Continue to pray for families separated by persecution.

 For many years the opponents of evangelicalism in Eastern Europe have worked with governments who plot (both overtly and subversively) with FSB and underworld networks to terrorise the church. Those who remain most faithful to the calling of Christ and his mission of grace, are most marked for hatred.

Kidnappings, "freak" road accidents, "accidental" fires, and loss of income are nothing new to "free church" pastors who live in these cultures. Many have lost their lives, incomes and been severely tested in emotional/ mental wellbeing long before the present phase of the invasion.

Present opposition then is not a fresh invention, but a resurgence of historical persecution which remains deeply rooted, and grew such a perverted freedom to hurt and oppress in the heyday of communism. (read a summary of Sergey Kourdakov's story here) 

As the present rhetoric intensifies and seeks to justify barbarism in the name of ideology and revived historical dreams and tropes (a growing "pan slavic mega-state" which rules without opposition or freedom of speech), so does the compliant aid of those living in government pockets in both FSB and state Orthodox Church. Remember this when you see the politician kneeling in apparent piety before the Orthodox altar. It is not done in humility but defiance,  it is a prayer that the "Orthodox" church will one day rise to rule the land without competition, rule the economy for blackmarket control, and rule the minds of the people for the indoctrination and instruction of anything other than the living word of GOD.

The Archbishop blesses the satellite.
 Soon after it lays in the ocean. 

Such a prayer before God, (expecting his help)  is an anathema, blasphemous and will face judgement accordingly. To those who scratch the veneer, it is fairly transparent that the prayers of this government which hates believers are not defined by their love of our HOLY GOD in all his compassion, grace and righteous judgement (who protects the hurting, prioritises the poor,  redeems and cherishes all those of his creation), but their allegiance is wholeheartedly to another who opposes the living God and everything he is and accomplishes.  

Putin is on record as saying to his party that protestants are "scum, traitors, and insects that the Russian people will spit out their mouths."

Gen 50:20 , Romans 8:28, Psalm 23:4, remind us that in the darkest times, when evil, greed and human idolatry seems to reign, God is at work accomplishing his purposes through even the very same means which seem to be fortifying evil. The cross and resurrection of Christ are the ultimate proof of God's sovereign, mighty, victorious hand which accomplishes GOOD. Around the world, in Asia, Africa and each continent this causes suppressed and oppressed underground churches to bounce with the law of spiritual buoyancy, as authentic love, and particularly love among believers (John 13:35) (1 Peter 1:22-2:3) (Col 3:12-13) authenticates the gospel and an explosion of new believers emerge. 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

There has been a awakening in quarters of Ukrainian orthodoxy,
to the historical person of Christ, the distinction between biblical and manmade religion, the nature of society under God's mandate. This coupled with a distancing from Russian Orthodoxy has facilitated a growingly healthy dynamic of freedom and a desire to inquire of and explore the scriptures, talk and work with free church pastors, interact with the new community of Christ. In Ukraine the formal barriers once erected high between Orthodoxy and free church has been dismantling, after all everyone is Ukrainian, and is in this together. This has opened a floodgate of missional opportunity in some quarters, as priests and laypersons alike,  discover the beauty of Christ and his Lordship over their lives.  

What is our role as we watch on ?

1. Let's continue to pray for those families separated by those who hate the free church. The largest network of evangelical churches in Ukraine is the Baptist network. Whist they are not the only network, in many ways they are seen to take a lead and therefore pay the highest price.

This helpful article from Elijah Brown re: the kidnapping of Baptist Pastor Leonid and Tatyana Ponomaryov from Kurchatov Church, Mariupol (further details here) illustrates the point well. The story is symbolic of many others. Some of the members of the "prayer house" in Kurchatov had been approached (bullied) to open the building for the fake referendum to be promoted and they had refused to use God's resources this way. Typical of such prayer houses is their outward simplicity. The great beauty of God's people shines internally, and in the darkest times, they shine brightest for the glory of Jesus Christ. 

