Dear Friends and Supporters in Evangelism
Thank you for your help and support both in prayer and finance – without this we could not do what God is calling us to do. Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you to bring forth fruit and it shall remain” – the evidence is so positive in every area to which the Lord has called us! But we need much prayer because these new areas of evangelism are difficult and dangerous – and strenuous to get to!
This year is proving one of the busiest for me, it seems that the older I get the heavier the demand for my involvement! However, this year is recording some remarkable events. The Day of Prayer in Armenia on May 27th was the first time in their 1700-year history that all denominations came together, with more than 90 churches participating, and many from the Armenian diaspora!
Then in June, our desire to hold a National Day of Prayer for Ukraine with ALL denominations attending the very first interdenominational event in Ukraine since the war started created some big problems for our organiser, Vadim! We could not use our normal venue, the Sport Palace in Kyiv, as it has no air raid shelter. The Security Services insisted that because of the constant daily attacks from the air on Kyiv, just to have more than 12 attending, we had to find a venue with a suitable air raid shelter!
We made a decision, approved first by our Spiritual Council of Bishops, then by local administrations, the Security Services and the military, to use a sport hall in Bucha. Significantly, Bucha was at the very heart of the fiercest battles in the first 40 days of Putin’s invasion when the Russian army was stopped on the outskirts of Kyiv – then driven back. Putin stands indicted of war crimes against humanity for the atrocities perpetrated at that time and shown so graphically on our TVs. The sport hall we used for the prayer in Bucha had been occupied by the enemy, their militaries were deployed inside the hall, and it was badly damaged; restoration and repairs were only completed just days before our event!
And so, finally, on 10th June, as President Zelenskyy launched the opening stages of Ukraine’s long-awaited Counteroffensive – the most critical and final phase of the largest and most dangerous armed conflict in Europe since WWII – we held the 8th of our National Days of Prayer for Ukraine. The Heads of every Christian Denomination gathered in Bucha to pray for Total Victory.
4-5000 came from the North, the South, East and West of Ukraine to join the prayer. The people overfilled, not only the 2000 places in the main hall, but a further 2000 others at the overflow hall, plus 500 in the air raid shelter! Plus many more standing outside listening to the loudspeakers! Several busloads of people anxious to pray unfortunately had to be turned back. They found a safe parking place and participated in the prayer online in their buses! Such was the commitment to prayer! So great was the interest, over 100,000 watched live on the internet! The Representative of the Mayor of Bucha attended with his family and read a personal message from the Mayor, thanking us for coming, stating that Ukraine is unique in that it is the only country in the world with such unity, with literally the leaders of EVERY denomination attending, saying that he believes in a spiritual revival in Ukraine!
Local people in Bucha also created dramatic film footage of the ‘rape’ of Bucha by the aggressors, accompanied by a most moving song, ‘Lord have mercy on Ukraine’. This was shown in the opening moments of our National Day of Prayer for Ukraine, this city of Heroes of Ukraine, Bucha – a city undefeated, that survived infamous war crimes committed by the Russian aggressors, a city which has demonstrated an unshakable and indomitable faith in God and in His Victory. The Ukrainians have this message: Thank you to everyone who liberated Bucha, thank you to everyone who continues sacrificially fighting to liberate the Ukrainian land, thank you to everyone who is fighting for us in prayer until the Victory comes.
Events in Armenia and Ukraine are only a beginning because, from the end of July and into August and the Autumn we have a whole series of Evangelistic events – in 2 separate centres (Astana and Almaty) in Moslem-majority Kazakhstan; a Youth Conference and Evangelistic event in a stadium in Kyrgyzstan for young people coming from all over Moslem-majority Central Asia; then a great Evangelistic event in Moslem-majority Batumi in Georgia! There is no question that God has opened a large strategic door for evangelism in these countries which were part of the former Soviet Empire and still have strong links with Putin’s Russia! As also with China and Islam! As the door for evangelism has closed in Russia and, during the war, is impossible in Ukraine, God, who knows everything in advance, has called me to Central Asia and the Caucasus. If you look back, all through my life God has called me to go to specific places at the only times when it was strategically possible.
Thank you for supporting our humanitarian and spiritual aid work in Ukraine. Because of your generosity, we can help so many refugees and internally displaced people. We thank God for you, because you are our partners in spreading the Good News about Christ. We pray for you, making our requests to God with joy. ‘May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.’
David