The Church On Mission

     It has been over a year since I posted to this blog, yet my journey yesterday made me want to tell others what the Lord is doing in the Kharkov region through his church.  In the midst of war in the regions to the south, the body of Christ throughout Ukraine has awakened and is ministering "to the least of these."
     We (my friend Zhenya and I) made the trip to Balaklaya - the place where a team from Mississippi helped begin construction on a new church building last may for Grace church - and once again experienced a church truly on mission for God's glory!  This little church is providing housing for 23 refugees - 14 children and 9 adults, including one boy who is deaf.  Most are not yet followers of Jesus, but are experiencing his love daily, and soaking in his Word each Sunday.  

Pastor Viktor and Nadia 

     Pastor Viktor and his wife Nadia have adopted 14 children over the past 20 years, with 10 still living in their home.  They are living in housing provided by social services, but in anticipation of the time when they have fewer children, and will no longer be able to live in that house, they bought a house near Grace Church a couple of years ago.  It had not been lived in for years, and was/is in bad condition.  They planned on remodeling the house over the next 5 years or so as money was available, but our God, who knows the end from the beginning, had other plans!
     For the past 6 months, the house has been used for families displaced by the conflict in the regions to the south.  Step-by-step, the church has worked to make the house "livable" - getting electricity, water, and gas installed, redoing the bathroom, small appliances put in for the kitchen area, and trying to get the gas lines and heating system up to code for the winter ahead.  A family of 6 are staying with the pastor and his family, 4 are at the church, and the rest (13) are staying in this house.  The family at the church will join those 13 in the near future so the church will not have to heat 2 places when the weather turns cold.

Some of those being cared for by Grace Church

     None of the refugees are working because their documents were left in their homes in the conflict area.  Some of their husbands remained in their city to work if possible, and to protect their homes.  Grace Church has been providing everything they need to eat, diapers, clothes for the children, etc.  This is a really small church, where the members are primarily retired babushkas (grandmothers) or youth, yet the church members look at the list each time they meet and do whatever they can to meet the needs.
     Some of the women of this church have made quilts for years after being taught by Mennonite missionaries, who also provided them with sewing machines and materials.  While there, I asked Nadia about the quilts, wanting to buy some to give to other churches that need blankets for refugees.  She told me that their storage room, filled to overflowing with handmade quilts a year ago, is now empty, after they distributed all they had to those in need.  Then she said, "Come back in two weeks and we will have some for you, but you cannot buy them!  This is our ministry."  Before I return for the quilts, I will find out some of their needs for the refugees that can be purchased in Kharkov at a lower cost, and buy what I can with funds provided by Baptist Global Relief, and churches in the states.
     Please pray for Grace Church as they minister daily to those who do not yet know Jesus.  Ask the Lord to turn the hearts of each of the refugees to desire to know Him.  Intercede for their financial needs.  Tithes and offerings (most from pensioners who often receive less than $150 a month) have been used to make the house livable.  They have taken out a loan to buy a new heater for the house, and replace the flue.  With no idea of what natural gas prices are going to be this winter, due to the conflict and limited supplies of gas, the church is very concerned about being able to pay to heat the house…..but they continue to give, trusting our Faithful Father to provide!  

Who is Jesus to me?

A Ukrainian missionary to Armenia preached from this passage a few weeks ago:  "'But what about you?' he asked.  'Who do you say I am?'  Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'" (Matthew 16:15-16)  During his sermon, I wrote the following:  "'Who do you say I am?'  This is one of the most important questions in my life.  If I answer just as Peter did, "You are the Messiah," everything I say and do should be a reflection of this belief.

Many of the folks in my neighborhood, whether we have met personally or not, know there is an American believer living in "that" apartment on the 3rd floor.  They know this because "that" apartment has been home to 2 other families over the past 18 years that spread the aroma of Christ throughout this neighborhood by living in light of the Truth of who Jesus is!  

There are times when I'm walking my Shadow (my OLD dog) around the building, and a stranger will start a conversation, eventually coming around to knowing one of the kids who lived in this apartment, or their parents - remembering them even 10 or 15 years later.  The memories shared have always been positive, a reminder of the lasting impact lives reflecting Christ has on the hearts and minds of every person we encounter.  

