Light of The World
Met up with our friends from House of Mercy at Krakow airport
During a snowy day in Poland, our minibus was cruising along the windy road by the countryside. Inside the bus, Lisa (my wife) and I were happy to spend time with our Ukrainian friends whom we have not seen since 2019. In the bus, there was Vasya and Valery (Directors of House of Mercy Charity Foundation), Anya - teacher of the House of Mercy orphanage and wife of Valery, Stephen - manager of the Mercy Farm, Stephen’s son and 3 children from the House of Mercy. They had just returned from a visit to Norway with the Norwegian charity.
We were pondering how we would be spending our time in Ukraine. It wasn’t that we were curious about what we might be doing, but rather, what we could do in such a short time on top of visiting many friends we wanted to see. After a short break for some food in Slovakia, we finally crossed the two borders into Ukraine. Every time we stopped at the border, we got nervous. We wondered how long the wait would be and when they would finish the passport and customs check. Even though we had done these many times before, this particular time was different. We were entering into a war zone, as Russia has been invading Ukraine since February 24, 2022.
However, we were not worried because we knew that many families and friends were praying for us. We were not going into Ukraine alone. God was with us and the prayers from friends and families were sustaining us throughout the whole journey. As we entered into town, there were no lights on the road. We discovered that there was no power, no water and no heat due to the ongoing bombings to the Ukrainian infrastructures.
Visitation and Humanitarian support ministry.
During our time in Ukraine, we were surprised at and grateful for how many things we experienced. We helped to unload three container trucks of humanitarian aid and delivered food to a Roma camp. We had opportunities to share God’s words to a youth fellowship, 5 Roma camps, a refugee centre, and a church prayer meeting. We visited friends and their families to care for and encourage them. It was also encouraging to spend time with the local church leaders and pastors as we witnessed what God had done for them. The stories we heard from the refugees helped us to learn more about their needs. Moreover, we had a great time with the children at the orphanage, which included a balloon lesson about the armor of God.
We were amazed at how House of Mercy and the local church demonstrated Jesus’ hands and feet in their support and help to the IDP (Internal Displaced People) and refugees. Many of the church members did not leave the country. They stayed and gave up the church space and their own home to accommodate the refugees. God has been faithful to provide them with workers, resources, and financial support to expand the church building. The unity and solidarity among them were evident.
Refugees centre ministries
The local church continues to be a lampstand that shines light into darkness in order to help people who are going through difficult times. One example was a pregnant woman who was in a desperate situation and did not know what to do. She and her husband thought about aborting the baby because no organization could accommodate her needs due to her pregnancy. The church found out and took her in. She eventually gave birth to her baby girl in the church.
In general, Sunday worship services have never been this full of attendants. In fact, there have been times when they needed two worship services per day. Many non-Christians came to church and many were converted and baptised. The IDP brought different experiences and skills to serve in the church such as skills for church building expansion and renovation. Through hard times, we saw that people are united and coming together. All glory be to God!
This was indeed a short time we spent in Ukraine. We wish we could have stayed longer and helped out more. But God has already provided us with a glimpse of the hope and joy in Jesus in this journey. We treasure our friendship and deep connections in Christ. We hope to return to Ukraine soon and pray that we can serve alongside with HOM. In the meantime, we will continue to pray and stand with Ukraine.
In particular, we pray that Jesus would shine through us in the places of darkness and bring love, hope and joy to the needy.
As Jesus stated, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12.
November Financials
1. General Fund - for general and administrative purposes
2. Designated Fund - for specific ministries in different field locations as designated (cannot be transferred between funds)
All financial figures are in Canadian dollars and rounded to the nearest dollar.
Pray With Us
1. Praise God for the birth of Jesus Christ. Pray that we can point people towards the gospel message during this Christmas season.
2. Pray for the finances of CIM Ministries. Pray for a healthy general fund to run our ministries and that we can do a good job in promotions. Pray that our booth at Winter Conference may be effective in sharing about our ministries.
3. Pray for our new 2023 Board of Directors. Pray that Pastor Joel will feel welcome joining the BOD. Pray that Pastor Karen and Candace will get much needed rest. We thank them for serving on our board.
4. Pray for Ukraine as Russia continues their invasion of the country. Pray for House of Mercy and the HOM community as they are helping refugees who have flocked to their area. Praise God that Tomson and Lisa have returned safely to Canada after their trip to Ukraine where they brought encouragement to our supported Roma communities and House of Mercy. They also helped with humanitarian aid.
5. Pray for the pastors and teachers that CIM supports in Ghana and Togo. Inflation is currently very high and the cost of living including petrol, food, and power have increased significantly and many are struggling to get by financially.
6. Pray for CIM USA as they are currently recruiting for an Executive Director successor, as well as a Director of Ministry.