Experiencing Grace in Times of War

An update from Michael Ostanin, Pastor of ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine...

Dear friends,

Thank you for your faithful and sacrificial service.

Thanks for your support and generous donations, from Sovereign Grace Churches and Arche Hamburg, so that we can continue to care for hundreds of people suffering from war and preach the Gospel to them.

This month we were blessed to have our friend, Pastor Frank visit us. He cared for us like a good pastor, like a father and an older brother. He shared the love of Christ with us, supported our hands in service, and strengthened us spiritually and morally. Our Lord Jesus is glorified in the humble service of His servants.

As a grateful testimony, I just wanted to share with you the story of Zinaida (82 years old) from the city of Bakhmut.

The Lord saved her life during the bombing. At night, while she was sleeping, a bomb hit her yard. The explosion was so strong that the house was completely destroyed and the roof came off. But the shock wave carried Zinaida out into the street right on the bed on which she slept.

Zinaida remained alive and did not even have a scratch. The bomb destroyed all of Zinaida's property, and she was evacuated to our city in her pyjamas. Our church helped Zinaida from the first day of her resettlement in Dnipro. We gave her food and clothing, medicine, a mattress, and a blanket, but most importantly, Zinaida heard the Gospel for the first time in church. 

She was an atheist all her life; during Soviet times she was a communist director of a large plant. The Lord opened Zinaida’s heart to faith in Jesus Christ and gave her repentance. Now Zinaida’s greatest wish is that her son also believes in Jesus, and she prays for him every day. Every time she meets me, she asks for one thing, that the Lord would give salvation to her son. This is one of hundreds of stories of God's glorious grace at work during war.

Thank you, friends, for effectively and faithfully helping us reach such people. The devil took away their earthly property, and the Lord prepared for them an imperishable eternal home.

Thank you for your words of encouragement and support!