House of prayer Kurchatov

Pray for the children of pastors.

a) For their safety and protection.

b) For their supernatural enabling to love their enemies and speak well for the gospel in pivotal moments of testing and public audience.

c) For their ongoing ministry to believers who have lost their pastor and his wife. May this be the seed of fruitfulness which reaps increasing fruit in the next generation.

d) Pray for their healing in the trauma, loss and grief. May God put around them those who can help, minister from his word, and point to the ultimate physician who will one day correct all wrongs, and make all things right and new under his impenetrable and loving rule. 

e) Pray for those in captivity. May they know the company of THE SPIRIT. Pray that the one who knows how to minister in ways we can't will give supernatural clarity of mind, words internally and spoken from the Living GOD, remembrance of scripture, remembrance of God's faithful people, and the ultimate, miraculous endurance which will proclaim the might of God. Above all may he enable them to suffer like Christ. May others see, know that they have been with Jesus and come to trust him for themselves. (ACTS 16:25-31).

To fuel your prayers read the wonderful testimony of Pastor Sasha Tsutserov (here). 

2. Continue to pray for those who work amongst Orthodoxy sharing the good news, joy, liberty and freedom in Christ. 

A helpful summary of the situation between Russian and Ukraine 
orthodox can be viewed here (don't be put off by the title). 

PRAY

a) That the word of God would be opened and hearts humbled in readiness, and by the Spirits enabling with opened eyes see the plain truth of JESUS.

b) That society either side of the frontline would see the distinction between dead man made religion and the authentic work of the Spirit of GOD.

c) ACTION is currently preparing to print both evangelistic and training materials to aid those who share the gospel amongst friends from an Orthodox heritage. Pray for this material, and if it is appropriate for you maybe you would like to aid the printing of this through our PLD / Bookshare fund?

3. Pray for those who lead the church either underground or in public forums. 

a) May God enable them to be wise as serpents and as gently harmless as doves.

b) May wisdom be granted for leaders to circumspectly protect God's people at the same time as advancing courageously for the kingdom. 

c) Pray for upcoming pastors encouragement conferences where we seek to strengthen the arm of those who deal directly in these things. We run a fund to enable transport and subsidy to these events for those Pastors struggling to attend due to finances and circumstances,. For us this is a helpful way of showing our practical partnership and love, and maybe you would like to be part of that giving too.  

The quiet monstrous role of prayer.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

    pour out your heart before him;

    God is a refuge for us.  

PSALM 62:8

It is a huge relief, delight and joy to restart the blog and prayer emails today. It was appropriate (whilst we travelled, security issues abounded and keeping those we serve safe remained the highest priority)  to have a pause on public / web prayer information, and updating on some forums. I have been more frustrated by this than anyone. Prayer is the foundational work of all we seek to do in mission and for ourselves as those privileged to live in the sunshine of  the love, forgiveness, grace and redemptive work of God.

We live in a world whereby even the best of motives can be turned against the church and misused for evil. However, in many ways this just reinforces what a mighty weapon prayer is in the spiritual battle. 

• Why would the atheist be so irate at us talking to one they believe doesn't exist? 
• What is evil about praying for those who are suffering in war, flood, displacement or hunger ? Those who hate the church (and ways of GOD) will always gaze past the good to find a route of complaint. 

During the pause, 3 things were spotlighted for me.

1) In all things God is able.  God doesn't need Internet blogs or massive prayer-chains or me, to do immeasurably more than we can think or imagine. 

• In Philippians Paul is confined to isolation of prison, a common primitive "holding cell" or guard in house arrest were his only visible audience. Yet his isolation is fruitful as he takes every concern of the churches to God in prayer. God is never absent from us, he is more above us than we could ever understand, but more imminently close than we could ever dream.  Paul's isolation results in impacting and advance of the gospel to the glory of God. (1:13, cf  Acts 28:16) 
• Two things pepper this book and characterise it; joy and prayer. 
• Both come together as we pray (note 1:3--11) 
• Christian Joy, in Christ, his people and our daily purpose is not conditioned by circumstance. Prayer is the constant privilege of the believer regardless of circumstance.  

• PHIL 3:20 IS THE GROWING AND FRUITFUL CONVICTION OF ALL TRUE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Prayer reminds us of our true identity, purpose and privilege: 

 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,  who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. 

