News from Ukraine, June 5 2023

June 5 (Day 467)

We had a special holiday yesterday, we celebrated the Day of Pentecost. Our church gathered to celebrate the descent of Holy Spirit and thank God for sending us a wonderful Comforter and Counselor. We never cease to praise God for His amazing work in His church and in each of us. I do not know how we would have survived this year, if not for His spiritual support. He constantly heals the wounds of our souls, gives us the wisdom to make decisions in difficult situations, gives us the opportunity to comfort others and serve in word and deed. We are thrilled to see the work that Holy Spirit is doing in the church now making people strong and responsible, giving desire to stand in the gap with a prayer and serve with love and compassion to the world around.

When the counselors of our center faced completely new issues in their work – the war trauma, we were led by the Holy Spirit in the work with fears, anxiety and post-traumatic stress of our clients. The Spirit of God helped us to deal with our personal traumas to be stable, adequate and capable to work and help others. Many psychologists are working in Ukraine now, and secular counselors also work hard and help people a lot. Many refugees and other people going through grief and suffering different traumas come to us after working with somebody else and they confess that they see a big difference, they tell about unusual peace and comfort they feel after sessions. It cannot be explained otherwise than by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We always pray and ask God to send us His Spirit as we work with our clients.

I thank God for the opportunity to see how people are reborn for life and for the service to God. There are so many stories, which are similar in some way but each of them is very special for us and for God. I want to share one of them. Oksana and Igor came to our town from Kherson region when their village was occupied by the enemy. I remember talking to Oksana when they first came for our charitable breakfast in the café. She was crying and it was hard for her to talk. Igor, her husband, was silent and avoided communication. Every week I spent some time with Oksana individually, I was listening to the woman who was completely devastated by leaving her home, by her health problems, and problems of her marriage. As we worked with her we carefully analyzed each issue and Oksana learned to take care of herself, set boundaries, and adapt to change. She began to attend the church and the Bible study. When she came to the church for the first time, she was so impressed by the music during the worship and asked Ivan, our youth leader, to download the hymns that we sing in our church to her telephone. She was listening to the music all the time. When Igor, her husband, started to come to the church with her, it was the biggest surprise for Oksana. She testifies about the positive changes in their relations and explains it by the miraculous work of Holy Spirit. When Oksana received Jesus she was proclaiming it to everybody, she is attending the preparatory classes for the church membership now. We hope that her husband will soon be ready to make this step, too.

We started the renovation of the building for the Refugee Center and very soon the first living space will be ready and we will welcome the first family to live there. We made good relations with the neighbors, it’s nice that one of them suggested his help.

We thank all people who support us with prayers and donate for our ministry.

Please, send your donations to Pathway Ministries
E. Langston Haygood,D.Min.,Ph.D.
Pathway Ministries, Inc.
288 Huntington Parc Circle
Birmingham, AL 35226
(205)835-3325
http://www.pathwayministriesinc.com

In Christ,
Lyuda

P.S. There are photos of Oksana and Igor when they first came to our group and their photo taken few weeks ago. And the photos of our worship service.