We have been receiving some stories from our missionaries and national leaders about what God is doing in the midst of the pandemic. We are sharing these stories with you so that you can be encouraged and also remember to keep lifting up our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world in prayer.
This story comes from Diane Bible. She and her husband, Abe, serve with Ministry Developers Network in the Ukraine. The Bibles are connected to Evangelical Friends Church – Eastern Region.
Vera is our Ukrainian colleague and co-worker. We have worked closely with her for the last 20 years and have known and mentored her for eight years before that. She is from Crimea, which was annexed by Russia a few years ago in a very under-handed way during tumult in the Ukrainian government. Vera eventually had to move to Kyiv because it became logistically impossible for her to do anything from Crimea (including the daily conversations she and Abe had).
Every summer, she returns to Crimea for several weeks to visit her family and relatives and to follow up with pastors there in a somewhat oppressive atmosphere. This year she had to delay her trip because we were processing documents that had to be done in a government office—which did not open back up until June 16. She left that same day to go to Crimea. In the best of times it is a strenuous trip because there is a mile of “no man’s land” between the two countries that you have to walk. She knew that she would have to self-quarantine for two weeks after she got there. For a very active lady, this was indeed a difficulty.
However, upon arriving across the border, she discovered that she would have to quarantine in a room at the border with another lady whom of course she did not know! They were only allowed out of the room three times a day to go to the bathroom! Vera did not have her laptop with her to work on because this year, due to that mile-long walk, she had decided to just take her files on a disk and then load them onto a loaned computer.
The lady she quarantined with was 79, highly educated, and had overseen a work force of 3,000 people. She was going to Crimea because her son was dying of cancer. The officials would give no consideration to her circumstances. So she and Vera spent a lot of intense time together over the period of two weeks, leading to many interesting conversations. The lady was Ukrainian Orthodox by profession (which usually is just a name, not someone who actually goes to church). By the end of the two weeks she had a very high respect for Vera as a committed and devout believer. She promised to go to the evangelical church of which Vera gave her the address. She knew where it was and said she would definitely follow up. She is seeking, and even more so as her son lies on his deathbed.
God loves this lady, Ludmilla, and is wooing her! Through extraordinary circumstances! Pray that she would find the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as her son, and that we would get to celebrate with them in Heaven one day!
If you would like to receive on a regular basis prayer requests and praises for how God is working I encourage you to sign up for EFM’s monthly prayer letter. You can do that by clicking on the button below.
Also, EFM is still receiving donations to our emergency fund for COVID-19 related relief efforts. If you would like to contribute at this time you can do so by clicking here or using the button below.
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