Dear Ministry Partners
Our hope is in Christ! Only He can bring peace to Ukraine. We need to pray effectively and powerfully. I am praying that Ukraine will not be defeated, that Kyiv will not be captured and victory over Russia will show the Power of Prayer in that nation. Just as we remember the 7 National Days of Prayer in Britain – and the fact that on every occasion there was a decisive victory in the war against Hitler, Dunkirk being the most memorable, it was because of prayer – now it’s Ukraine’s time to prove the effectiveness of prayer to deliver a nation.
The staff in our office in Kyiv have not stopped working, and because of our connections with churches, pastors and chaplains in Ukraine, are actively distributing Bibles and humanitarian relief, using the money which you are sending. Because we have bank accounts in Kyiv, all the money you are sending is sent directly to our office to buy food and other necessary humanitarian aid. Our staff are all Ukrainian and directly on the front line of the war; they are not refugees but part of the civilian defence force! They cannot leave, they are a vital part of Ukraine. As you know Vadim has appeared on TV here several times with live reports to the West of what is happening.
In February, as Putin amassed his army on the Ukraine borders, I wrote to you that we were entering the most troubling times since the end of the Cold War. At the beginning of the month, I had been in the Swiss mountains for my annual time of prayer, seeking God over the threat of the coming war in Ukraine, seeking His ‘greater Power’, the ‘greater Works’ that Jesus promised us. Two days after my return, I flew into Kyiv to call the denominations to emergency prayer. On the Saturday I spoke to over 1000 in the Jewish Messianic congregation; on the Sunday morning to over 1500 in one of the churches founded after our evangelism in 1993; then in the evening, with the denominational leaders in a packed church, led the prayer for God to help Ukraine. The city was so at peace. It made a very deep impression on me. I could not imagine how Putin could be thinking of taking it by war.
I got home on Monday 21st February, and on Thursday 24th, as I flew out to Pakistan to be part of a great evangelistic ‘Peace Festival’, the news broke that the unthinkable had happened. Putin’s army had invaded. My heart was broken. Yet I rejoice that, by many miracles, God has thwarted Putin’s plan to take Ukraine in a swift Blitzkrieg. Only God could help such a small nation resist such a large and powerful enemy possessing the deadliest weapons on earth.
I thank God that in the eight years since February 2014 when Russia seized Crimea and occupied East Ukraine, with a God-given vision we have built a structure and network, together with my Ukraine staff and the Ukraine churches, that enables us now to work effectively inside the current war zones. Significantly our office in Poland is helping the refugees and our staff are working to support the more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees. In Israel, where our ministry has been working for many years with the Holocaust Survivors, our staff are working with Jews fleeing Ukraine and Russia!
In Ukraine prayer continues, often in Church basements, and the people are hungry for Bibles. My personal Representative in Ukraine, Vadim, (who for seven years organised the great National Days of Prayer, bringing together all the denominations of Ukraine in unity to represent the Body of Christ on earth), has formed a ‘Special Operations Battalion’, ‘Angels of Kyiv’ to organise and undertake high-risk evacuations, and the purchase of urgently needed supplies required for this. In just one day for example, our team evacuated over 700 people from the horrific fighting in Irpin. We are feeding them, providing shelter and medical supplies. Daniil, a member of our organising team, is a professional musician and for the last 3 years was responsible for the entire music programme of our National Days of Prayer in Kyiv. Today he works with us helping those who are in desperate need, fleeing the war or defending the nation.
Thank you for your daily donations to this dangerous work. Thousands of pounds have come in, but we need so much more. As we watch with horror the scenes from Ukraine, especially the latest when a Maternity Hospital was bombed during an evacuation ceasefire, we realise the demonic power driving this war. Hospitals, schools and homes have all been bombed. An innocent population terrorised. Hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives. Untrained citizens fighting for their nation. So much damage to infrastructure, but an even greater damage to people’s souls.
My TV Director, Sergiy, also in Kyiv, continues the production of all my TV materials and broadcasts, and has assisted Reuters News Agency to set up their news base in a hotel outside the city. We are in constant contact with all our staff in Kyiv and you can follow their regular reports on our social media.
Our goal is Victory. Jesus said, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom – and we see this everywhere we look, whether in history or today – but our ultimate fight is to win souls and bring them into God’s Kingdom. This is why, for over 70 years, I have poured all my efforts into Russia, Ukraine and all the countries of the former godless Soviet Union; the last thirty years of which since communism collapsed, and the freedom came. This is why my evangelistic work must continue. This is why, even as Putin invaded Ukraine, I was in Pakistan taking part in a great evangelistic Festival led by a Russian evangelist on fire for the Gospel – and one hundred other Russian and Ukrainian evangelists whose hearts were breaking. And this is why, shortly after you receive this letter, I will be back evangelising in Uzbekistan!
As I told the people of Ukraine just before the fighting started, God fought to defend Israel not because they were perfect, but because they were His own people. God is defending Ukraine, not because the nation is perfect, but because Ukraine has been set apart as the only Nation in the world where all churches have united in prayer as a public witness! God will defend us, His Church, not because we are perfect, but because we are His people and are to become the ‘Bride of Christ’!
I cannot stop evangelising. God knows, time is short, the Bible says that a night is coming when no man can work. I could not forgive myself if, aged 90, I took my rest now. I urge you to continue to support our work of evangelism. Pray for Ukraine’s deliverance and believe for a miracle. We desperately need your financial support more than ever at this critical time. God bless you!
David
Will you help us support Ukraine? Working with Churches, Pastors and Chaplains, living in Ukraine, our goal is to support internally displaced persons: the vulnerable; the sick; and the wounded, still living in the besieged cities of Ukraine. We are providing humanitarian aid. Supplying first aid kits. Providing spiritual aid through the distribution of Bibles and Pastoral Care. And we are also providing accommodation to displaced persons.
To make a donation telephone 01924 453693 or visit eurovision.org.uk/donation