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Recent news from East Ukraine - a Christian Worker's Perspective · Centrally Speaking

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Centrally speaking is the Central Schwenkfelder Church's podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: It speaks about issues that would be of interest to our society.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: In particular, it addresses how a Christian worldview intersects with Western secular culture.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: In the spirit of the church's founder, we take the perspective of the Middle Way, which is in agreement with the historic Christian Church.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Drake Williams, Minister of Mission and Theology at the Church.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Our website is www.cscfamily.org.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking today about uh some of the latest updates from East Ukraine, and we're very fortunate to have Volodymyr Degtirov with us.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Voloja uh lives in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, in East Ukraine.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: He and his uh late wife Inga became Christians during the Soviet era, baptized in 1983, and they have two adult children.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's a graduate of Columbia International University and also a Summit University, where he received his doctor of ministry.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: He served with the Euroasian Accrediting Association, but his uh greatest involvement is in Zaporizhia, where in 1992 he was appointed and ordained in the Baptist Church.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: In 2001, he became systematic theology teacher at Zaporizhia Bible Seminary.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: He was the president from 2006 to 2021 at the seminary and now is their development director.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Bologna, it's very good to have you on the show.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know that uh you are taking questions right now, even while the fighting is taking place only some uh 40 kilometers uh from where you are.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's our distinct honor taking time out today.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell our listeners about how long you've lived in Zaporizhia and how far Zaporizia is now from the front lines?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was born in Zaporizhia, and mostly all my life I lived here.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: When I was uh really young, my parents moved for some years out of Zaporizhia, but then they returned, and most of my life, uh my ministry I spent here.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And Zaporizhia is located, as you mentioned, in the eastern part of Ukraine, and we are about 40 kilometers from uh Warzone from front line and from outskirts of Zaporizhia, you could hear sometimes this artillery explosions that go in on front line.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And for our listeners who may be less familiar with the geography of Ukraine, there's a very large river that runs through Ukraine, the Dnieper River.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, Zaporizhia is just to the east side of the Dnieper River.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: How many kilometers from uh Donetsk?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, from Zaporizhia to Donetsk, which is it's about 220 kilometers maybe between Zaporizhia and Donetsk.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not far away from us.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: In Donetsk area, now it's more uh severe fighting going in this time.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you already mentioned some artillery and missile strikes uh on the front lines, but how about in the city of Zaporizhia?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: How frequently is Zaporizhia being attacked right now?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank God as I mentioned before that uh Zaporizhia is not so damaged, like uh Kharkev or uh Herson, who are very close uh to front line.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Zaporizhia is uh 30-40 kilometers and regular artillery, artillery Russian artillery could not reach us.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: But usually they send like missiles and a couple times per week you could hear explosions.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: And praise God that recently it's uh when they shell us with missiles, it's going for our secrets.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes before uh downtown of Zaparizia was hit several times, and several uh apartment buildings were damaged, people were killed.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was a tragedy, but for the last couple of weeks we could only hear explosion.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like today, I hear explosion uh nearby of Zaparizia.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's you all city could hear it, but nobody was really killed.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Praise God for that.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are there frequent uh air raids uh on the city?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, air raids, it's daily, three, four, five times per day.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's like normal now, and people sometimes when it's sirens starting to to sound people walking outside because you could not any time to run for some basement to keep and but when sirens, uh air raids, uh sirens uh going on, it does not mean that uh it would be explosion because they put it, and sometimes rockets change its uh course and go in another place for around five times per day.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: You could hear it in Zaporizhia.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Actual air raid attacks on this on the city.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: We we know this is happening in in many places in uh in Ukraine, but it sounds like people are becoming accustomed to it and used to it.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Life is going, people could not live always like people would like to live, people concerned, worried, tensed, uh, but uh anyway, they continue to live.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: And like markets try to work, some stores, uh, businesses uh work as possible in this situation.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: People adjusting, people adjusting to air rates, to explosions.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh now like uh when we hear one person killed because of explosion, and oh praise God, not not many because but it's tragedy, tragedy.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Even one because like two weeks ago, I think big, huge, uh expensive Russian racket hit uh one building that was outside of outskirts of the parishia.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was poor, poor, like a shack.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Lady, uh crippled lady lived there, and they killed her, destroyed this old uh cheap house.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: What is the purpose purpose?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: But uh it's a tragedy, but for many people now, like it's like normal way of life.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: A number of our listeners will associate Zaporizhia with the large nuclear power plant.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's not actually in the city.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: How close is it?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's about 50 kilometers to the east, it's uh now occupied by Russians.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And in August, many people were concerned because it was a possibility to explode.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Till now, this uh nuclear station under Russian control.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: In some way, they operated, but did not produce electricity.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: It like worked for itself, it's not good, and people concerned.