Ukraine Connections

 Last week our world was rocked by the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, a sovereign Democratic nation that has resisted Russia’s attempts to pull it into its orbit. When I was pastor of an English speaking church in Nuremburg, Germany, we often had visitors from the Ukraine. Since I started writing this column, I have received more than 2,000 online views in the Ukraine.  

 Though the Ukraine is haf a world away, our connections are strong.  Over 1 million Americans have Ukrainian descent. According to The Ukrainians in America, the first Ukrainian immigrant arrived in Jamestown in 1607 along with Captain John Smith.  

 I was moved this week by a post by one of my young friends, Ryan Russell, Associate Pastor for College & Missions at First Baptist Waco, Texas.  He and his wife, Raechel married in 2015 and adopted a new-born son last year whose mother is Ukrainian. With Ryan and Rachael’s permission, here is what he wrote:

“Our adopted son Griffin is half-Ukranian.  His biological grandparents likely still live there today. It’s unlikely I’ll ever know them, and yet I care for them deeply. They’ve made our world possible. They may be strangers, but it hurts to think they could be in danger. We’ll never know.

 “Lately, Griffin has been getting lonely on car rides across town. A rear facing car seat means staring into the unknown. Talking helps, but I’ve found the best thing I can do is to stretch back and offer a finger for him to hold. “Hey bud, I got you. I’m here.

 “Silly as it may sound, I’ve begun to imagine these lonely cries as the vicarious cries of his people. Also staring into the darkness, they sorely need a finger to grasp onto. Yet halfway across the globe, it is easy to feel powerless in the face of evil, easy to give into despair.

 “Writing in the early third century, Origen, an early church father, once said: ‘One saint who prays is much more powerful than countless sinners who wage war.’

 “I find this to be an outrageously audacious claim: that there is a power in the world stronger than violence, and it will have the last word. Further, this power is made available here and now when we pray. Prayer seems passive and soft, and yet for those with eyes to see, is the true power that runs the world.

 “So every night for the foreseeable future, I’ll get on my knees in the dark near his crib, and do what I can to unleash more of this power into the world. I’d invite you to do the same. As we pray, we know God has not forgotten Ukraine. The darker the night grows, the louder his voice resounds: “I got you. I’m here.”

  David wrote in the Psalms, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways and faithful in all He does.

The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” (Psalm 145:17-19).