Every day refugees come to our center in the midst of what is now seen as one of the largest European humanitarian crisis' in modern history. People are streaming in from different parts of Ukraine and heading out west to Europe. At our center, we are able to provide a clean place to rest and sleep, a hot meal, and a shower, to recuperate as their evacuation route onwards to Europe goes forward. Many have left everything and are traveling with just a few bags they were able to grab in their hurry to get out of the cities that were being bombed. There are countless stories of fathers who have taken their wives and kids and with a final embrace send them across the borders while they stay back and head home to wait and see what the course of the war will be. In the middle of this sadness, we have found that love and hospitality go a long way to bring healing to the soul, giving people the ability to open up their hearts to hear about the God who loves them.
Volunteers work around the clock to make this possible. They work in the kitchen daily, clean floors, sinks, and bathrooms, prepare food, line beds with clean sheets daily, organize humanitarian aid storages, load and unload trucks and buses, answer phones in our call center, coordinate evacuation with a logistics team, drive extremely long hours to evacuate people, make sure gas/diesel canisters are filled, take vehicles to maintenance and repair shops, and all of this is just a small window of a normal day at Christ Evacuation Center. It's been an honor to work alongside these stellar heroes.
We know we cannot do any of this without Christ. We need Him. We also know that those who come to us here need Him more than anything else we can offer. So we pray, we read the scripture, we spark conversations with people who come, and naturally, find moments to share about who we are and why we do what we do. God is our everything and we are honored that in a time like this we get to carry His love and light as we love the person in front of us. When we don't know what we are doing He shows us all over again that it's Him who is living through us.
So, we joyfully lay down our lives and let Him live through us and find our greatest satisfaction in Him.
National Catholic Register ran a story on the picture I took of a man hugging a cross in front of the Catholic Bernardine monastery in Lviv on Feb. 24, in the following hours of shock and terror after the war began when major cities across Ukraine began to be relentlessly bombed by Russian military forces.
Charisma News ran an article with the work we are doing in Ukraine during this war crisis
@Tyler Feller did the interview which is now on Youtube-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FL5MSNV8TQ
Packing up our vans with aid to head out to areas in urgent need.
Some brave young guys have been driving through backroads to a city north of Kyiv to bring humanitarian aid at the risk of their own lives. Their courage is inspiring, I just wish it didn’t have been tested. We are working now on trying to get bulletproof vests, walkie-talkies, vehicles, and 1st-aid medical aid delivered to the right places. The need is great so we absolutely rely on partnering with other ministries, groups, churches, and organizations. The beauty of unity is shining brightly in Ukraine, and there is a sense of camaraderie and hope for a positive outcome continually filling us.
A lot of family, friends, and people all over the world have written me, people have fervently been praying non-stop for us, financial support has come rushing in. I just want to say thank you for everything you are doing. We feel the support and it makes a difference.
If I could give just one request it would be that you would pray that God would bring about a great spiritual revival here. I believe God will show His deliverance and goodness in our days ahead like we haven’t experienced before because we are calling on the name of Jesus.
He listens to our prayers.
He is moving on our behalf.
#Ukraine #nowar #stopwar #Jesus #hope #prayforukraine #pray
This is what evacuation has looked like the last 3 weeks. Many of those in this pick-up spot are now coming from cities north of Kyiv whose hometowns are being senselessly bombed. Seeing people find a way to get to safety is deeply joyful, and yet knowing their lives will never be the same again is painful. People at the pick-up locations are often scared and some have panicked in making sure they have a seat in the car.
Our wonderful team has done a great job creating a hotline and registration system to make this evacuation process as organized as possible in the middle of the chaos. We know our job is to get them into a safe environment where they can start to process what has just happened to them the last 3 weeks and many realize they are starting life all over again.
As refugees come to our center further out west of Kyiv, we offer them love and hospitality with the hope they will come to hear of Jesus at one of our prayer services. Our drivers and volunteers are all true heros. What’s amazing is that they do it for love, and believe for God’s glory to be revealed through all of this. Our faith rises even when our hearts are hurting. Its true that sometimes we cry when we hear of the tragedies happening. Through it all, we are choosing to exalt Christ. He is faithful and we will see His deliverance.
Thank you all of you for praying for us and for Ukraine. It is making a great difference. Jesus is Lord of all.
Every day groups come in and we see the tired and shocked faces of people who have left everything behind and don’t know what lies ahead of them. Their only goal is to get their kids and loved ones as far from the threat of war as possible. We are nearing about 1,000,000 displaced people as we approach the 8th day of this insane war.
When they arrive we do our best to welcome them with hospitality and love; feeding them hot meals, providing warm beds, and clean showers. Volunteers show up to do whatever is possible to help in this time of crisis. I have seen the church in Ukraine and around the world become one living body. No labels or tags- just one purpose: love as we have been loved by God in Christ Jesus.
It’s incredible how quickly this was all put in place. I remember driving here from Lviv after our nightmare wake-up call that rockets were shooting at Kyiv and Kharkiv. Everyone was in shock. We couldn’t believe it. But, we all knew what we had to do.
In the last few days, we’ve been working hard to coordinate an organized evacuation plan out of the most dangerous areas in Kyiv. We’ve been getting phone calls from families with kids, the elderly…
Orphanages have been wanting to get their kids out. We have been scrambling to do whatever we can to make it happen. My amazing wife, Anya, came to me today and said she felt like we did a week's work in half a day.
All of this has been an incredible accomplishment, but not an easy one.
We see God answering the prayers of the Church. We sense the power of the Holy Spirit with us. This post is not enough to tell you all the amazing things we’ve seen and heard. A lot is happening every day.
It is an honor to follow Jesus in a time like this.
WAR HAS BEGUN:
We woke up this morning in Lviv with a phone call that Kyiv was being bombed. From that moment we’ve been trying to work on doing everything we can to make sure our loved ones, friends, and church family are doing ok. Before heading east towards Ternopil, Ukraine, we went to grab groceries and extra cash from the ATM. We stood in line for about an hour to get our turn at the machine and found out that there was a $100 limit per person. The reality of martial law just hit us. Across the street from the store stood this beautiful cathedral with a man hugging the cross in front. My heart quivered. War has begun.
We are getting ready to help people get away and find housing for refugees- whatever we can do to help in this crisis.
The love and prayers of all the world are reaching out to touch this nation with the finger of God. Please continue to pray as the Spirit of God gives you unction. The news is still looking rough. I have been getting many messages and wish I could answer them all, but have to often consciously pull myself away from my phone to try and breathe. I just want you to know we are safe and are doing well. Please pray for the protection of Ukraine. For the leaders making decisions. For the civilians in harms way. For the weapons used to bring destruction to be jammed or misfire. Pray for peace in the hearts of His people. Jesus is the Lord of the world.
#Ukraine #Russia #God #Jesus #missions