• We are citizens of Heaven, by rescue of Christ and the indwelling Spirit of God. We are eternally loved children of God, set apart for the purposes of God, with a single clear conviction "to live for Christ" (1:21) This purpose does not disappear with changing circumstance, but actually intensifies amidst suffering, hardship and within the eternal power filled purposes of God's provision.
• Prayer gives us more than we could ever ask, a joy which comes from being intimate with the ultimate one, who calls us to come closer. Whether prayer is a planned, discipline period of time set aside, or the reiteration of existing life cries (from the heart, as new creations in the will of God) within the busy workaday world -  the result is that we become more like Jesus, and more invigorated / garrisoned for his purposes. The privilege of calling on our Father who gives all good things (James 1:17)  is never about what what we gain in gifts or material benefits but it is far greater. (Romans 8:15-17. 26-28) 
•  Praying reminds us that we are safe in the mighty grip of the over generous superlative giver and lover of our souls, the one who gives us His Son, the one who is never slow to give, but knowing the hairs on our heads clearly knows our micro and macro need better than us and has provided accordingly. There is a freedom from worry in this, a greater liberty to concentrate on His purposes and preferences and not our own. Behind all intimate conversations with God, our prayers come through  the access of Christ alone, and reignite our pleasure in the affirmation of his Lordship alone. In this habitat we learn that behind our Amen is the greater AMEN of God's good, eternal, fruitful, majestic purposes, fulfilled in Christ, which are ongoing for our redemption and sanctification. 
• PRAYER CHANGES US: Many times we may fall Into thinking that our ultimate purpose is praying for others, but simultaneously as we pray for others God's primary purposes are often working on us to conform us to the image of his Son, and better fit us in with his global kingdom purposes. His ultimate purposes are greater than any one individual, denomination, group of believers or section of the globe. Living for the bigger under God is what we were made for, and the reason we are alive in his world today. 

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. "  (Col 1:15–20).

• PRAYER IS BIGGER THAN WE UNDERSTAND: On our own  we should never give up on prayer or underestimate the potency of regular, humble, obedient honesty before God. "ONE WITH GOD IS A MAJORITY". Because of who we cry to and depend on, there is a sense in which private prayer will always have wider (global) ramifications, as it did with Daniel whose private prayer life fuelled both a country and prominent public life in an eternal context of world empires and world history under the eternal ruler. Old Testament Kings like Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar are shown to be in the grip of God to accomplish his purposes. 
• Proverbs 21: 1 "The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. 
  

• 
  

  Cyrus' cylinder kept in the British museum. On it is inscribed, “the gods who dwelt there I returned to their home and let them move into an eternal dwelling'. Behind all the movements of world and empire leaders is the controlling and conclusive hand of the only eternal Sovereign.
  
  

 

2) The purpose of intercession is to serve and fit in with God's purposes ... not to be a master.

• I remember sitting in a large evangelical conference not so long ago and being struck by the fact that the same things were happening year after year. I guessed they thought if people keep coming, why change the formulae? It felt a bit like a (bad fashion) version of Groundhog Day though. Books were being sold in their thousands (again),  the worship leader was plugging their new album and song (again) , the career conference speakers seem to have done little since the last conference other than speaking at conferences. Just at that moment a really evil thought came into my mind... "maybe the conference idea had become a bit "the master" and stopped "serving" the purpose and people it was designed for ? Would it be an idea to redirect the great time and expense of thousands of people (millions of pounds actually) one year to frontline mission in an unreached people group". Knowing that I was obviously out of step with everyone else, and I'm am eccentric oddbod,  I quickly repented and turned my middle class ("unsandled") feet back to the bookshop to buy more books I couldn't fit on my shelves.
• The point is that sometimes we forget why we are doing things ... ministries... and people... are to serve (MARK 10:43-45 ) and not be masters. This is true in all Christian organisations or networks, and especially true of prayer ministry. Think of Romans 16

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,  that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well."
Two things strike me... 