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like when it's happened, my daughter-in-law, who has two small children, decided to move to Germany for sure for temporarily.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And my son is alone now in Zaporizhia.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: I am sorry for him, but um, he could not leave the country.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Is that power plant in danger?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Till Russian control it, it would be always in danger because nobody knows what they're doing there.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I hope, I hope that God would protect it, would not explode it because it's much more powerful than Chernobyl electrostation was.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: But till now, praise God.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's the other uh like the damage that they did uh down on Dniper River, there was Cahokadam.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: They not completely destroyed it, but anyway, a level of water in Dnieper now about one meter lower because water going, it's bad uh for nuclear station because uh it need this water for for cooling it, uh these reactors, and what would be in the future?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: I I nobody knows.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Zaporizhia also has a very large dam that blocks the Dnieper River.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Can you describe this this dam?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a large feature uh for the city.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, it was one of uh uh to two places like famous for Zaporizhia.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's Hortiz Island, where Kazakh history was and this historical dam.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: This dam, it was first dam uh built in Soviet time.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh in the in the end of the 1920s, in the beginning of 1930s.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: The plan is to produce electricity, and it's because Zaporizhia, because of this dam, Zaporizhia became uh industrial city, very many steel mills and so on, because there was electricity in this dam.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh in the time Soviets, they have no technology, no engineers, no possibility to build such a dam.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: The dam really built in good location because there was rapids before the Paris.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: By the way, the Parisia, its name is like after rapids, the Paris, it's after rapids, there was rapids, and when this dam was built, the water level became higher, and now the ship could go through deeper river before when this dam was built.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: But uh Soviet they could could not do it themselves, no way.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, you when I was growing up as a kid, and in history books, there was no mention that somebody helped uh to build this dam.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Soviet, we build people work and so on.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: But in reality, uh Soviet government invited uh American engineers and they projected it.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: They yet they did not do dirt work, many like workers, uh Soviet, but all uh all like uh drawings, like management, and nearby uh the this dem, there is uh Winter Boulevard.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was named after uh US engineer who who was in charge of this project who helped Soviet to build, but you know it's now we know this, but in Soviet type, uh nobody knew about uh this uh historical fact, like it's all like uh like Russia now.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: They will only us we fight in the second world war.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: We we are we nobody helped us.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: It is lie, the same is them.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we built this it this dev was built after Lenin.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's changing.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: No Lenin name in Zaporizhia anymore.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, it was built together with uh uh US engineers who came to help and Soviet provides workers and materials, and uh US help us in the past and help it us now.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're hearing of uh the way that uh Zaporizhia is helping a lot of uh refugees, many refugees coming from the east through Zaporizhia.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: How many refugees now are in uh the city?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: What I heard last numbers, it's about uh 100,000.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we uh we call it like internally displaced people of refugees.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them, like when Mariupol started to be fighting, many people from Mariupol came to Zaporizhia.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Majority of them go to the to the west abored and like Poland, Germany, but many people stay here in like in Donetsk area, in Zaporozhia area villages, because like about 60 percent of the Parogia area is uh occupied now, and people from occupied though they move to Zaporizhia now.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think we in the city I was told we have more than 100,000 refugees, and you could see them uh on streets, you many apartments are rented by them, and it's a good thing if anything is good and wild, that many of them visit in churches because churches provide support, provide help, aid, comfort, and many uh like some small churches.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know a church in downtown, they have now about five members in reality, but about 60 people they have on Sunday morning services because uh they know they come and they got some some help, some aid.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And and you're having uh refugees even there at the seminary, is that correct?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: But now, for exactly, because but when the big uh number of people was going from why not now?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: I explain now uh Russian occupied this territory and they don't let people to move uh from one zone to another.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: But when it was possible, and many people were moving uh from uh like uh east like Mariupol, they arrived to Zaporozhia, and yes, and every night in uh in Zaporizhia stay maybe 50, 60 people a couple nights, but most of them move further to the west, and then some of them started to looking who would like to stay in Zaporozhia to some apartments, some houses.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, for now we don't have people who live permanent, but in the past, in people in basement, in student center, and cafeteria, yeah, flowing refugees because like it's it's now closed, people could not move from one zone to another.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, Russian decided that Zaporozhia, it's Russia now, and their new map I saw, they put Zaporozhia like uh Russian territory.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy because never Russian soldiers was in Zaporizhia at all.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: You've talked about the flow of refugees coming through Zaporizhia into the West.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: How about uh citizens in Zaporizh?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: How many have remained?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think about 70-75 percent of people staying in Zaporizhia because, like I told that uh there is damages, but for many people uh it's not easy to live uh until like their apartment, okay, until they have some jobs they would like to stay in the place.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: And even like many people who moved from Zaporizhia in the beginning of war, when uh nothing was certain, but many people during summer returned back to their homes, to their apartment because Zaporizhia is not occupied.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think about 70-75 percent of the population stay in Zaporizhia.