For me, this reminder brings with it a deeper conviction that I must live my life daily before those around me in a way that exemplifies my faith in Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  I want them to see Jesus, to desire Jesus, to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  May my life be a reflection of Him, even in the mundane, everyday tasks of life this day in my neighborhood, in this city, wherever He may lead me.

Gazing upon my Jesus!

Since returning to Kharkov in January, I've been using a book written by a friend to "jumpstart" my day - "Free to Thrive" by Andrea Lennon.  Today's scripture was from Psalm 25:15: "My eyes are ever on The Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare."

Andrea defined gaze as fixing my eyes in a steady intent, to look often with eagerness and studious attention.

As I "fixed my eyes" on Jesus this morning, I was filled with a renewed determination to seek The Lord regardless of the outside "noise" in my day.

Jesus....I need to see not only your eyes, but your heart!  I MUST know you....yet even as I think I am chasing after you, you are waiting with open arms right here for me.  I choose to embrace you, Jesus....to embrace you, Father.....to allow the beat of your heart to fill my ears, my mind, my heart - so that I will walk each and every step this day not as a zombie - mindlessly and mechanically following your will -  but as a child dancing after her father.....following the path you have placed my feet upon.....inhaling the sweet aroma of the Spirit as I run....running expectantly toward  the "prize" which is YOU, waiting with arms when I "seek and find" YOU!

"This is the air I breathe.....this is the air I breathe…..

your holy presence, living in me!"

This is my daily bread...........This is my daily bread

Your very word......................Spoken to me

And I ... I'm desperate for you.........And I ... I'm lost without you

The Debt is Paid in Full

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors...." (Matthew 6:12) For weeks, the world has focused on the battle raging in the U.S. between Democrats and Republicans, "left" and "right" politicians to find some compromise that would keep the government, and our nation, from defaulting on our debts. The House voted last night to approve a measure that will go to the Senate today, and will probably be approved, that will "save" the nation one more time from closing down. So, we will simply agree to go more in debt, so we can keep paying the interest on old debts. I'm not an accountant, but it seems to me to be a never ending cycle that is simply ignoring facing the truth of our inability as a nation to pay our debts.

But as the U.S. and the world is seemingly breathing a sign of relief over what has transpired in the past 24 hours, I cannot help but think of the spiritual debt every single human being is born with.....a debt we can never pay, a debt for which we as a race seem to be content to continue to "raise the debt limit," rather than facing our spiritual bankruptcy. The Greek word for "debt" in Matthew 6:12 has the meaning of a debt for which payment is due, as well as an offense or sin for which payment must be made, and I rejoice today in knowing that my debt, and the debt of humankind, a debt which is much more than the trillions of dollars owed by the U.S., has been marked "paid in full" by the blood of Jesus Christ.

How it must grieve the heart of my Father as He watches the vast majority of the world ignore, or refuse the gift of His Son! Just as many were filled with a sense of urgency to get the debt ceiling raised in the U.S., I want to be filled with a sense of urgency for those outside my door who cling tightly to a debt of sin, a debt that will end in their destruction. I must tell them of the One who has already paid their debt, Who paid the price so that they might be free for all eternity. Father, let me not rest in the comfort of the extravagant love of Christ while the multitudes outside my door are perishing in the debt of sin.

Call to Me....

"Call to Me and I will answer you....." (Jeremiah 33:3a)

Today is Women's Day in many parts of the world. In Ukraine, it's a holiday complete with the giving of small gifts or candy or anything you might have on hand. For at least the last 3 or 4 years we have had a women's team here from the states during this time to gather Ukrainian women together for a special celebration of who they are in Christ. It's kind of strange not being with a couple of hundred women today, but the Lord is providing some fellowship through one of our Ukrainian sisters, Nina, and her granddaughter in a couple of hours.

