Day Four

Unfortunately my body is still adjusting to the time change and after two hours of sleep, I’m wide awake. I find it strange that I am having such a difficult time, I don’t remember having the same challenges last time. Oh well. It’s a good time to write.

Today is the day we have been preparing for for so long. I keep pinching myself, not believing that it is really here. Part of me is biting at the bit, the other part is still a little nervous. In America we know more of what to expect. We have policies and procedures, specific steps we take to get from point A to point B. Maybe that is good, maybe not. Here it is very different. You never know what to expect. Policies and procedures haven’t been invented yet.  And although there are specific steps you take to get from point A to point B, it looks more like a maze than a straight line.

It is the morning of the day the Bible Study is to begin and we still have no idea how many women are coming! Unfortunately, the one woman who had backed out then agreed to meet with us, backed out again. One woman who is coming from a different city, is having a major family crisis and is now unsure she will be able to. One woman who said she is coming may have to leave early… and there are still several more who have verbalized an interest we have not yet heard from. Which doesn’t necessarily mean they are not coming.

I had a wonderful evening with Lyuda and Slavic last night. Lyuda is Yura’s sister and her and her husband are part of the team that has helped us tremendously. She shared a story about a conference they held about training parents how to raise children. They are on staff with the ministry Family Life here in Ukraine.  She said that 15 minutes before the conference was to start they had about 20 people in attendance. They had hoped for a bigger crowd. Then about 1 minute before they were to begin close to 100 people came! She was in tears and in awe of God.

So I am learning patience. I am learning to trust God and to take what he gives us. To not try and push and shove, but to wait. And to let go of my very American tendencies to freak out when we I am not in control!

Please continue to pray for the women God wants to come. They are under tremendous attack right now. They need protection from the enemy. They are in such a fragile state and afraid and will gladly take any out given to them. Whether a slight cold, or a daughter who has just tried to kill herself. I am calling you all to prayer, to stand in the gap for these precious, precious women who are desperate for God to heal them. They are not even aware, most of them, how their abortions have impacted their lives. They don’t want to be aware.  It is just too hard to go there. What they don’t know, is that God has something very , very special to give them. They just have to close their eyes and take that step of faith that feels impossible. That is why I am pleading with you to pray for them. Taking that first step is the hardest step to take.

What seems impossible to me, is a skip in the park to God Almighty. We are here not because these are my thoughts and desires. We are here because this is God’s heart. He is the one reaching down to touch and heal the broken hearted. He is the one who sees their pain. He is the one who has forgiven. He is the one who wants to grant them freedom, to take their burden, to give them rest. I am so grateful that I get to be the one to watch it happen. So very, very grateful.

-Mika’l