• It is Paul who is doing the commending. Phoebe is not commending herself. I hear the phrase sometimes that "he or she" is "a prayer warrior". We possibly know what that means, but sometimes that phrase can become a little nebulous in our hazy and lazy Christian jargon. Praying a lot doesn't necessarily guarantee that your work / prayer ministry or prayer meeting is being strategic, mighty or even fruitful in the purposes of God. It could actually in some cases be an excuse for an individual to gossip or being the one who wants to be known for knowing everything, an over spiritualised veneer which covers their sinful character of selfish ambition. 
• Some elderly groups who meet for prayer can be incredibly strategic, and my ministry in the main is built on such faithfulness.I stand on the shoulders of those who have gone prayerfully before me and pray now for the team, and the many others who make up for the many inadequacies I have.  I am reaping in every sense the benefits of faithful prayer servants in many different corners of my life and around the world. I in no way want to minimise the prayers of older saints, or do anything other than give great praise and appreciation to God for this. But... I need to balance this, with a reality check and realisation that the human heart is sinful beyond understanding. I've also come across those who tell me that they have a great prayer ministry and commend themselves. Some friends I love have been guilty of doing nothing other than filling empty days with information about people to fulfil their inquisitive minds and feel valued in the Information age, and they do it because they say they have a "prayer ministry". Those who "gather for prayer" with the veneer of great nobility can also growingly become demanding for information, intrusive with personal detail,  and want  to be listened to (always have their say) regarding what is being prayed for.  In this they can also be guilty of not serving the very ones they seek to serve, but instead be destructively working against them. Warriors who unwittingly fight for the enemy, sow division, and model  unhelpful behaviour (however well meaning, outwardly harmless and articulate) are no more wanted or beneficial than saboteurs (Matt 7:15). Divisive and damaging speech or motives are no different regardless of whether someone works publicly on a high profile stage  or subversively in a quiet backroom. Prayer should never be a warrant card for sinful individualism. 
• In Ukraine Saboteurs have been routed out from local civil leadership and government, because they used their position to invite the invader into the heartland. Exposing them and rooting them out one way or another was an urgent and vital task for the safety and health of society (and especially to protect evangelical believers). In the church the issue for us as leaders has parallels in spiritual warfare.  Healthy prayer with genuine servitude benefits everyone. Unhealthy prayer, individualism or self serving / wrong motives can be equally wide reaching and damaging when unaddressed. 

Second and final observation from Romans 16:

3) It is never "Just" prayer. Prayer is about relationship.

One of the beautiful undercurrents of Paul's commendation is that Phoebe is unreservedly trusted, and therefore wholeheartedly commended. When someone becomes a tested and trusted champion servant of God's people, wherever God directs them, their character, life and ministry and impact automatically grows and grows in fruitfulness. It is a beautiful dynamic which increasingly overspills to others. 

Prayer is never insignificant, but it can be less useful / purposeful in our own lives if we want it to be. 

It is well documented that those who say "let's just pray about that..." (maybe unwittingly) haven't thought about the dynamic significance and reach of prayer. The main significance of prayer doesn't rest in how long we spend praying, or how many times we pray, but tin the one we pray to. No doubt in most cases the phrase Is said to express love to the individual they want to pray for the phrase has become an unfortunate,  unconsidered habit.  

Maybe however there is another error we make in minimising prayer. Prayer is an ever tightening bond of love for those whom we pray for. In this sense prayer is a God given tool or mechanism... not an end or ultimate purpose in itself, but an ordained means of God at work in our lives. Take for example the phrase "forgive us as we forgive those...". The main work of that phrase is to reset us as those who remember we are creatures of grace, beneficiaries and ambassadors of absolute and undeserved forgiveness. True prayer always carries more significant work than we can comprehend (or are maybe aware of) as we conform to thinking God's thoughts after him by the help of his Spirit. Prayer synchronises us more to the heartbeat of God for others, for salvation, for his glory and our good.

Our world needs more relational champions. Those who stick closer than a brother, (rather than pray and forget) are countercultural in our instant fix world which lacks commitment on so many levels. Our world has enough platitudes, and not so much fortitude. If you want proof... try phoning a call centre, monitor your reaction after a hold of 20 minutes when you hear "your call is very important to us". This is no more true than in the world of missions. Many talk of mission, few go, even fewer pray. It is a privilege to pray for those on the frontline of the eternal advance of God's kingdom. With that privilege comes responsibility to follow through on what we pray. 

Prayer should produce sensitivity and social / relational awareness: Saying to someone loudly in church " we prayed for your miscarriage", or "we've been praying that you won't be lonely after your divorce" (sadly both real examples) may just compound trauma, and  in fact remind those folks that they have lost a precious one, that they still have many difficult moments in trauma and loss to come, a long, hard lonely road to travel. Sometimes, keeping our prayers private or choosing our moments to remind people that we pray for them (without going into detail) can also be a good thing.  if our only motive in telling another we are praying for them is to make ourselves feel better - it is better not to say anything. 

