This last month in the Ukraine was a refreshing change for me. it’s hard for me to explain to you exactly what happened because it was another month where it seemed as if God did more IN me than anything else. My team along with team Clay and a team from the F (July 2008) squad lived outside of a city called Lugansk (about an hour commute by bus: only about 20 minutes from the Russian border). We stayed at a summer camp run by our contact Shane Duke. It was a refreshing change from the city life of the past 4 months. There was nothing around the camp except for open hills….it was beautiful. There was a wide variety of ministry opportunities for us. There were several villages withing the camp that we would walk to to prayer walk and evangelize.
There were also several orphanages that we went to where we did skits and various activities for the kids there. There was a lot of manual labor around the camp that needed to be done in preparation for the coming summer camps. Twice a week we led a prophet school for any Ukranians that were eager to learn more about God’s Word. I myself spent a lot of time in the kitchen helping with lunch and dinner…and even making a few yummy treats for my teammates along the way! It was a good month with lots of ministry opportunities.
Please keep Shane Duke in your prayers. As a long term missionary there, he is struggling with many things. The area where his camp is located is a very hard place. There is a dark cloud of hopelessness and depression that lies over that area that stems all the way back from the Holocaust during World War II. There is a spirit of division there. The Ukraine is heavily divided…half are pro-Ukraine. Half are pro-Russia. Russia wants the Ukraine back but the Ukraine wants to be there own country. It is hard for Shane and the other long term missionaries there….Americans are for the most part hated, something stemming all the way back to the Cold War 20 years ago.
Pray for longevity and perseverance for Shane as well as Forest and Darcy (another missionary couple that lived in Lugansk). As hard as it is, they know this is where God has called them, and although they may never see any fruit they know that they have to take joy in the small things: one babushka (grandmother) inviting them into her home is a big deal, etc. Pray for unity. Pray for God to move in a mighty way in that place, that hearts would be broken for God.