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: And before the war, it was about uh 800,000 or so?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you've had the opportunity to hear of some unbelievable humanitarian work that's been going on uh by the church in East Ukraine.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Could you uh share a few stories about how the church is reaching out with medical supplies or rescuing families?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know what uh God was preparing us for this uh ministry.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: It started uh in 2014 when all this problem in the eastern Indonesia, Lagansk area started.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: The refugees started to arrive to Zaporizhia for us at the time it was something far away, and we are not involved, yours, because something is going there on the east, but everything fine in Zaporizhia.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: But then refugees started to arrive, and churches started to think we should do something, we should help.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And uh churches in the Paris organized so-called city uh aid center.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's a church people uh combined, and now it's a great for these eight years, it's developing great ministry.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: And when this real war started, like churches was ready, churches knew how to do ministry with this displaced people.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: And for example, this city center, every week, a couple times per week, they send vans.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Our students, some of our students, some are graduates, members of our churches.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they go by vans to this like gray zone sometimes, and they uh bring food there, water, and they preach the gospel, and they preach the people now quite open.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know a brother who is going in the Donetsk area, not occupied, and he told that uh people attending churches, and I show I saw some great pictures.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: People now open, and uh many of them like open their hearts for it's a good opportunity for churches because churches are ready to share humanitarian aid and it's open uh people's hearts to listen uh the gospel, and they share the gospel, and uh many churches baptized these people, they came to the Lord.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's special time, I think.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: God is working uh among our people.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing pictures of Christians uh from Zaporizhia driving out to areas like Abdivka, right on the front lines, yes, yes, yes, and taking uh older ladies out of basements and children and and bringing them back to Zaporizhia and distributing bread.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's our graduates, his name is Vlad Machovsky.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's his story, it's uh I could uh hours to tell.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he started this ministry to take people from this war zone in 2014.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: One time he was captured by this uh separatist, and about three or four days we didn't know nothing about him.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: In my heart, I thought maybe he all already killed.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: But churches spread favorably, and finally he returned.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And his story, it's an amazing story how he was in prison, how they tried to uh work on him, that you are like a spy, he know I am a Christian, I help him people.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, finally, they released him and he returned it without when, without document, and he continued it ministry till now.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: He started a new church in Zaporozhia because he really involved in the rehabilitation center with people who was drug addicted.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: He has a good great ministry, and many people, former alcoholics now in his church.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And he's continuous, he's gone maybe a couple times per week.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: He's going to like Avdivka, Marienka.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: He brings food there.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I saw yesterday like picture when he's brought brought some old ladies, some uh some children, even animals, like cats and ducks.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: He he's bringing from them.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: And recently he wrote a so sad story.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there was a girl, six years old girl.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: She lived with her grandparents, and he eagerly to ask him, let's evacuate, let's take this girl out.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: They were very reluctant because looks like they're expecting Russia.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: They was like pro-Russian, maybe.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they did not let that girl to go with this man Vlad.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: They even did not let when he visited that place to meet with, and then we got a sad news that this girl died from heart attack.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Six years girl died from it's it's obvious that because of this stress, because of the sound, and uh Vlad was so like not discouraged, but so sad because it was possible to save this girl, but because of your grandparents, so reluctant, so hardwork, this girl died.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: He saved many, though.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah in the spot.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, oh yeah, many people were physically saved and spiritually, uh some of them saved.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, dramatic, traumatic stories.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: We understand the students are still studying at the seminary right now, even despite some of the uh power outages.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: I should ask, how frequent are power outages in Zaporizhia?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for the last couple of days, situation started to become better, but like a couple like days ago, before every day we did not have like eight hours per day.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was like four hours, no electricity, then four hours.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: I have electricity, then then again four hours.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's bad, but you know, you're just you have no choice in your praise, God.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: There is water, there is heating in uh my apartment.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I use like a power bank, I use small lab.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: You have no choice, you should should adjust, and yeah, we we continue our study.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Majority of our students maybe studied in our sites, like in we have a site in Thernopol area, a new group we started it uh this year, and we have a site in the Dniper, it's a city about uh 90 kilometers to the north from Zaporizia, and there in Central Church we have a group of students in Zaporizhia on campus.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we we started school with full-time students, but then when last fall, when uh Zaporizhia was shelved quite often, and students we decided to let them go uh offline, but anyway, we continue to have studies with uh part-time students because they can come for for one week and then they go back.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and last week we have students.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: This week we don't have students.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this week students uh full-time students studying online, but last week we have part-time students here on campus.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's good for them, it's good uh for us.