An update from the President of a Christian college we partner with in Ukraine (name withheld). You might be interested to see how the Christian community is affected by the current crisis there; this is information that you wont find reading a newspaper. If you would like to know more about this ministry, send me a private message. They could certainly use additional financial support, but that is not the primary purpose for sharing this. Its important I think to understand how international events affect real people like us, and to be in prayer and concerned and involved in whatever ways we can. ---- Dear brothers and sisters, Many of you write to us and ask to describe the situation in our country . . . in the light of the military invasion of Russia into Ukraine. The situation in our country is the following: 1. We have a new government. Now we have a less corrupted group of people than the previous government. But because of the very tense relations with Russia these people are afraid to make any serious decisions. That is why the changes take place very slowly. Some regional governments haven’t been changed at all, and this means that a lot of regional officials who were supporting the mafia of the former government, still work for the new authorities. 2. ... Russia makes very strong propaganda on its TV channels. This is an open informational war. Russia is trying to fight even against the Orthodox Church that is not Russian Orthodox. They are preparing some laws about sects. Also, a lot of subversive groups of disguised Russian secret service make a lot of unrest. They say that they want to be a part of Russia in some eastern and southern regions and cities of Ukraine. Sometimes they even capture governmental institutions. Such groups came to our city once or twice, but there are much more people who support the unity of Ukraine. Believers of different confessions also support this idea. So, in our city the situation is pretty stable. 3. What is also encouraging that due to the situation in our country that has been taking place for more than 3 months now people are, so to say, forced to seek God. I can’t say that there are more people in the churches now. But a lot of people come to the big prayer meetings in the downtown and join the believers in prayer. This is something that has never happened before. 4. It has been calm in our city right now. Even during the events in Kiev, it was calm... But of course there is some fear among people. ... a lot of us have been concerned because there were several serious provocations on the border... 5. Ukrainian Army is in a very bad shape. Civilians have to help the army with food, warm clothes and heating. There are several military checkpoints on the border [of] Crimea. Soldiers and officers live in tents or trucks. Christians... provide help for our army. A couple of days ago we brought mattresses and blankets to the soldiers so that they would not have to sleep on the ground. Also, our staff members and young people from [the] churches went to the border several times and helped the soldiers to put up tents and dig trenches. We have a couple of graduates who live in the border area. They constantly help soldiers, encourage them, and pray with them. 6. Finally, I should say that political instability has influenced [our ministry] too. These are some of the things that we are concerned about: - Our accountants have to go to the banks every day because they are not allowed to take a big amount of money... - Some of the summer camps and conferences [we planned] were cancelled...[renting out our campus provides] about 35 to 40% of our budget, and the political situation in Ukraine may cause us to lose a big part of this income source. - We will have to plan our flights to Central Asia through Turkey and Kazakhstan but not through Russia. This means we will have to spend more money on the flights. - [Foreign partners are canceling plans to travel to Ukraine] - During this year the expenses for energy sources will go higher, and the utilities will double in cost. I hope you do not think that my letter is pessimistic because the troubles that we have, usually bring us to seeking God. Right now a lot of people pray and seek God. We would like to ask you to pray for our country, for our new government, for peace and stability...
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 17:27:51 +0000
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