Grad
There are a few things in life that make me emotional. I was just brought to tears as I watched a video of the war going on in this country of ours. Not sure what it is that affects me so. The cruelty of war? Suffering? The hate that war stirs up between men? I’m not sure. I do believe; however, that a sovereign God will, in so many ways, be glorified because of the events of these days. May His people be faithful!
There have been a number of times over the last 12 months that Ukraine has been shaken to its core. The bombing of Mariupol by the Russian-backed separatists last week was one such time. The war has been quietly ticking away over the last few months; then this happens, and suddenly everyone is again talking and wondering what will happen in the short-term future and voicing frightening possibilities. Here’s a clip of the “Grad” (Hail) missiles on YouTube which fell on Mariupol. (This weapon used to be impressive in my eyes. I now see it from a different perspective – it’s death.) The clip is actually one put together by the separatists. Funnily enough, I’m still surprised by their audacious attempts at lying their way out of sticky situations. I guess their philosophy is that they only need to convince their own people. (Click on the link.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0hTNulR-w
We have a group of about 20 people attending the 18-week long course on parenting. It looks like we might be losing at least one of the fathers in the near future, in addition to Alyosha, who is already serving. Sergei got his papers to report for duty last week. He’s waiting to hear what his next steps will be from the war commission. There are a lot of men around Ukraine who are wondering if they will lose their lives in this war. The President announced last week that they want to call up 50,000 more men during the next three months, adding to the 200,000 already in active service. And the rebels have just announced that they are adding to their army - 100,000 more soldiers. Tonia said that a guy who is interested in her from her church on the border has gone across the border so that he won’t get forced into fighting for the rebels. This war isn’t going away anytime soon.
Pris and I were talking a couple of days ago and realized that there was a good chance that people we know will die during fighting sometime during the next few years. While trusting God on these matters, we pray for the safety of our brothers in the Lord who are serving and for their families. Men of faith in the Ukrainian armed forced are few and far between, so we also pray for their faith and testimony.
The girls and Pris are in Rovno until this Saturday. They will celebrate Diane’s birthday on the 5th and have enjoyed their time there. They have been to a masseuse who actually studied in one of the Christian Schools we started in Zdolbunov way back in the 1990’s. His parents are Christians and Pris said that they enjoyed his company and laughed lots. That should be good for relaxing muscles shouldn’t it?