Visit with Pavlo and Zina V. & Svitlana T.

On Ira’s way to some personal visits, she remembered one family that we used to visit a long time ago. Last time Pastor Ruslan and Ira visited that family it was an unforgettable experience. We visited Zina—that’s what the locals in Druzhkivka call her. Actually, Zina’s real name is Azerbaijani and is challenging to pronounce for Ukrainians, so everybody calls her Zina. Last time she repented for being a Muslim, and accepted Christ as her Savior! One of the local ministers, Liuba, called her, and Zina hospitably agreed to have us at her home. At that very moment, we didn’t understand why God reminded us of her.

When we arrived, Zina cordially invited us inside. Nothing’s changed there—the atmosphere was the same as the last time. They are very poor, her husband has cancer, and he’s bedridden.

When we walked inside her home, we saw a guest. It was Zina’s neighbor, Svitlana, so we got to know her. One year ago, Svitlana moved from the Dnipro region. She had a stroke, and her son bought a house near her sister so that she wouldn’t feel alone. Svitlana’s son lives in Donetsk so it’s easy for him to visit his mother. Svitlana heartily shared her troubles and worries with us. As Svitlana shared, Zina’s husband, Pavlo, asked Dima and Liuba (two local ministers) to come closer, so he could pray over them. It looked like in one room, a man repented and shared his pain with God and in another room Sasha and Ira were accepting Svitlana’s pain. Both rooms were filled with the Lord’s victory!!!

We also told them about our mission and discussed God’s care for us. I invited Svitlana to pray and accept God as her Savior. It was a prayer full of tears and words of repentance, but at the same time, it was a prayer of gratitude!!!

Liuba and Dima invited Svitlana to participate in the “You Are Not Alone” church program. They shared contacts with her, and Svitlana promised to come.

She also received a food package and she cried. She was so grateful to everyone who made this help possible! When we left Zina’s home, we were thankful to God for the “reminder” (to visit Zina and her husband). We all understood that it was for Svitlana! Glory to God for working in mysterious ways.

P.S. We received a call from Liuba that evening. Svitlana’s niece called Liuba and expressed her gratitude for the help! “It’s a miracle”, she said. Svitlana has a small pension, and it’s difficult to survive materially after a stroke. That food package became a glimpse of home and valuable support to Svitlana. Svitlana’s niece also promised to come to church together. Here is God's victory! Praise Him!