Helpless. That has been the predominant feeling since news of war reached our little home. And with the ashes of bombed rubble comes ashes of Ash Wednesday and Lent’s beginning. Suffering. Sacrifice. Knowing Christ in His passion. But what can you give when you’ve given all? How can you wrap your tired arms around aching hearts from across oceans? How can you feed, clothe, bandage wounds, and love souls who have left everything to save their lives? Helpless. But not hopeless. Never ever hopeless.
Let’s take a look at Isaiah 58:6-12 (MSG)
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The GOD of glory will secure passage. Then when you pray, GOD will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourself to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I always show you where to go. I’ll give you full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.”
Read that slowly twice more. Do you see it? Can you feel it? Do you hear God’s words echoing down through the ages to right now, this very moment? Hope. Hope for we, who feel so hopeless, uncertain of what we are able to do, and hope for those refugees who have left all they have. We, during this fasting-Lenten season are simply called to obedience, giving, sharing, calling out for help.
Ann Voskamp writes this prayer:
“By Grace, today I will fast from apathy and indifference because we are not here to make an impression but to make a difference. Today I will be the hands and feet of Christ everywhere I can because He’s given me His heart so I can. We repent for not caring for the widow and orphan, but caring more about looking like we’re keeping up with Jones’s, because You say faith like this is a sham, a fake, a fraud.”
In a moment, I’ll share some ways you can help directly, indirectly, financially, and in other ways. Giving all isn’t solely giving money; sacrifice and generosity is a heart matter. When you offer your whole heart to Jesus, your time, energy, resources, talents, He will pave the way. He is the way. But first…
First, I’d like to introduce you to two dear Ukrainian friends and allow them to share a bit of their current, unique stories and concerns. These missives are in their own words.
Please welcome Vita! Vita and her husband, Dema, live in Kiev with their young daughter Daniela. This sweet couple attended Kiev Wesley Bible College where my father taught in the early 2000s. Vita often translated for our family and helped me find clothing (it’s hard to find plus-sized women’s clothes in Ukrainian markets!). Let’s lean in close and listen to Vita’s heart.
“Dear friends,
We left Kiev yesterday. With small pack packs and we are heading west. We spent 7 days and nights in the basement hoping it would stop soon. But it is getting worse and worse, explosions are closer and closer, buildings are being destroyed around us.
Vorsel is 30 km from Kiev and is under control of Russians now. Yesterday one of our friends became missing and we didn’t know where he is for more then 24 hours. And two of his neighbours were killed and their bodies were just laying by the fence all day long. His wife is there with kids and we were not able to get her out of there.
We had many stressful nights in that basement and the last night we were there my child could not sleep and we made a decision to try to leave Kiev. We found some people from a church who helped evacuate people. They took us out of Kiev.
Right now we are staying in the pastor’s house who we did not know before half way to the point of our destination. It’s safe here for now. They still have air sirens here but nothing is happening. We are scared of every sound and don’t feel safe. We don’t know what is ahead of us. Some of the families who are travelling with us don’t have much money and of course there’s no any income at this time. People are helping us and we are helping those who need help around us.
If you would like to support us you can do it through western union or money gram or ria. And we can still use cards at the store and we can get the money online.
You can send it to my name
Viktoriia Sedletska {via Western Union}
In order to get it I need to know the amount that was sent, the tracking number and from country it’s from.
Thank you”
“An update on the situation here
A group of 22 people was able to leave Kiev and we are close to Slovakian boarder. We are safe here. But can’t enjoy it worrying for those who stayed. And being heartbroken from all of this.
But kids are happy to be safe and together.
Thank you for all your help and prayers. We are staying in a small village right at Slovakian boarder. We are safe here”
And, now, let’s welcome Maryana! Maryana also was a student at Kiev Wesley Bible College in the early 2000s. She and her husband have two young children. Maryana currently lives outside Ukraine, but the rest of her precious family still lives inside the country. Maryana’s family holds a very special place in our hearts—so many intimate memories were made during winter at their home in the village. I feel Maryana’s heart as she writes her feelings here. Gather near and hear her heartbeat.
“You make plans, everything goes according to plan. It seems that you have money, you have all the conditions, you have achieved everything yourself, you can say – l made my self, everyone is healthy.
It cost me alot to make this way, but that was my coal l wanted always more-sometimes more than l can got en After all going through a lot, and now you think I will do what I planned. But not ….
trouble came to us trouble that no one expected. EVERYONE SAID MAYBE AND WILL BE BUT IT WAS JUST WORDS. And now the war has come to us. and all plans, all dreams collapsed and now we all have one dream. That there was no war. very scary, very painful … and very angry, why someone just needs to destroy everything there, and why one person was able to destroy, the dreams of many, who gave him this right.”
Join me in gratitude for these two friends trusting us with their hearts. I appreciate each one sharing her fears, frustrations, passions, anger, and stories. Vita spoke a few days ago of the trauma and fear they are all feeling. And Maryana has a unique backstory—her brother needs daily medication due to his kidney transplant. With the shop closures, Maryana has been worried he’d not be able to get medication. Can’t you just feel the tender ache in each story? You, my dear reader, can be a part of their stories!
How?
Re-read all the action words in the Isaiah passage: break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation, free the oppressed, cancel debts, share your food, invite the homeless, clothe the ill-clad, be available, pray, call out for help, get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping, give yourself. There is an abundance of ways to be a part of Vita’s, Maryana’s, and countless others’ stories. If you’ve given all, you can pray! You can cry out for help! If you have something, you always, always have something to share. Lean into this promise—doing this, or giving your all to Jesus, will pave your way (Isaiah 58:7-9). There is always hope because Jesus is Hope.
In my feelings of helplessness, I want to do everything I can to provide help and relief to these strong, precious people. Foremost, pray with me please! Let’s link hearts and call out to our God, our Restorer, our Healer, our Rebuilder, our Redeemer, for help and provision and comfort for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. If you’d like to donate, I’ve compiled a list of trusted links below.
If you’d like to show your support in a tangible and visible way, my brother, Timothy, is offering an “I Support Ukraine” t-shirt where the proceeds from each purchase goes to help Ukrainian refugees. The tees are available in sizes XS-XXL and are printed on three lovely colors. Check them out following the link below:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1187916103/short-sleeve-unisex-t-shirt?ref=listing_published_alert
How about you and I, right now, steep a cup of tea and pray with and for these friends, their friends and families, the homeless, the refugees, the wounded, the ones mourning loss, the frightened, the soldiers, and the countries involved. We aren’t helpless, and we aren’t hopeless. Come, join forces with me, and let’s fight together on our knees. United. We are warriors in Jesus’ army, and together we can fight in prayer for peace. Because, ultimately, Jesus is our Hope, our Way, our Peace.
***Just a little fun fact: I cultivated my love for hot tea from both my father’s collection of teas there in my family’s Kiev apartment and around Maryana’s family’s table in a western Ukraine village. I remember questioning the variety of tea served and being told it was dried herbs and leaves collected. Whatever the source, the tea was deliciously calming. Don’t we all need a cup of that just now?
****I will update links and sources here as information comes in. ❤️
Hearth & Hive 