saw a number of positives in our plan. And so, on September 20, 2024, we flew to Sheremetyevo airport for filtration (a standard procedure for Ukrainians wishing to enter Russia). The chances of successful passage are 50/50, and it does not depend on any physical factors: gender, age, disability, pregnancy, presence of close relatives in the Russian Federation – do not matter. Even residence registration “in the new territories” is not an advantage, i.e. people may not be allowed to go home. The main focus of employees is on social networks and personal correspondence, and the main question: “Do you support the implementation of the SWO?” – you have to answer in writing and verbally with explanations. And here we had a problem, because we cannot support the killing of people who are the image and likeness of God..
We understood all the risks and thought we were ready for any development. If they let us through, thank God; if they don’t let us through, thank God. We even assumed that we might be separated in an extreme case, but we hoped that family values would be prioritized, especially in the “year of the family”. But the priorities turned out to be different for members of the special services…
I can’t tell you the details in writing, but after 10 hours of conversations with various employees, I was escorted to baggage claim, and my wife and son were escorted to the deportation waiting room. As a citizen of the Russian Federation, I could not be deported together with my wife and I could not even find out what flight she would be sent to Turkey on (as we were flying to Moscow from this country).
Thank God for all the brothers and sisters He gives for us in this life, brother Andrew sheltered me in Moscow and one sister helped us financially so that my wife could rent a hotel in Turkey. But the situation remains difficult for us, as now we not only do not know where to give birth to our long-awaited baby boy, but also how we can unite our family again. My wife and son are in Turkey, and I am in Moscow. The list of countries I can travel to is extremely small, as I don’t have a Russian passport. Besides, any travel is quite expensive, and we have no savings, I have not had the opportunity to earn anything during my studies at the YWAM school.
The plan for the next couple of days is to send my wife to Georgia to our friends, the missionaries from Vladivostok, and for me to look for an opportunity to go to Tajikistan to speed up the completion of my electronics project there. What’s next is the unknown. God is persistently leading us down the difficult road of faith, step by step, teaching us to trust fully in His absolute goodness.
We can neither return home, nor go to Ukraine, nor stay in the Russian Federation. Seeking refuge in Europe is not an option either, as we have Central Asia in our hearts, and all of our actions in one way or another will come from a desire to serve these nations.
Of course, we would like to continue serving in Tajikistan, but without stable financial support with a newborn baby it will be extremely difficult, my faith is not enough for that. So again we are in prayer and meditation, again we come to God with the same question:
«Lord, we know that You have absolutely already prepared a place for us where we could safely deliver our baby… And You are already leading us there now! But where is that place?»