Prayer should clarify our motives and shape our actions. 

If we pray that God will provide for someone should we just say "Amen" and forget about them? What does God see of our heart in this dynamic? Doesn't genuine prayer make us hungry and ready to open our own pockets or find those who can? Many times we are unable to fulfil all the needs of all people and situations personally, and it is unrealistic to think we can go unreservedly, limitlessly to help many if any situations. In a broken world this is needs will remain before Christ returns, and it is damaging and overbearing on ourselves and others to think that we could ever attend to all brokenness. We are not the saviour - He is. In such instances of genuine and realistic need however, shouldn't we  refrain from saying "we will just pray - it is all we can do"? Rather than walking away or disappearing in puff of smoke like Hudini (as if we are excused to escape as soon as we utter the magic word "prayer"),  shouldn't we instead then actively look for those who can help whilst we are unable ? A prayerful phonecall, considered chat over coffee, email, text, FaceTime, what's app, IM to the right person can be strategically so used of God, and sometimes a more noble thing than "just praying". Praying for someone whilst going to pick up their prescription for them, or whilst delivering them a meal, enters a whole other dimension of genuine intercession. Church leaders should be the first to exemplify, model and commend this kind of prayer, however busy they are, and however relieved from practical ministries their large team helps them to be. The motive to serve and pray goes together. 

Galatians 6:1b-5

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbour.  For each will have to bear his own load.

Praise GOD that he gives us everything we need, in all situations and all circumstances. (2 Peter 1:3-4) (Phil 4:19) What a Father we come to, whose mercy is new every morning and whose compassion, grace, and generosity go beyond our understanding. 

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SOVEREIGN LORD, ETERNAL AND ONLY LIVING GOD, LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER... 

• Lead us to be the people who humbly walk into fruitfulness together... in our prayer lives particularly and service of your people and purposes. Lord, teach us how to pray. Our chief prayer together is to honour the Saviour and only rescuer of all people, who loves us and gave himself for us. We exist to commend the one who has bought us, and brought us together with a price, the commander who reigns and rules, risen victorious over sin, death, hell, Satan and all the enemies of God. We praise you ! You LORD JESUS are the forerunner who has gone before us and intercedes for us in all things. We want our lives to be shaped by your commands and directives alone. Help us to be servants, those who love your beautiful  bride. We commit to lay our lives down before you for the service of your people, knowing that this is your eternal priority and heart. 
• We come repenting of our self centredness and narrow mindedness. We are aware that confessed sin comes to you,  the only one who has made a way and has given the power for us to be victorious over sin. Help us Holy Spirit to have the liberty of self forgetfulness in your grip of grace, and fill us with a greater comprehension of your greatness, grace and generosity, your power to accomplish that which you have started both in us and your global kingdom. Continue to work on us in your patience as we submit to your written word which only works wisdom and good in us. We are slow learners Lord, but our genuine desire is to love you more and grow to be more fruitful for you. This is especially true in our prayer lives. 
• In all things help us to be the jigsaw piece shaped by you, to fit in with you purposes whatever stage of life, and context we serve in, and resources we serve with. Help us as a group of prayers to fit seamlessly  well into your global purposes and provision together so that; more who are unreached come to know you, more who are needing the help of your global family are helped, more who are walking with you become more like Jesus. 
• In this is our greatest prayer for ourselves. We want to be more like Jesus. For your ultimate glory, we give ourselves with joy and unreservedly to you, for you are our only, ultimate and incomprehensible treasure.  To you alone is our optimum and supreme gratitude. You are the one we worship, and long to so much better, with overwhelming thankfulness and love. We are reminded that all of this privilege is undeserved, and yet there is more to come, for us the best is yet to come in you. When you come to  ultimately complete your global eternal purposes of redemption, all generations and peoples will honour you. For this we long, for you alone are worthy of all glory, and more than our very best.  Help us therefore to love and live purposefully this way, in the joy and security that your presence and your presence alone brings today.  Oh that this broken world and our hurting neighbours might taste and see the riches of your grace.  This eternal, settled position in Christ in which we find ourselves covers all vistas of life and all momentary circumstances with an incompressible delight. We are the most privilege people on the planet. Your gracious embrace overwhelms us, you define our very existence and purpose, and you outshine all things, and will go on to do so for all eternity, So we pray today that you would take that glory and honouring from our lives as we seek to serve and fit in with you today, however you see best. 

