Vadim Y. serves in the Ukrainian army. He’s not a new recruit; he’s been in for a long time. He was in the army back in 2014, when the Crimean Peninsula was annexed by a bigger stronger nation. However, something else happened in 2014. Vadim heard the gospel.

This is not a gospel that bribes a man into heaven. It’s not a gospel that demands one’s surrender from a totalitarian platform. The gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims that the Creator King died for man’s sin, and whosever believes in Him can have everlasting life! The authority emblazoned in the person of Christ neither bribes, nor subjugates, nor walks in darkness, and this kind of authority contrasted starkly to the Ukraine culture Vadim knew. Eight years ago, he bowed the knee to the One to whom we shall all bow eventually.

Tensions and conflict concerning Crimea, pale in comparison to the tragedy and danger of battle now raging in Ukraine, and Vadim Y. is somewhere on the frontlines. He cannot tell his family where, he can only say, “Where I am – it is hot.”

Woe upon us if we watch the footage of battle and imbibe it like some sort of sports arena, “rooting” for one side or the other. Satan moves men to kill and destroy, and “victories” from heaven’s perspective are not recorded in captured cities or number of casualties. Yet there was a victory for Vadim Y. this week.

Since 2014, Vadim Y. has become very close friends with Vadim P. (Try to keep all the Vadims straight, but the P. behind Vadim could stand for Pastor.) Vadim P. co-ordinates Gospelink’s network of national preachers in the Zaporizhzhia. He is leading prayer meetings at his church every evening. He and seven other men have organized an endeavor of transporting and shuttling refugees. Vadim P. has also helped organize church buildings to be stock houses with basic food necessities available. Five other churches under his direction are cooking meals daily for people in need or who have fled the war zone, 25 miles away. In the busyness, Vadim P. also updated Gospelink as to the whereabouts and ministries of the different Gospelink supported preachers.

Pastor Edward P. is with Vadim P. daily, helping in the refugee shuttle. Pastor Gena B. looked at his wife last Sunday and decided it was time to get out of their village. The reached a river by foot, but the bridge had been destroyed. They waded the river with their belongings carried on their heads. Gena B.’s neighbor phoned him on Tuesday, and a rocket had hit their street. All the windows were blown out of Gena’s house. Wading the river turned out to be worth it. 

At prayer meeting this week Vadim P. observed two new people he did not recognize. One was a woman about his age, and the other was a young man about 19 years of age. They were mother and son. The son is working as a paramedic; the mother is Vadim Y.’s wife. They have never attended church before. They have not shared their father’s/husband’s faith. Vadim Y. serves as a chaplain in the Ukrainian army, and has often spoken to his family, however, most of us know that family members can possess the most difficult ears to reach. I can only imagine how many soldiers Vadim Y. prayed with this week as the artillery burst and the buildings burned. He probably never prayed for a war, but he may have prayed, “Lord, whatever it takes, please bring my family to repentance and salvation.” That prayer was answered this week. God is working salvation in the midst of the earth.

We continue as best we can to get information concerning our Gospelink preachers as well as to try to support them. Two wires were sent this week for our godly men to have means to purchase the gasoline or the food supplies that desperate people need at this time.