I don’t know when this will go out, but I will write. (And now it is: OCT 24, 2022)

Well, the sun has begun to shine at 10 o’clock this Saturday morning October 22. But at 9 the Russians bombed the power station here in Rivne. We don’t know what else happened because all electricity is off and therefore communications. We heard several explosions in the distance. And yesterday—we were beginning to investigate buying a generator to see us through the winter knowing that power outages will be a reality. Not a large one, but one that will keep us going for a few hours with the minimum things—especially computers etc.

(This is a picture of the billows of smoke taken from our yard. The bombing was a couple miles away. No one was injured or killed! Praise the name of Jesus!)

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A friend called and told us to fill up everything we could with water because the water will go off eventually too. And so we have several gallons sitting around. And yes, it’s living one day at a time. By the time I send this message communications will have been reestablished and I will have more information. But the plans of the day and vanquished. We wait for an all clear, but even then what will that mean—without electricity?

And so, it is Monday. Our electric was off 9 ½ hours Saturday—but praise GOD! It came back on! And our water came back on before that! PRAISE God! And our furnace stopped working even though it isn’t dependent on electric but Abe figured it out and we got warm again! THANK You, Lord! Our hearts are overflowing with joy and a new appreciation of the things we take for granted. No internet all weekend and the provider doesn’t know what the problem is. Vera was also without electricity on Saturday all day, and her phone did not work. Priscilla and Dan are experiencing outages, usually 4 hours at a time, more than once a day, as Ukraine tries to distribute electricity across the country. We are warned to not use appliances etc. Our street lights will now go out at 10 PM, the children will have a week’s break from school this week in our city of Rivne (those who are actually attending). And people work around the clock trying to restore power as there are still a couple areas of the city where there is no electricity. And we will have times without electricity, rotating throughout the city.

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Yesterday we went to church. What a joy! The electric was on when we got there, but went out in just a few minutes times. The leaders had already anticipated that and so had arranged a minimal situation for microphones and some lighting on stage. And it was Thanksgiving Day in our church! And we spent the service thanking God for many things. The picture is of the young people, (about 40) on stage, who were called up so we could celebrate them. There were no decorations as would be usual, but people had brought gifts to distribute to the refugees who are with us. I don’t know how many were given out—at least 50—probably more. And there was a gift for elderly people of a battery driven light, extra batteries, a small flashlight, a candle and matches.

New realities as Russia tries to break down the infrastructure and spread fear and chaos.

 

PRAYER REQUESTS

  • Please pray that we can find a generator and get it up and working. Needless to say there is a run on them! But we are searching. And praying.

  • Tomorrow (Tuesday) we leave early to go to Kyiv to submit all of our documents for our temporary residence. Please pray that there will be no air sirens tomorrow afternoon in Kyiv and no power outages. That would mean we could not get the process started. A wasted trip for me and for the man who helps process the documents. He is traveling 200 miles to be there. Abe will be on his way to travel further Wednesday. However that also means we cannot do it Wednesday morning. Well, Lord, we are in Your hands.

  • Pray for Abe’s trip on Wednesday. It will be east of Kyiv but not near the fighting zone. However it is an area where bridges and roads have been bombed and even though they are trying to rebuild all of that it can mean detours or slowdowns for one-way traffic. So pray for safety for the team. But also pray that the people whom they are to meet will be able to come and that it will be a time of encouragement, motivation and decisions. Last week the men shared what all they were doing with refugees and in their churches. This will be similar with problem solving being for filling churches with leadership, and then presenting the Centers of Hope and enlisting interest and finding options.


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