AMEN

ACTION'S STRATEGIC RELIEF MINISTRIES Part 1

 Over the next few blogs we will be combining two things:

1) Stories of those we have met on our travels and 

2) Projects which we are praying for. 

The ACTION family is large, and Ukraine, Nepal, Colombia, Serbia, Pakistan, and Cuba are all on our heart as priority prayers ...amongst many other countries. 

We want to share some of that with you, conscious that we are part of a growing army of mission partners who are praying for the same goal with the same ambition. We long to see Christ's kingdom increase, for the unreached to be reached, and for all glory to go to Him when this happens.

We'll accompany this with more detailed emails for those who pray on a regular basis with us (please do get in touch if your would like to get this and don't). We'll also explain how our priority projects are strategically serving these needs. 

Whenever we pray we are conscious that we can't ask God to do something unless we are ready ourselves to be partly the answer to those prayers if appropriate. We give him the best of our emotions, gifts and all the resources he has given us to steward. He who gave us everything is rightful owner of all we have all we are (1 Cor 6:19-20). Lord save us from only ever being lip service disciples. 

Please pray today with us today for two things:

1) The continued aid going to those ravaged by war in Ukraine, floods in Pakistan, and displacement in Afghanistan. 

2) The training of gospel workers reaching out to unreached (especially in Nepal).

ACTION'S STRATEGIC RELIEF MINISTRIES

TRAUMATISED FRIENDS INVITE US IN TO THEIR LIBERATED HOMES IN UKRAINE. 

The vital work of ACTION RELIEF AID. 

Come with us on a road that joins many places made infamous by recent atrocities. Places like Bucha, Borodianka, and Irpin were known 12 months ago as  unique entities and situations loved by their inhabitants, but now around the world are infamous collectively as the places where evil swept in uninvited. 

As we travel on this bright September morning the sun shines gloriously. However, there remains an unnerving tension which hits all senses. The aroma is one of destruction even after so many days. Yes in places smouldering, burning and the smell of death is still apparent. The air tastes charred as home after home lies rubbled, scorched and daubed in the black paint of desiccation. 

It seems so incongruous on the eye when a place such as Borodianka, with its idyllic snapshot of nature and long established community is also the scene of major destruction,  and needs so much rebuilding. To the many older generation inhabitants who remain,  it remains a home, whereby the small maker gardeners spend their retirement years tending such fruitful smallholding spots of this richly blessed agriculture. The unnoticeable difference now is that every other house has been reduced to a pile of bricks, each gate or entrance has been peppered with bullets, and the birdsong has largely disappeared. As we go to great an inhabitant with a small bag of aid, all of the friends come out to welcome us. What a contrast to that day when those who came were not so welcome. 

a) Anatoly's Story.

"Just a few weeks before I had lost my wife. She was of Russian descent, from the same region as those who came uninvited. She was the love of my life. We lived here happily with our dog, our chestnut trees, our vines, our fruit orchard and chickens. We live simply, but the field behind the property enabled us to grow enough to keep us going each year. 

It was just after the beginning of this invasion, when the shelling came closer, there was little warning. I gathered enough to stay here underground, after all this is my home, the place of all memories for me, and I wanted to protect my elderly friends on our street and provide them with vegetables and fruit. I was grateful that all the younger people had left for safety, we knew their reputation and what would happen if either young women or men stayed. We were the guardians of this village. They bulleted and smashed in the gate (that I built well), for fear that I was a sniper... hiding behind. I am a mature man and seriously no threat to youngsters with AK-74's . They then hit my dog repeatedly over the head with the back of their weapons and he died. He was a good dog to me and great company after my wife was no longer here - I lived on my own, and loneliness is itself a unique poverty. They left him there ...just where you stand. 

Underground I kept silent, a prisoner in my own basement, but I could hear what they were doing, and for a month and two weeks  I survived on scraps as they sat in my garden chair, raided my cupboards, and helped themselves to all my stored winter produce, fuel, wood and small comforts. It was so cold and damp, remember it was February. I have never been in such an unhealthy place in my life and I am surprised that my body was able to keep going in the way it was. 

