News from Ukraine, October 09, 2023

October 09, 2023 (Day 593)

Last week was a week of tears and grief. I was reading Mathew 24. In such difficult moments you always think about the coming of Christ and expect His coming with great anticipation. On Thursday, russian missile hit a cafe in a small village where people had gathered for a memorial dinner after the funeral of a soldier. Fifty five people died including the family of the soldier. It happened in Kharkiv region and the next day early morning another missile hit the residential building in Kharkiv killing people who were sleeping.

Among the people who died in the cafe was Nick, the uncle of one of our refugees here. This elderly man was the mayor of the village, he survived the occupation. When the Russians occupied cities and villages, the first thing they did was arresting people in power, but the fellow villagers did not gave away their leader. When the village was liberated Nick organized people to rebuild and restore ruined buildings, he was very active and optimistic about the future. But that day he was killed with many families of his village.

Night attacks do not stop in our region, in the vicinity of Izmail, where the enemy continues to destroy granaries and port facilities. They had to stop the ferry crossing across the Danube to Romania and this put additional pressure on the road, which was already very clogged with trucks.

Another sad event was an accident that Dr. Anya’s husband Vitaliy had returning home from Odessa. He was riding his motorbike and was hit by the truck on that road that is very dangerous now. He is in the hospital with numerous injuries and fractures. He faces several surgeries and has a long road to recovery. Please, pray for the healing of his body and please pray for his soul. In this wonderful, friendly and active family, he is the only one who has not opened his heart to the Lord yet.

And then on Saturday there was another shock. The news of the attack on Israel was the climax of all events of the last week. The reports of the news, photos and videos brought us back in our memories to February 24, 2022 when Russian army attacked our peaceful cities and villages. It is strange how terrorists act in the same way, following the similar plan, as if they were all from the same tribe. One photo simply shocked us. It was a road where there were many burnt cars and dead bodies were lying around. The road to Kyiv looked exactly the same in the first days of the war. The enemy of human souls comes to steal, kill and destroy, there is nothing new. And now, as we all unite in prayer for Israel, we ask for peace and strength and wisdom for its leaders and we also pray the same prayer for our country.

Although last week was sad and hard, we joyfully sang praises to the Lord during our worship yesterday and thanked Him for all the mercies shown to us. We are very pleased with our youth group, their spiritual growth and desire to serve. A girl from our youth group, named Lita, raised her voice during the congregational prayer, she prayed for our music group and thanked God for the ability to be a part of it. It was her first prayer in public. After the worship she came up to me and shared that she wanted to pray so much but she was afraid to pray in front of the whole church, finally she realized that her desire to pray was bigger than her fear and she prayed.

Lita started to attend the church when the war began, she was in a big conflict with her mother and her step-father. It was so bad that she used to leave her home and stayed with her friends while her family and police were looking for her everywhere. Now her their relations are better, her step-father and her sister come to the church regularly, her mother also comes from time to time. Our counselor Tanya worked with Lita and her parents. Lita is an active part of our youth group, she entered a new high school and enjoys studying there. It’s amazing how God works in her life.

Please, continue praying 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 the attack on the trucks with grain and on the café in Kharkiv region, the photo of Dr. Anya and her husband Vilaliy few months before the accident and the photos of Lita singing and playing the piano in the church.