“You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day…No harm will overtake you; no disaster will come near your tent” Ps 91:5, 10.
Passages like this are why the Bible says we need to “walk by faith, not by sight.” How can we believe that “no harm will overtake you; no disaster will come near your tent” when you have nothing and you’re camping out in a subway? The Bible’s message has always been that “Things are not as they seem.” Death seems so final—but not for us. Harm and danger can bring others closer to us, to God, and to everlasting life because God saw them through and brought something good out of it.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, as you can imagine, significantly affected Gift of Life (GoL). God hears what you will be praying for three weeks from now and will answer your future prayers before you pray them! (Isaiah 65:24). God created time and is not bound by it.
Medical Clinic on Wheels (MCOW) in Ternopil, during winter months, was closed when martial law was declared February 24. The Mayor of Ternopil, on March 9, encouraged organizations to resume activities. With thousands of refugees in the city, clinic services could provide treatment, emergency help, triage and evangelism. Reopening is scheduled March 15. One pre-requisite is bomb shelters. There is an underground parking lot nearby which may serve the purpose. You may pray for our doctors Vira and Daria, nurse Igor, and dentists Yaroslav, Vasyl, Slavik, and Oksana. Our hardworking support staff is Yuriy, Serhiy and deaconess Ludmilla. If need be, we can move our clinics. They are on wheels.
The two pro-life centers in Kyiv are closed. East of the river, the counselor Inna moved to Ternopil to work with us. West of the river, our counselor Anna locked the office, spent days in a bomb shelter and went to Poland as a refugee. Kremenets is out of the war zone but is in a refugee center, and counselor Nina and her husband serve there in many ways. Though Ternopil center counselor Laryssa took her daughter to Western Europe, our recently trained Oksana remained. She, Inna (from Kyiv) and deaconess Ludmilla are assisting with the trainloads of refugees.
Assistant Administrator Roman has remained at his post, though his family went to relatives in the Netherlands. Translator Christina is with her son in Poland. Mariya, the accountant, also remained at her post. We were out of Ukraine when the invasion occurred but still have daily communication with our staff. They are mentioned by name so that you may pray for them.
The Thoughts of Faith Committee (ToF), in an emergency session, approved GoL funds (held in Ukraine) to be transferred to Poland for non-perishable food delivery to Ternopil. We thank God for our staunch stateside supporters, with Polish connections, for assisting in facilitating this! At this writing the supplies have been purchased. Half will be shipped to the clinic garage for distribution and the rest, to another logistics center. A lot of things can go wrong. A lot of things NEED to go right. Please pray! God can make coincidences happen, make hearts favorable, keep people honest and generous, and give people good ideas, but He may not if we don’t bother to pray. And Ukrainians ask for prayers more than everything else put together. Currently, we await the arrival of the first shipment proving that the project is legitimate and possible. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod channel for contributions is the Board for Christian Services (Eric Hoeft). Money will not be released overseas for the project until it is proven viable.
Our own return to the west was bizarre. South Sinai to Manchester, to Dublin to Chicago, to Fitchburg, Wisconsin—shelter and rest. The ultimate shelter, the ultimate rest, is salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
We pray for deliverance in this world and salvation in the next one. For many people, God’s people will provide deliverance. But “salvation is found in no one else [than Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12.
Nicholas and Kerry Laper, Gift of Life – Ukraine