I’ve just returned from our trip to Ukraine, where we asked you to help us with a humanitarian operation we wanted to run in parallel. You can’t imagine what a difference your help made!
I’d like to tell you about what we saw and experienced there, so that you can get a better idea of what’s going on. The media still talk about this conflict from time to time, but when I went there I saw a country at war.
If you would like to know how the IAHM Healing Conference went at the same time, I invite you to read this article by clicking here:
ARRIVAL IN UKRAINE
I’ve already been to this magnificent country several times, the last time being at the end of 2021, just a few weeks before the conflict. So this was the first time I’d been back to see it in a state of war.
I trust God to guide and protect me in what He asks me to do. However, when we crossed the border, there was a sense of the unknown: what would we find on the other side? It wasn’t the same as before, and it probably wasn’t the same as the media in our own countries described it. In the end, we didn’t know what we were going to see, only that God had asked us to go, and now we were actually there.
AN INITIALLY DIFFERENT VISION...
As I said, I’ve been to this country before and, at first glance, it didn’t seem all that affected by the war.
Of course, there were some unusual things, like army checkpoints all along the road. In the streets of Kiev, you can see generators connected to houses everywhere, proving that there could be power cuts at any moment. There are also “Czech hedgehogs”, large metal crosses placed on the ground to prevent tanks from passing.
And yet, as we walked through the city streets, we came across young people and families out for a stroll, and saw buildings in good condition.
Then…
...CAUGHT UP WITH REALITY
Then reality hit us full force. It’s hard to understand what they’re really going through when you’re not in the country.
Our guide, Pastor Ivan, talked to us about their daily lives during this half-day visit. It’s true that there are young people wandering around, but they’re there because they’re forbidden to leave the country. Men can be drafted into the army from the age of 25, but all men between 18 and 60 are forbidden to leave the country. So they’re here, and their families, who could go elsewhere for safety, also stay, risking their lives not to abandon them.
We saw burnt-out cars and destroyed military equipment. There were buildings with bullet and shell holes, some completely collapsed…
And then there was Memorial Square. When I arrived at this square, with all the Ukrainian flags planted in tribute to the thousands of fallen soldiers, my heart couldn’t take it in and I fell on my knees praying and imploring God for this country. My friend Mattheus was there with me, and our teams followed us during this time of prayer and intercession right there in the middle of the street.
Meanwhile, I received those words for the Ukrainian people that King Darius said about Daniel when he came out of the lion’s den “Peace and prosperity be with you”. You know, it often happens that God speaks to me about things that seem impossible at the time, but I obey Him. For example, when I was in El Salvador, preaching the Gospel in the country’s biggest women’s prison, He asked me to speak about freedom to women who were imprisoned for life. I obeyed, and their response to God was incredible. You can read more about it by clicking here
That’s why when God tells me something I obey it’s not what I see that counts, but what He sees. So together we declared peace and prosperity over Ukraine!
For example, Pastor Henry Madava refused to leave Kiev, despite the army invasion and various attacks, the bloodiest of which was just 4km from the church… Rockets fell on neighboring buildings so close that the church hall was destroyed by the blasts. He wants to stay where he is, alongside the people who adopted him years ago, but he doesn’t talk about it because for him it’s normal. So having this moment with our guide was a good way of understanding, at least in part, what they’re going through. Even so, these are extremely warm, smiling people who welcome you with arms wide open.
Seeing this wall several hundred meters long, with all the photos of the soldiers who lost their lives, was particularly moving.
We also had a bomb alert in the middle of the night, forcing us to leave our rooms and take refuge in the bunker. For the locals, this seemed a normal part of everyday life. But for us, it made us realize how stressful it must have been for them in the first weeks of the conflict, when it was still new: every time the siren sounds, you know your life is in danger, but you don’t know where it’s going to fall…
YOU'VE HELPED 10,000 PEOPLE!
In the midst of all this, God is doing his work. As I told you when I talked about this humanitarian operation, the ministry of my friend Henry Madava, senior pastor of the largest church in Ukraine with over 6,000 members, has seen 55,000 people give their lives to Jesus in the Kiev city churches alone, and 14,000 follow a discipleship course.
Since the beginning of the war, the church has been distributing food packages to the most needy.
Thanks to your donations, we have been able to finance 10,000 food packages! These packages contain basic foodstuffs such as flour, sugar, pasta, oil, etc… Enough to provide several meals for each person, i.e. several tens of thousands of meals with your help!
On-site teams are mobilized to help each other, with volunteers organizing the distribution queue, talking to people and comforting them. Others are at the distribution to give out one of the bags stored in trucks, looking at each person with a smile to bless them.
We were able to take part in a distribution one evening and even pray for those who wished to do so.
I thank you again for your help, your generosity amazes me every time and your gifts make a real difference in the lives of people who really need it. Even if you weren’t there with us, you were used by God as a channel of blessing for this country!
TO KEEP GOING
I have a burden for this country and I want us to continue to support it. That’s why the online donation page for Ukraine is still available if you’d like to continue making donations. They will be sent directly to purchase new food packages or other essential supplies, depending on the season.
To make a donation, click on the button below.
I want to remain committed to the word of “peace and prosperity” that I received from God and that I continue to declare over this country. I declare it with authority until this word comes to life and becomes reality for Ukraine, and I invite you to join me in this prayer!
To read about what happened during the IAHM Healing Conference that took place at the same time, I invite you to read this article by clicking here:
I pray for peace in Ukraine, Russia and Europe.
In Him,
Jean-Luc Trachsel
