Displaying items by tag: Europe

Christiana Moon, a YWAM missionary from Essex who fled from Kyiv, has described her escape as surreal and crazy, ‘like a dream’, but said she experienced ‘real moments of light’. She has been sheltering at the home of two Ukrainian Christians in Lviv, and plans to board a bus to Poland, then fly to England. The 22-year-old said ‘I can't believe last Sunday, I led Bible study with my church, it was just normal. Now the sky is grey with smoke.’ She said that being in Ukraine has been ‘a journey of trusting God when you have to make so many quick decisions. With people giving you advice or panicking around you, I have learnt how to listen to God’s voice.’ Christians in Lviv opened up their home to her and the church is hosting many refugees. It’s an incredible moment of light that non-believers are witnessing.

Many of Ukraine’s refugees are women and children travelling alone. Fuel shortage means they must walk great distances in winter weather, facing risks of trafficking and violence. Ask God to give them endurance and peace as they seek safety, and to be invisible to traffickers or anyone wishing them harm. Ask God to give the volunteers from local communities strength and perseverance as they work in freezing conditions to help refugees cross borders. Pray for good communication between charities and churches coordinating transfers from the border to shelters, and the forward journey. May these networks remove the risk of refugees accepting transport offers by people traffickers. Pray for God to bless and empower those providing food, supplies, and sim cards. Pray for the IJM teams currently training NGOs in how to support people with complex trauma. Pray for the success of traffic awareness flyers being put in passports and for the authorities to quickly identify signs of trafficking.

The Russian military have admitted that conscripts (drafted against their will) have been sent into Ukraine. Previously Putin had repeatedly denied this. It suggests that his initial planned swift takeover with professional soldiers failed. Conscripts going to Ukraine and coming home in body bags could be politically dangerous for him and have a more immediate impact on Russian public and influential opinion than any sanctions or corporate departures. Many believe the former KGB spymaster is trying to revive Russia's tsarist greatness and restore the Soviet Union might prior to its 1991 break-up. Proverbs 6 says that the Lord hates an evildoer: verse 15 declares, ‘Disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed, without remedy.’

Ukraine’s Christians are openly seeking God to calm and ease their pain, and Psalm 31 has a special meaning in their hearts. Countless Ukrainians are reciting it from their bunkers and other safe locations as they turn to the Lord in praise and adoration. They are finding strength, rest, comfort, and stronger faith in God’s Word. The British and Foreign Bible Society said, ‘Psalm 31 is becoming really significant for the entire nation.’ We also can read it and join in spirit those in shelters who are desperately praying for aggression to end. ‘In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn Your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since You are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of Your name lead and guide me.’

The prospect of Ukraine’s wheat harvests being marooned by war has already sent wheat prices to record highs. If the crops cannot leave the country, global food shortages are likely. Ukraine is one of the world’s great breadbaskets. It is the top producer of sunflower seeds, its black-earth fields yield large oilseed crops, they export 12% of the world’s wheat and 17% of its corn. However the war has done grave damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure. Russian missiles have ruined airports, roads still existing have militarised checkpoints, and few companies want to send trucks across land borders already choked with refugees. Previously Ukraine’s sea ports exported 200,000 tonnes of wheat a day. Now the best it is likely to attain through transloading operations at every one of its western border crossings - Romania, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary - is ‘under 20,000 tonnes a day, altogether’.

The Kremlin is considering imposing martial law on its own citizens, the EU suggests. Russia's economy has descended into turmoil. The rouble is at a 10-year record low, anti-war protests continue in Moscow and St Petersburg, and the bloc was picking up speculation on social media about potential Russian plans, which it said would be ‘completely home-produced’. At a morning press conference, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western politicians of considering nuclear war, and said Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine ‘until the end’. Ukraine Christians have matured over the years of fighting for freedom for their country and are depending on help from God more than support from America or Europe. In Russia, Christian revival is already growing despite much pressure from state authorities. Father God, we ask You to bring about Your outcome to this crisis. Replace error with truth and where there is darkness bring Your light.

In war, victory lies not in defeating an army but in securing the willing submission of a population. Stability is the outcome needed, not a passing triumph of arms. Putin has misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainians and world opinion. He has misjudged the capability of the military tool he employed to secure his political goal. It is likely that the very brutal success of his military will ensure he fails to achieve his political objective of a stable and pliant Ukraine. The irony is that, even if he wins the war, he will lose the peace – for there will be no peace to keep. We can ask God to empower and encourage the Ukrainians in the midst of unimaginable conflict and confusion. Pray for God's provision of a canopy of His presence and protection over all who are under attack, and for those fleeing to achieve their goals.

Russian soldiers speaking in videos posted to the Ukraine security services' Facebook page warned, 'We're killing peaceful people'. An injured soldier sitting in front of a Ukrainian flag said, 'This is not our war. Mothers and wives, collect your husbands. There is no need to be here’. Other footage shows a handcuffed Russian prisoner crying over the death and destruction wrought by the war, saying, 'They don't even pick up the corpses, there are no funerals'. At least one of the soldiers urged Kyiv and Moscow to evacuate children from the warzone while another warned, 'No-one wants war'. Six days after Moscow ordered its forces into Ukraine, a Russian soldier texted home telling his mother, ‘All I want now is to kill myself. We were sent as cannon fodder.’ Weeping Russian POWs say they had no idea they were being sent to war, and said they were made 'to attack people defending their territory'.

You are a God of justice, 

the one who rules in righteousness. 

You sweep away oppression, 

by a high and mighty politician. 

Lord, remove abuse of power, 

let the cunning plan turn sour. 

May Your angel armies win the day

as your people faithfully watch and pray.

Every Generation Ministries bring the transformed life Jesus intends for children in Ukraine. Ukraine is home to over six million children and 5,000 evangelical churches. Russia and the West have battled over influence in Ukraine before. After the annexation of Crimea, thousands of children were displaced from their homes to live in fear and uncertainty. The country is in turmoil again and the world is praying for peace. Ask God to invigorate the church to reach out to searching people during this time of tumult. Pray for boys and girls who are experiencing tremendous fear and anxiety during the current unrest and those still recovering from 2014. Ask God to give church leaders wisdom as they navigate the tensions of civilians bearing arms, bombs, and millions fleeing. Christians in the town of Lviv are deploying a shield of prayer and worship. In an upper room African Christians are praying for their host country, ready to be Jesus’ hands and feet to those who must flee. On the other side of Lviv pastors meet, plan and pray the battle for freedom. In separatist areas Christians forbidden from meeting together meet secretly.  Ukraine’s vibrant Jewish community of 200,000 is one of the largest in the world. Many elderly Jews are comfortable with Russians as their neighbours. When their men served in the Soviet army during WWII they couldn’t imagine then that Russia would attack Ukraine. ‘I’m following the news,’ said Vera, a 68-year-old Jewish lady who practises Heseds (generously lovingly helping others). ‘I pray daily to God. I’m trying to cheer up my fellow-seniors.’