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Our location is no good.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Students, some students scared to come because, like we have seminar like in Lviv, it's one thing to go, but Zaparizia to go, especially people who are not Zaparizia, who live uh first of parents sometimes very worried, scared.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: Not all students, but we like we try to adjust.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: We have like those who come, they in class.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: For those who could not come, we do Zoom uh class for them.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Let's say uh this COVID uh quarantine, it's helped us to be more prepared for such situation.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think some of our listeners might find it strange that there's a war going on and there are power outages, but yet people are studying.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why would they do that?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it's a very good question.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know what it's there.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Is I think uh several questions.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: At first, uh it's mostly like active people who are involved in ministry.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: And when VAR car uh came to our doors, so many opportunities for ministry was open, and many people uh active people understood that they should give.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Should have more knowledge to share the gospel with these people.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's one thing that encourages people because many ministry people like Christian met with refugees, displaced people, and they try to say, Oh, I need more knowledge.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's encouraged them to study.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: Second thing, uh, because of work, COVID, people were more isolated, they would like to come together, like it's like fellowship.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's good for spiritual health for them, but they come, they're more alive because many trouble, problems, troubles, uh, worries in life.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: When they are here, it's like uh some kind of restoration for some of the students, and they continue to do this.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: For some, it's it's it's understanding that uh this time for ministry, good time, and they would like to study it.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's the opportunity to uh look at the word of life, right?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when there's so much uh trouble all around.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, one of our students is uh like said story.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: We had a student at our part-time program, so dedicated uh minister, he was addicted before.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Then he came to the Lord, came through through refugee uh rehabilitation uh program, became a minister in the village church.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: He helped uh about like 20-30 kilometers from Zaporizhia.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Then war started.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: He was a student with us.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: His wife moved in the parigia and he stayed in this gray zone.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: And last fall he was wounded, got in hospital, recovered, and after that returned to the village because I need to there, because people waiting for me, people would like to hear.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: And he he he worked hard there.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, he was found in some ditch because a shell came and killed him.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was a sad story for it.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was like our part-time students, uh, but it's like reality for us now.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: But he was so eager to study because he understood that he needed to share gospel, and studying helped him to do this more productively.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, well, we were amazed with the work that's going on at uh the Zaporizhia Bible Seminary and what is happening with the humanitarian efforts there, and so thankful that you've taken the time to share with us through this this interview on this uh podcast.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I would like to use this possibility to say thank you to all people on Christian United States.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to say thank you for your prayers, for your practical support.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: I know and I know how many people now donate, offering to help to Ukraine.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: I am thankful to you to your government because without the help of people like in your country, I don't know what would be now with my people.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: But God during this 11 months almost a year did many miracles.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody expected that Ukraine would be alive, but Ukraine stayed, Ukraine fight for its freedom, independence.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: We as a Christian, we understand it because many people like in the United States and pray for us, support us, and we feel we feel that we are not alone.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like short, my personal story.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I remember on February 25th, on Friday morning when Russian troops uh arrived to Militopol, nearby city of Zaporozhia.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter-in-law was pregnant, seven months is pregnant.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter, they were scared, and they let's go out.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we uh take everything in my car, and we moved from Zaparizia, not knowing where we are going, but God provide.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I feel like alone, distressed, depressed, uh and suddenly I got a call.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: A man from my friend from the United States called me and he said, Valodia, how are you?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: What he was crying, and you know, his call like changed something.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: My I understood I am not alone, I have a Christian family, and then God provided like he found a Christian family with whom we stayed for three months.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: My uh grandson was born then in Chinovsi area, and now I was able to continue my ministry to return in Zaporosia.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that uh called that understanding that there is a church, there is Christian, it's helped, and it's what keeps us maybe as a Christian.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: We are not alone.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: There is a God, there is and there is a church, there are Christian people, and we are so thankful for your support for your press.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's very important.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: We understand it's God's mercy for us.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: You are not alone, you are not alone.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we uh look forward to your time uh at the church on uh Friday, uh the 17th of March, uh, where we'll have a dessert.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Lodgia will make a presentation and have uh some time of question, and then we'll look forward to uh you bringing the message at our March 19th service.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: My privilege.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to it.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to it.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Safe travels and may God bless you.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you.