There has been a global mission field created by
abortion. For every abortion, there is a woman represented who needs to know the healing power
and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Hosea 2:14-15
Therefore I am going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
Hebrews 10:22-24
Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
What a beautiful picture of how God seeks to redeem us from our sin. And what a perfect description of what we hope to bring to women in Ukraine.
The Team: Michelle, Mika'l, Yura
This page was originally created to let people know what I planned to do in Ukraine January 2011. My sister-in-law Michelle and her husband Yura and I left the day after Christmas to travel to Vinnitsa, Ukraine to embark on a very exciting journey. To do post-abortion ministry.
We were able to lead 3 women through the Forgiven and Set Free Bible Study over a four day period. It is hard to share with you all that happened and all that we saw and experienced. We want to be careful not to mar the almost sacred and confidential nature of all that took place there.
We were honored to grieve with them. Honored to hear their stories. Honored to hug them and hold them and cry with them.
Michelle and I with our translator Yulya (Julia)
They walked in one person and left completely changed. We know there will be hard days ahead of them. Difficult decisions to make. Thoughts to take captive. Times of depression and sadness. But we have hope that they will also have moments of victory, joy and gladness that they would otherwise never have experienced. We are thankful to our Lord for taking us along. That we were able to see His hand work in ways that we never imagined. That our own hearts were healed in the process. And that we were encouraged.
I want to share with you some of their words. Notice the progression as they began and ended their time with us from that first night until the last day...
“A piece of my heart was ripped off.”
“I am a beautifully wrapped package full of trash.”
“I am a bleeding heart that always reminds me about itself.”
“When I'm alone, I think about how I would have delivered all of those children and find a place for each of them.”
“It felt natural for a woman.”
“I feel utterly alone.”
“I have lost hope of being a mother and a woman. Abortion made me loose my femininity.”
“I love feeding people. I feed everyone else the best. But this one, I did not feed.”
“It was normal for me, but now I see that is was sin.”
“I will tell people of my pain so that God will be glorified.”
“It was a life.”
“We all eat off the same plate.”
“I am a mother who was supposed to born them. They deserved life, but I chose to abort them.”
“I always wanted someone to give me a bouquet of white flowers with a single red one in the middle. But God has given me one instead.”
“I really feel this smile on my face.”
“There is a scar there, but there is no blood dripping out of it.”
“I buried them before they were born.”
“It is hard to hold 6 flowers in my hand and feel they had life.”
“I am like a candle and my face is the flame, shining brightly.”
“I picture this time like a gardener tending to his one flower. Then the roots spread and more flowers bloomed to be tended.”
"I am no longer a pretty bag full of trash, I am a beautiful white flower."
That truly speaks for itself...
The Forgiven and Set Free Bible Study focuses on issues of:
- Finding healing through the power and forgiveness of the Holy Spirit through the study of God’s Word.
- Identifying and correcting misconceptions they may have about God.
- Learning to trust God with her abortion.
- Identifying areas of denial, anger, depression, the need to forgive and receive forgiveness.
- Finding closure and acceptance. Forgiven and Set Free
Our co-facilitator Laura and Yulya
Another desire we had was to share more information about this Bible Study with women who wish to get involved in this life-giving ministry. One woman from the study came to that meeting as well as two additional women. Our hope was not only to show women the path to healing, but for them to catch the fire and have a desire to continue this ministry long term. And that is what we saw. Each of the three women that came to our study were very excited and firmly expressed their desire to help other women who had suffered like them. They represented three generations of women, which we were very encouraged by.
Our precious three!
Our hope is that one day a Pregnancy Care Center will be established in Vinnitsa run by native Ukrainian women. We have many people there who are interested in and very seriously praying about this. We feel the next step is to bring a training seminar there. So that these women can be equipped with the tools to lead other women through this God ordained study.
Why Ukraine:
· Social – A breakdown of the valuing of human life
· Economical – A depletion of the work force
· Political – Erosion of laws protecting life; abortion has been legal for over 70 yrs.
· Medical – Reduction of health care in the support of life, also negative birth experiences
· Spiritual – Distortion of truth
· Relationships – Alcohol, drug and domestic abuse rampant, pressure from female family members and friends even if a woman wants to keep her baby. “It is a woman’s duty.”
· Communism – Lack of respect of the individual. No intrinsic value placed on the individual, only value in what the individual can contribute.
· Ukraine has the 6th highest abortion rate in the world; 67% of all babies conceived are aborted. A woman in Ukraine will have an average of 8 abortions, some have had as many as 40.
· There are 3,100 pregnancy care centers worldwide. 2,500 in the U.S. alone. That leaves 600 for the rest of the world. Sadly, 96% of abortions take place outside of North America. Life International
The statistics we saw in our small group unfortunately confirmed many of the above.
Although we are done for now, we are far from finished. We are overwhelmed and excited about what God is doing, what He has done and what He will do. However He wishes to use us, I pray we are willing.
If you'd like to hear the 3 of us talking about our trip, go to http://www.seasidevineyard.com/.
