Leaving Africa was really exciting for all of us. Not that I didn’t enjoy Africa, it was just a really hard three months. For some reason I just really felt that our last three months in Eastern Europe would be awesome. The first country for us to have ministry in was Ukraine. We spent a month in a city called Odessa. Odessa is surely a beautiful place to be, however the people there can seem to be really harsh. A woman who worked in Ukraine told me that the people there seemed really harsh, but once you got to know them they were really kind people!! That took me to the idea that I know many people seem really rough, but on the inside they just need someone to love and listen to them.
Therefore, on a Wednesday afternoon the ministry we were doing was street evangelism. This type of street evangelism was definitely harder than it was in Australia, but I still loved it. Most of the people in Odessa do not speak English which can make talking to them really hard. So I was walking to an area at the train station by a park, and I was talking to this woman to find out if she spoke English. She did not speak an English at all! So I decided to go in a store that was right next to me. There sitting behind a desk was a woman named Christine. She did not look like she was in the mood for talking at all. So I just said a prayer to God, “Lord here I am, please show up.” I begin to look around the store as if I were interested in buying candles, not really intending to, and I begin to talk to her. It turns out she was half Nigerian and half Ukrainian. She was very lonely, she did not have many friends, and she did not feel safe. People in Ukraine do not like foreigners. I begin to talk to her about Jesus but she didn’t like any religion at all.
I did not give up. I visited her every few days with my teammate Kate to develope a friendship with her. At the time it was not God’s plan for her to come to Him yet. Right then she just needed a friend. My heart broke for her, because I knew that I am only there for a month and she has had a rough life. So I could not be there for her like she needed and what she wanted some company! I could hear the sadness in her voice when she would talk about her life, but I could also see her smile when Kate and I would come to visit her. I whole heartedly believe that God sent us there just to give her some company and light up her life a little. I pray that she will one day come to know Christ, and I would see her in heaven.
There are many people in life who go through the same feelings that Christine goes through. Feeling like God abandoned them and left them!! Questions like: Why do I need to believe in God? He has left me. He doesn’t care about me? Does He even exist? In those situations it is deeply understood that God has to work on their heart for a long time. People have biterness towards their loved ones for leaving them. In Christine’s situation she had to raise herself because both of her parents left her. It’s sad and heart breaking that people have to go through such things. Deep down people in life are just harsh, because situations turned them bitter against people who have wronged them.
The tough outside exterior is just a sign of protection, because people don’t want to get hurt again. My heart goes out to people like that in life. These situations I hope will cause us to dig deep in people’s lives who have been hurt and pray for divine healing in there lives. To the people who feel abandoned, God loves you and He is with you every step of the way. Don’t lose hope stay encouraged.
