6 minute read
A Ukrainian Missionary Gives Thanks
Global Voices
Churches send missionaries from all the world to all the world, and with Ukraine considered the Bible Belt of Eastern Europe with a history of mature evangelical churches, it is growing as a sending country. Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian, so they are uniquely situated to work in other countries that were also part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991, where Russian is spoken along with a national language. That includes several Muslim-majority countries in Central Asia, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Luba L. is a Ukrainian missionary to Central Asia who serves in a church working with children and youth, many of whom come from unbelieving families or have suffered neglect. Three years ago, she was a student in the class that Charley and I teach on the spiritual life of the cross-cultural missionary at Odessa Theological Seminary, and we have kept in close contact with her. Charley always tells these students there is no final exam for this class—the test will happen on the mission field.
Luba went back to the field in January, expecting to return home in July, and got stranded there because of the pandemic. Her return flight was canceled with no rescheduled date in sight. Thanks to a special gift from a generous Ukrainian donor, she eventually booked a flight on the only airline that was flying but at the last minute wasn’t allowed to board because of some COVID-related glitches. She was told that her ticket couldn’t be used in the future—it was “burned.” Things went from bad to worse when her visa then expired, and she had to renew it in order to leave the country (no small feat). She has experienced many trials (not to mention that serving as a single woman in a Muslim-majority context in Central Asia isn’t easy to begin with!).
Luba finally returned to Ukraine in late September, two months later than expected. The first airline did refund the price of her ticket and the second airline finally allowed her to rebook on another date. After all the uncertainty and high levels of stress she endured, I expected her to return to Ukraine bruised or near burnout, but instead she has been overflowing with thankfulness for God’s gifts, large and small. Some of the things on her thanksgiving list are things I definitely take for granted.
Here is a translation from Russian of the text message Luba sent to her supporters on her arrival in Ukraine, used with her permission:
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Now that I am already at home and beginning to analyze the past eight months in [Central Asian country], I can say with certainty that despite all the difficulties, God is good! Here are some of the things for which I am grateful to God:
• We became very good friends with some of the kids and spent hundreds of hours together doing different things.
I believe that God will grow the Word that has been sown. . .
• God gave me new friends!
• This year I felt your prayer and emotional support in a special way!
• We never had checks with the KGB, or other services. Believe me, this was a great grace of God and a relief for me, especially when we held a mini-day camp for the first time in our town.
• All this time I did not have any serious health problems and never had to consult a doctor. A piece of my tooth broke, but it did not hurt, and I will be able to treat it here in Ukraine.
• Thanks to you, I had all the finances I needed to live and serve there. I never went hungry, and I always had enough. (Of course, the loss of an expensive flight ticket was initially a big financial challenge, but as you know, God solved this issue too!)
• There were never any scandals with unbelieving parents whose children visit the house of prayer and come to various activities! (The only time was when one grandmother came to complain about me to the pastor, for allegedly cutting her child's hair too short, but she ended up becoming friends with me.)
• I never crossed paths with radical Muslim "believers." Recently, stone dents were found on the gate of the prayer house, but no one was hurt.
• We had free grocery delivery to our apartment, which was really helpful when the temperature outside was 40 degrees Celsius [104 Fahrenheit].
• This year a taxi service opened in our city. The cost of a ride up to two kilometers [1.25 miles] is 13 UAH [13 Ukrainian hryvnia equals 46 cents in US currency]. You’ll agree, it is inexpensive, and it often helped out.
• Here they often harass girls, and foreign women even more so. It's prestigious for them to have an affair with a “Russian.” They pester women everywhere, on the street, on public transportation, in the store. Praise God for his protection in this matter!
• For vitamins, fruits and vegetables. Already in May I bought a melon, apricots and peaches.
• I never had anything stolen from me.
• Thanks to friends from the USA and Mexico who serve there, I did not forget my beloved English.
• God kept me from accidents, unfortunate incidents, snake bites, spiders and other animals. This list could go on and on. Praise the Lord for his goodness!
Luba’s list is still growing. In a series of social media posts called Chronicles of Grace, she writes about the grace God showed her through the hardships. Silence was important on the field, sometimes providing space for renewal or leading to worship as she enjoyed the beauty of creation. “But there is also another silence,” she wrote. “Pressing. Straining. Even frightening. The silence of uncertainty. The silence of irresponsibility. And when it seems that God himself is silent? That he has turned his back on you, and does not seem to want to give an answer? . . . And with waiting to renew the visa—incomprehensible silence; and the ticket, according to the airline workers, BURNED.
“Trust him, even if your mind tells you otherwise. If people around you shower you with ‘advice,’ still trust the Lord. He is above everything. And everyone.
“So, I continued to learn this trust . . .”
Reflecting on the roller-coaster of emotions that come with canceled flights, Luba wrote: “So much adrenaline! Joy, despair, hope, prayer, doubt, gratitude, humility, fear . . . And suddenly, like lightning, a thought struck me. So clear and life-giving! Yes, my flight is CANCELED, but NOTHING can EVER CANCEL Golgotha!!! Nothing can ever cancel the grace of God! Even if the circumstances are incomprehensible and difficult, God still continues to love and protect me.”
Reading Luba’s words, what am I thankful for? I thank God for Ukrainian missionaries who were once students in our classroom, and for what I am now learning from them.
Connections gives thanks for Cheryl Warner
Writer, College Church missionary (with husband, Charley) and encourager to new missionaries from Ukraine like Luba.
