Three sisters in the Lord
As I visited the Kramatorsk church of
Christ, I was surrounded with a congregation of wonderful
Christians. Sunday was a day when those in Ukraine visit the
family graveyard and go through the rituals of remembering
their dead ancestors. Actually this day is a day more
involved with family reunions than any other activity. This
is the day when families often see one another for the first
time in years. There are some unique religious customs
associated with this day that I have discussed on previous
trips, so I will not discuss them here once again. It was
because of this graveyard day that a good number of those in
the Kramatorsk congregation were absent.
But there was a very large crowd present
and there was such a wonderful spirit of brotherhood and
unity that it was truly a joy to be in the assembly. Among
this number were many that had the most interesting stories;
but three ladies standout in my memory and I want to share a
glimpse of their lives with you. As you read of each you can
probably think of someone n your congregation that share the
same wonderful traits,
“Nadezhda”
As the worshipping assembly concluded with
the Kramatorsk brethren, I was surrounded and given the
warmest possible welcome. There was a long line of different
people that came by to talk with me and to express the joy
they have found in the congregation and the on-going work
that Vlad and Oksana are doing there. I soon noticed that
there was this lady and her son that patiently stood apart
from the others but she was watching to see when I had
finished talking with different people. Her name was
Nadezhda. She had waited to tell me how grateful she was for
the items that we have helped ship into her country.
(to
the left: Nadezhda’s son Yvegor)
I found out that Nadezhda is married to
the man that preaches in Yasinnovatia. She said that Vlad
had shared with that congregation a large number of items
that had been received on the containers. Specifically,
Nadezhda stated that the walkers and canes for the disabled
had been very helpful. She said there is a disabled society
in Yasinnovatia but they have absolutely no items to give to
help. Nadezhda’s husband was a “peace keeper”
sent with Ukraine’s military unit that
operated under the United Nations mandate for the former
Yugoslavia. While he was stationed with the peace-keeping
force he was wounded and is disabled himself. Through giving
away the walkers and crutches, Nadezhda says there has been
a tremendous impact made in that location. Nadezhda wanted
to thank everyone in America that has helped send the
containers. She says that such have really been a blessing
to the congregation where she and her husband work. I was
able to video Nadezhda’s comments and hope to be able to
post them on the web site. [Watch
Video]
“Mary”
In every congregation you will find at
least one good lady whose smile seems to light up the entire
place. She always greets you with the greatest excitement
and her presence causes the joys of fellowship to multiply.
Such describes “Mary” in the Kramatorsk congregation. Mary
literally came running up to me, threw her arms around my
waist, and gave me a great big bear hug.
After holding me in that clenched grasp
for several minutes she released me and turned to Vlad and
confidently said, “Now that is a hug he will not forget!”
What a wonderful spirit! What wonderful
affection! It reminded me of another situation a number of
years ago when I and others were first starting to work in
Mezhevaya. There was a lady named Galina there who had been
attending every Bible class offered. Ray Stilwell had given
Galina a Bible and she took it home. She returned the next
day with a battered and bruised face. Ray was shocked and
asked what had happened. Galina replied that she was married
to a man that was very big but also an alcoholic. He saw her
bringing the Bible home and tore it out of her hands and
beat her with it. I
had used that story in the sermon
to illustrate the point that while being a Christian is the
greatest blessing in the world it does not place us where
evil will not touch us. There were several other
illustrations used to bring an emphasis to the same point.
After I had talked with a good number of
the brethren following services there was a lull in the
visiting. In that moment Mary came over to me and said she
wanted to ask me something. Before the question was asked
she had to provide the background. She reminded me of the
story about Galina and she said that when she started
worshipping that her husband was like Galina’s husband. He
was crass. He cursed God, the church, and anyone attending
the church. Mary said she still continued attending even
though he acted like that. She said he was a very huge man
but he never beat her. Mary said that within one year her
husband became very ill and died. She said that in the
closing days of his life that he began to read the Bible and
to pray. She teared up when she said that she had hoped to
be able to see her husband in a saved condition before he
died. That brief moment of somber reflection was in contrast
to her exuberance that soon returned. Mary commented on how
wonderful it was to be a member of the Kramatorsk
congregation and how the church had truly saved her from a
life of misery.
“Nelya”
After services concluded there were three
ladies huddled talking and looking at the pictures I had
brought of my granddaughter. They were smiling and laughing
and talking about how smart she looked and that she
certainly had her grandfather’s good looks (I could continue
but modesty halts me at this point!). One of those three
ladies was “Nelya.” After we had finished visiting after
services, Vlad took me downstairs to the rooms where the
congregation had spread the clothing from the shipments out
so that community members could come in and select what they
needed. After every assembly some of the members go
downstairs and gets some clothes and take them back to their
neighborhoods to distribute to families with many children.
As I entered one of the downstair rooms I once again saw
Nelya.
Nelya had gone down to help pack some bags
so that members could get them and leave. I began taking
pictures and looking over the distribution system.
Vlad showed me a clipboard where everyone
that receives clothes signs and puts his/her address down.
Vlad is using this to form a mail list into the community.
Nelya came over to me and began to tell me how thankful they
were to all in America that send these good clothes. She
then said that her son had been burned badly and they
thought he was going to require serious surgery in order for
the severe burn to heal. They heard that the congregation in
Kramatorsk would help people so they came and Vlad and
Oksana worked with them and were able to get the proper
medicines and the severe burn healed without surgery. As a
result they began attending.
Nelya’s son was a teenager and she said
she was very worried about him in the teenage years; but now
he is attending the congregation and is involved and there
is such a wonderful calm and peace in their home. Nelya said
that all of this is possible because of the love of Jesus
that was shown through the lives of common people.
The trip continues and tomorrow I am to
visit some of the hospitals in Kramatorsk where items from
our shipments have been distributed and are being used.
Tomorrow afternoon I am to go over to Konstantinovka and
help load a truck from Krasnoarmeisk with items from a
container that will be taken back to that city and
distributed to the needy.
