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Below you can see the latest blog from Brother Jeff Franks, our missionary to the Ukraine. You can also visit Brother Jeff’s blog page by clicking here.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Please pray that the Lord will lead our BMA churches in responding to the needs of our brothers and sisters in the country of Georgia. Specifically lift up Bro. Anatoly Krivov who ministers in the province of S. Ossetia. The churches he serves are in the town of Tskhinvali and the Georgian and Ossetian villages which surround it. These towns and villages have been devastated by the recent conflict. There have been great losses of life and property. In addition please pray for the Baptist church in Gori, Georgia and it's pastor, Bro. Vissarion, who has been successful in church planting in this area. This town has been occupied by Russian troops. The well-being of church members and their property is in question.
Pray for Coleen as she continues to hold "faith-booking" classes in churches and camps of Ukraine. Faith-booking is a means of documenting one's faith which can be a powerful witness to relatives and friends. Since Ukrainians always pull out the photo album for guests, Christians here can pull out their faith-book.
Bro. Justin Owens and I have planned a trip to Tallinn, Estonia from October 10 through 17. Please pray that God will prepare the hearts of those with whom we will meet. Bro. Justin is following the Lord in responding to a special burden God has given him for this country, where there are very few Baptist churches. Please also remember Crystal Owens that she and the baby she is carrying will be healthy and blessed during Justin's absence next month.
Bro. Charles Speer and I will be working with Ukrainian national missionary Bro. Pavel Pochapsky from September 18 through 24. Please pray that God will lead us in accomplishing his vision of planting 62 churches in the 62 villages of his region. In addition we have trained many men for work in the prisons of his province. Please pray that we will be able to begin a Bible training program this fall in several prisons. We ask you to join us in prayer that this will spread to many other Ukrainian provinces.
At the end of September I will be traveling again to teach the second installment of Romans to our friends from the underground churches of Iran. Please pray for my thorough preparation in advance, and that I will be sensitive to God's unique plan for this conference and it's participants. Jeff
Posted by The Franks In Ukraineat 4:40 AM
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Jesus told us there will be wars and rumors of war until he comes. That God is in control and is the one and only true judge, well this is our remaining comfort when wars and cruelty seem to take us like a flood.
As to Georgia, I am amazed at God's protecting hand. Our plans to visit Gori had been in place for maybe 6 months. We arrived there Thursday evening, the 7th. That night Dr. Ralph and others heard shelling throughout the night. I heard only a lot of loud rumbling. (I had a noisey air conditioner that someone had apparently taken off a Motel 8 in Mobile, Alabama back in '73.) The next morning Dr. Ralph and I were in the Gori drug store buying medicines when we heard a loud explosion, shaking the building. At the same time the lights went off. The workers began calling their families on cell phones and outside we saw people rushing to and fro. Within minutes the streets were filled with cars and there was a general panic.
When we rejoined the van with the team, Jim Earl, a doctor's assistant on our team, told us how he saw the Russian fighter plane swoop down and release a bomb into the city stadium. The windows where he was standing were shattered, and he said later his ears still hurt from the explosion. Other than that we suffered no harm during the trip. We went to E. Georgia that same day, and the following day traveled by bus to Yerevan, Armenia as the International airport at Tbilsi was now closed.
Bro. Vissarion, pastor of the church in Gori managed to escape with his family. Temporarily, he is living with our missionary to South Ossetia, Bro. Anatoly, who lives in Tbilisi. Bro. Anatoly has been shepherding churches in Tskhinvali and surrounding Georgian and Ossetian villages. They are now essentially in ruins. Please pray for our brothers and sisters whose homes and belongings in Gori are subject to looting and destruction. It is not only Russians, but many Ossetian "irregulars" who are also still occupying this city.
You ask about the propaganda from Russia. It is true that Georgians have been guilty of repressing Ossetians in the past, and probably vice versa. I am not convinced that Georgia was trying to commit "genocide". This sounds more like a justification for Russian military action. On the other hand, I wasn't in South Ossetia itself, so I can't say. I doubt that even the most unbiased observers will ever be able to fully establish the truth. Try to convince the average Russian citizen that there was no ethnic cleansing by the Georgians. Your efforts would be in vain. You will do better to agree there is evil afoot and quickly turn the conversation to Christ.
A video from the You Tube link that was sent to me of a young Russian man portrays persuasively the Russian media's view of the conflict: Russia is the compassionate protector of the poor abused Ossetians. The unnamed Russian in the video does not mention the fact that Russia has issued passports to the Ossetians, calling them "our citizens". Over the last several years they have armed them, giving them the ability to wage war in their own right. All of this was done inside Georgia's internationally recognized borders. What if Canada (or China) did the same for one of our Indian tribes?
Where I think this gets sticky is that Georgia through hateful, unforgiving attitudes, has not done right by their minority populations, and in some sense has "asked for" someone's intervention. Given the presence of a new major pipeline through Georgia, a young new president, and a strong shift to western politics, Russia's hackles have been raised. They were more than ready to play the role of the great defenders of the Abkhazians and the Ossetians. The Russian people have been fed this line through all their media channels and virtually all of them believe it is true.
In this conflict Russia, Georgia, and America all have their agendas, and rich natural resources play heavily into this picture, notwithstanding minorities and borders. The tragedy is that many Ossetians and Georgians who have lived in S. Ossetia for generations have been killed, their homes destroyed, and the survivors are forced from their homes and farms and are living in refugee camps.
There are no "hero" nations in this conflict, much as we like to see ourselves with white hats. We must pray for the victims and do all we can to re-establish peace in the region. As believers we must do this first on our knees as per 1 Tim 2.
Thanks for being there and for caring. Thanks especially for your prayers for us and for our Georgian and Ossetian brothers and sisters, who are going through such a great trial of their faith.
Bro. Jeff
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;
the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.
The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;
he will bless him in the land
and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.Ps 41:1-2
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