Heather Karls recently traveled to Ukraine with other staff at MDI (Missions Development Interna-tional) to help mission friends build a prayer tent in the middle of the “action” to provide food, tea and prayer support for battle-weary protesters as they took a stand for freedom.
Shortly after arriving, Heather’s team heard the pro-test had turned from peaceful to deadly. They could see a large wall of black smoke building in the sky and hear explosions and gunshots from their apart-ment. During the 96 hours they stayed in Ukraine, more than 60 people were killed, grocery stores were running out of food, gas stations ran out of gas, ATMs were no longer working and rumors said that roads were blocked leading to the airport. Heather’s team was told by a friend that “I can no longer tell you that you are safe in Ukraine.” At that point, they decided their safety was a greater distraction than any help they could provide. They flew to Spain the next day after being stopped by one roadblock on the way to the airport.
Prepare for Easter. There is a memorial tribute video (Fallen Heroes) online that shows candles and pictures of those who died during that week’s fighting. In the midst of the candles lays a copy of the Gospel of John that those at the prayer tent had distributed during the past three months. It clearly looked worn and it’s obvi-ous the spine was broken and well used. It is not known whether the owner of that book survived the week, but it is very possible this person had given his life to Christ in the midst of the struggle.
Condensed from Marti Scudder’s trip report
Video mentioned can be seen at:
http://mdiweblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/fallen-heroes.html
