Hello everyone, we hope you all are well. It is Tuesday, May 5 2026 and our time in Ukraine is coming to an end.
The last few days have been full and fruitful. On Friday May 1st, just after noon, Melissa and I were walking from our Airbnb to the church, a little over a half mile, to go with a team to a nursing home to talk and pray with some of the residents and do a birthday party for all who had birthdays in April. We had stopped at a bakery/coffee shop not far from the church. Air raid sirens had been sounding for several minutes by now but no seemed to be concerned because most of the time the drones and missiles are not targeting Ternopil, but flying over to other areas. While in the coffee shop, we heard what sounded similar to a gas powered weed eater at full throttle fly over the building. Sure enough, they weren’t flying past Ternopil. Ternopil was the target. We started hearing explosions. One of the targets was a “Home Depot” type store just a few blocks from where we were. We could see the plumes of black smoke rising into the air as we exited the coffee shop. Our first instinct was to head towards the smoke to help but our focus was quickly changed when a terrified young woman ran up to Melissa. Melissa tried to communicate with her but neither knew the other’s language so she grabbed the young woman by the arm and we head for the church about a half a block away knowing that they have a bomb shelter.
As we turned the corner, we saw Zhenya’s son just outside the church calling in others from the street. He was trying to get as many people as he could to safety. Once we got in to the basement, the attack continued for over an hour. During this time, Melissa bandaged some minor wounds, we prayed and Zhenya’s son, still a teenager, is an accomplished musician and started playing and singing worship songs.
Once the attack was over, we left with rest of the team to the nursing home. After ministry was finished there we had a little time for a late lunch and then, amazingly enough, just 5 hours after one of the worst attacks on Ternopil, over 30 youth filled the sanctuary for the weekly Friday youth night. I was blessed with the opportunity to lead them in a few games before the teaching and small groups. The rest of the weekend and Monday, we spent time getting know some to the team at Calvary Chapel Ternopil. Learning more about them, how they truly have hearts to serve and minister to their community and country. Hearing their stories of the war that most of the world has forgotten about but it still ceaselessly rages on.
The war between Ukraine and Russia is not over by any means. What Russia thought they could do in a few days, Ukraine has held back for over 4 years. But this is more than a physical war, we truly believe that this is more spiritual than anything.
On Thursday May 7th at 12:45 am, Melissa and I will board the first of two trains we need to take to get to Krakow Poland. Traveling through the night, arriving in Krakow around 8 am.
Zhenya always recommends leaving a day ahead of time because of the possibility of delays (sometimes several hours) crossing the border between Ukraine and Poland. Our flight leaves early on the 9th so we have to be checked in at the airport by around 1:30 am. We plan to use our time in Krakow to tour Schindlers factory (see the movie Schindler’s List) and Auschwitz, a German concentration camp during WWII. While we don’t necessarily “want” to see these places, it is something that we feel that we should do.
It will take 2 full days to travel from Krakow to Manila with layovers in Frankfurt Germany and Bangkok Thailand before arriving in Manila early on the 11th.
As always, we thank you for your prayers and support.
P.S. Rest For Your Soul is still going strong. We get weekly reports from the street team in Roanoke.
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