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| Continuing ConflictRecently, I have turned off notifications on my air alert app. This is an app that notifies me every time there is an air alert, an upgraded alert, or an end to the alert. The problem was, it was sending me between 30-50 notifications a day and familiarity breeds contempt. When I am not at school, I pretty much have learned to ignore it. It isn’t that there is no danger. It is just that, if I went to shelter every time danger arrived, I would be living in the basement. Nobody can live like that. When school is in session, we pretty much assume that at least 50% of the school day will be downstairs. 65 students, PreK-12th grade, all sharing 5 classrooms and one hallway. Praise God for the resilience and great attitude most of the secondary students have had. They are an example not just for the younger kids, but for us teachers as well. Both of these pictures were taken on my way to school on different days. One shows smoke from a nearby building that was hit. The other shows a drone that was shot out of the sky near the school.   There is PowerLast winter, Russia set out to completely destroy Ukraine’s power grid. Although they failed, at times it was a close run thing. From early December on into March there were daily power outages, and there was a stretch from January to early February where we would only have a few hours of electricity a day… if that. I am hearing some say that a similar winter is an expected best-case scenario. Already some students have left until Spring, and as a school we have been making sure that our training and ability to go to online teaching is up to par. This is a school board decision, and since we have already had multiple outages in the past two weeks, it is a very real possibility.  Fall RetreatI know that much above sounds like doom and gloom. Please know that I am not intending it that way. I am presenting reality so that you can pray with wisdom and knowledge. But it is still true that God will never give us more than we can handle, and when it seems like a lot is coming our way, it also means He is increasing our capacity to handle more. This was clearly on display this past weekend at the MS/HS fall retreat. Even though we spent a majority of the time in the basement, the attitude and spirit of the students was so good. I’ve heard from multiple students and teachers alike what a blessing this time was. I preached a series called Bless the Broken Road where we looked at Broken Dreams (Joseph), Broken Promises (Jacob), and Broken Relationships (Absalom). The third message especially was one in which God showed up and did His thing. God is still at work here in Kyiv. People are still coming to Christ, He is still on the throne, and He is still the Prince of Peace.   Please Pray1. For a just peace. Sometimes we need to turn off the news and open our Bibles if we want to see how this might come about. 2. For the upcoming Fall Festival. The secondary students had a wonderful time this past weekend, this coming weekend they will be putting on a great time for the younger kids. Pray that it will all go smoothly and that there won’t be any air alerts so we can do it outside. 3. For those who were impacted by this past retreat. God broke a lot of bitterness and anger in some hearts and a few rededicated their lives to Christ. Pray that there will be a lasting impact from this. 4. For peace in my heart. I can’t pour out to others what isn’t inside. These past couple of weeks, my personal time with God in the mornings has been dry. I could use a little softening. 5. For those students who have, or might be traveling abroad some or part of this winter. Pray they would be able to keep up academically and that they would have godly relationships with peers wherever they end up for as long as they are gone. 6. For wisdom for our school board. It is a tough decision to balance the need to keep this school open as a place of refuge for those who cannot or will not leave and also factoring in the needs for safety and security in a place where safety sometimes feels like a myth. Pray God guides their decisions well. 7. For incoming staff. There is a teacher who was supposed to be arriving in August who looks to finally be arriving by the end of this month. There is another teacher who sill plans to be joining us in January. Please pray blessing and smooth transitions for both. Thank you. It is hard to write updates like this because it either seems like I am not being honest or I am full of doom and gloom. Please don’t read this that way. The situation around does look dim, but God’s kingdom is advancing, and I am daily so blessed to be able to continue serving Him here. This is what He has made me for. If you would like to make a one time financial blessing, please click here:  If you would like to become a regular giving partner in this ministry, please click here:  |
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