We Love Ukrainians
Ukraine Relief Workers Conference.
International Travel is always grueling. This year the flight expense almost doubled from previous years. The Fuel surcharge was equal to the initial economy ticket price! Yet, faithful giving to Acts 19 Ministries helped make our trip and ministry possible.
The Ukrainian people have suffered so much, and these Pastors/Leaders and their families have witnessed things no one should have to in their lives. Their children are shocked and dismayed, the Parents are overwhelmed and would have lost hope in humanity if it wasn’t for the tremendous outpouring of relief the Calvary Global Network, and many other ministries, have poured out to help them. They desperately need our continued prayers.
We have so much to share:
7/15: Friday: Overnight at a Hotel near LAX as our international flight on Saturday leaves early in the morning.
7/16: Saturday, Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) to Munich, Germany (MUC). (overnight).
7/17: Sunday, Munich (MUC), to Ljubljana, SIovenia (LJU); Car rental and a 3 hour drive to Millstatt, Austria, through the Alps (and a 3 mile tunnel through one of the mountains) of Southern Austria. Check in at the Schloss Heroldeck Castle (owned by Calvary Chapel, bought by Chuck Smith in 1988) was between 3pm and 6pm. Evening worship was amazing (in Ukrainian) and everyone was tired from traveling, some came from 12 hours of driving. Mostly from Poland, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Moldova, and Czechoslovakia. All were Ukrainian speakers, some also Russian or Hungarian speaking. My translators could speak 5 or 6 European languages excellently. Three families were from the city of Chernobyl where the nuclear reactor melted down years ago. They couldn’t afford to move from there with their farms and livestock, so they stayed and seemed no worse for wear. Many of the families left so much of their lives behind, it is hard to imagine what life has been like for these sweet people over the past 5 months. They all cried about reports they received concerning their cities and farms.
7/18: Monday, 90 degrees and about 80% humidity throughout the week. We started the day with introductions and the beginning of Trauma counseling in a group setting, with 2 specially trained trauma teams from America, they were excellent!
Lucy and I started taking appointments for prophetic prayer and our afternoon was fully booked. Four families came up to our “Tower of Power” leaving fully encouraged and full of hope for the future. Evening worship after dinner, Lucy and I were asked to lead the group in an open session to the Holy Spirit. Amazing time!
7/19: Tuesday, Trauma counseling for the whole group, then more appointments throughout the afternoon for Lucy and I. Five families came for 1 hour appointments each. Evening worship after dinner, Lucy and I were asked to lead the group in an open session to the Holy Spirit. Healings and corporate prophetic encouragement were abundant.
7/20: Wednesday, Trauma group sessions in the morning. then more appointments throughout the afternoon for Lucy and I in our “Tower of Power.
To get to the “Tower of Power” it requires over 100 stair steps (metal spiral staircase) to reach the top where Lucy and I held our prayer appointments. Beautiful views and a nice breeze through the windows at the top. We really felt connected to the Lord up there, a good workout to get there as well! We climbed those stairs 4-5 times a day.
7/21: Thursday, Trauma group sessions in the morning, then more appointments throughout the afternoon for Lucy and I in our “Tower of Power.” Such heartbreaking stories of trauma and the scenes of war. Many lost friends and family. Some had to abandon elderly family members and domestic pets just to escape Kiev. Pictures of their destroyed homes broke their hearts. I had to leave the conversations at times because I just couldn’t listen to descriptions of children in streets, etc. The Russians and Chechens are a barbaric people! The Chechens are considered some of the most barbaric fighters in the world, they are the fighters that are committing the most war crimes. Killing, raping, pillaging, kidnapping, and capturing Ukrainians for slaves, striking tremendous fear into each of the families.
7/22: Friday, last day of ministry, though some families had to leave to get back to preach at their churches in other countries. We were asked by many others, on their way out, to pray over them before Lucy and I had to leave. Such a joy! Sad to see these families go, whom we hope we will see again, though probably not. Prayer appointments all afternoon and into the evening. I was excited to lead the closing evening worship with a message from Psalm 126.
7/23: Saturday, a free day, so we drove up to see a Glacier in Austria and parked at near 13,000 feet. What a drive through the Alps, and what unforgettable sights!
7/24: Sunday, another free day, we went to church at Calvary Chapel Spittal, Austria. Good message and worship. The Worship leader asked if we would pray over him after the service. Word of our ministry at the Schloss made it to Spittal rather quickly! We ate lunch in an outdoor café and returned to our Hotel to pack. Very nice relaxing day after a tough week.
7/25: Monday, Flights home – Slovenia (LJU) to Frankfurt (FRA) to Houston (IAH) to Los Angeles (LAX) – our flight out of Frankfurt was delayed as mechanical trouble alerted the pilot to stop our take-off just as the wheels were leaving the ground and return to the Frankfurt Terminal where mechanics worked on one of the engines for over two hours. So we missed our connecting flight in Houston and had to spend the night at a United Airlines Hotel near the airport. Up at 3:30am and flight out of Houston at 5:30am.
7/26: Tuesday, Home again, full of joy and spiritual satisfaction in a job well done.
All of this was only possible because of the generous donations you each made to our ministry. Calvary Global Network was so appreciative of our work and ministry. We are excited to discover what the Lord has for us next. We look forward to sharing our story with you personally at some point. So many pictures, some very heartbreaking, but it’s their story. Our prayer is that lives were changed significantly to encourage a return to ministry for many of them.