I've lived in this region of the city (Saltavka) for the past 8 months, after living in the center of the city for 7 years. It's a bedroom community, and the block where my apartment is located probably is home to some 30,000 Ukrainians. I love it....but so far have not developed friendships with any of the women in this area. Oh, there is the "babuska brigade" that sits outside whenever the weather allows, and sometimes I sit with them, but so far the Lord has not opened the door for deeper relationships. Today, however, as I was taking Shadow for her afternoon walk, I found myself asking the Lord to give me some friends that live near me. It's not that I feel lonely. I am blessed with opportunities each week to have time with folks who are becoming friends, but they don't live in this area. But today that request just went up from my heart to the Lord.

I don't know why I still find myself surprised when He answers quickly. He's always faithful, and He always answers! But as I headed to my entry today, I heard someone calling "Linda....Linda." I turned around and there was one of the women from Grace Church that meets in the same building as New Hope. She lives in an apartment in the same building as mine, but for 8 months our paths have never crossed. She handed me a small package of cookies in celebration of Women's Day, and we both talked about needing to get together in the near future - now that we know we live so close. I told her that just a few minutes before, I had asked the Lord to give me some friends here, and then our paths crossed.

I'm just thankful today that the Lord is watching over what seem to be "the little things" in my life. Relationships here don't happen quickly.....most Ukrainians are guarded, and while they might say hello, it takes a long time (and the Lord) for things to go any deeper. But Jesus was all about relationships, and I believe that small prayer, and His answer, were reminders to me today that He is still at work in my life.

All paths lead to ?????

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)

How often have we heard "all paths (or roads) lead to the same place?" As I looked out my window at all the paths worn dirty in the snow I was reminded how many different paths the world offers to those things that only the One True God can give. Love, joy, peace, hope, eternal life.....we can find advertisements and philosophies that all promise to deliver these things.

I have conversations often in the English club I help lead and in other venues with folks I know who cannot yet believe there is only one way! Surely the Lord has a way for those who are "good" people, but choose not to believe and follow Christ to enter into heaven! "Those gods of all the other religions surely will end up being the same God as Yahweh of the Bible! They are so sincere in their belief....they try so hard!" Yet His Word tells us there is only ONE path that will lead us to the fulfillment of all these promises - and to so much more - the path of Christ!

Who will stand at the crossroads and help each one who walks these paths find the right, true way? How often do I continue on in what I know through His Word to be the Way, yet never stop long enough to tell those who intersect my path that they are going the wrong way? Am I entering each day actively seeking those the Lord is going to bring across my path, hearts already prepared by the Holy Spirit to hear how loved they are by God? Lord, grant me the joy, the privilege, the opportunity to help someone this day find that narrow road that leads to You, and to life!

What If He Returned Today.....

As I sat at my kitchen table this morning, rather than sitting in my "usual" place facing the kitchen cabinets I found myself sitting in a chair facing the window that looks out upon the playground below. Almost immediately, the view that I had seen many times before in the past 2 months since I moved here overwhelmed my heart and mind.

Above the apartments were small wisps of clouds and the Lord pierced my heart with question after question: "What if Jesus were to come this very moment? Would the sound of the trumpet reverberate throughout this circle of concrete buildings as the thunder of a storm always does? How many of those behind the windows would be alongside me as we rose to meet Him in the air? Would the sounds of the wailing of parents whose children simply vanished before their eyes echo off those same walls?"

I have prayed daily for the people around me, but today, rather than reciting the same words of petition to see people saved, the words, and my heart, were different. The playground outside my window was the first place the Kharkov missionary team, then led by Mick Stockwell, held a backyard Bible club and outreach for the new church start that is today New Hope. Today, I prayed that the seeds planted in the hearts of the people so many years ago, those seeds that have lain dormant in their hearts and minds, would begin to come to life.....to take root.....to bear the fruit of repentance. Today, I prayed not out of habit, but out of a heart burdened for the 98% to 99% of the people around me who have perhaps never had a prayer of faith spoken for them to the One who has loved them before the foundation of the world.

It was no "accident" that I then turned to read in "Heart's Cry" by Jennifer Kennedy Dean and found myself confronted with a chapter titled "Stand in the Gap", followed by the scripture: "'I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land...'" (Ezek. 22:30). May my heart continually be "listening" for the words of my Lord to pray for the people outside my window! May I never grow weary in coming before His throne for those who do not yet "see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, (that they might) turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:10) and receive the free gift of His grace, mercy, and eternal life!