When I finally came out, they had built underground bunkers in my back garden with my best timber. They spent many hours drinking and dropping food, unaware that they had invited in also a host of rats." (This bit of the story I tried to forget but was reminded when we walked down into the dark bunker, and my size 8 Adidas stood on a fury friend who was considerably bigger than my footwear.) 

"To those who came..." said Anatoly, "it seemed normal to live like vagabonds, sewer people, they lived and behaved like animals.

They shot my best friend across the road. (the house we had just been to deliver a bag of aid to an elderly widow.) He was the best of men, a lifelong friend,  going to help someone on that day, but they shot him in front of his wife because they dared to come onto the drive out of their home. They wanted to prove a point. All the neighbours are older than me. Despite (the widows) many respectful pleas, she was not allowed to bury him. He lay in open view for many days until they needed to dig a trench there to hide ammunition. They put dug soil over his body to taunt in mock burial. When we did finally get to give him a dignified funeral it took us (me and his widow) 3 days to dig away that huge mound of earth. As they left my property they caused as much damage as possible, destroying my chestnut trees. That one (points to a broken stump) had produced great chestnuts for generations before. I'm left now with just these two little trees. 

Today I am though just grateful to be here. I am so grateful for the liberation, so grateful for friends like you from the churches that have been so kind and such a lifeline to us. It isn't so much about the things that have been brought to us (though they are so helpful and keep us going), it really is about your solidarity and company, knowing your willingness to listen to our story and as friends, to cry with us and help us try to process in our minds what has happened. This is a very precious thing, and you don't know what a treasure it is until you need it.

There are some things I still don't understand, things my mind wakes up thinking about each day...

• Why did these men (from the same place as my wife) act like animals and brutalise everything we have ? 
• Why would they fight against their own kind? We are the same, just people with the same heritage.   She was so different the Russians who came, so beautiful, so caring, so loving, so hospitable. I wish you had met her.
• Why would they delight in so much destruction ? I dare not go into my field now, I would not survive, everyone has told me they have left mines. The mines are in no pattern, they just want to catch me out with their bad game.

The contrast when the Ukrainian friends (army) came was so obvious. Seeing my sad state... and my dog, they brought to me a brand new puppy they had been caring for. He is such great company, and full of fun"

At this moment he becomes very excited, and after rolling over and jumping increasingly high to please his audience, he settles for tummy strokes before getting so excited, that he relieves himself. "Oh - you have let me down says Anatoly, can't you see we have important friends with us, where is your etiquette?" I share that my 8 old fury best friend would do exactly the same, but have not the excuse of youth. We belly laugh, there is a great unity and trust as we joke together. As we make a move to go, Anatoly then doesn't want us to leave. He extends the visit by climbing up on a rickety chair,  to cut fresh grapes for us off his vine to take home to our families with a bar of his very best chocolate. He makes us promise with assurance that we will call on him the next time we travel that way. 

Anatoly is typical of many we have connected with. A simple bag of basics has bought more than a momentary conversation,  there is a deep human connection. He trusts believers and sees our coming in context / sharp contrast to those who have visited his home before. We are not the only ones sharing the gospel in this location or dark period of Ukraine's history. At the end of Anatoly's road hangs a banner from a church we know well. Praise God for the solidarity and unified expression of Christ in this situation, it has built a great bridge over which the family of Christ are not only heard but invited in to share more. A key part of ACTION relief is working with local and pastors and churches to help the growth of local churches or establishment of new ones where there are none. 

Continue to pray for those who have been so wonderfully impacted and come to find their home in Christ. Continue to pray for friends like Anatoly, who trusting of us, and wonderfully kind and so generous, are yet to truly see the glory, eternal security, and unreserved welcome of the one who loves us and gave himself for us. 

WHY STRATEGIC RELIEF IS SO IMPORTANT: 

1) ACTION WORKERS ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME: 

Our relief aid continues to the hardest hit areas. By God's providence this is through longterm trusted partners and pastors with the local church (however fledgling) at the heart of all our relief efforts. These brothers and sisters know the local culture, the sensitive issues we need to tread carefully on, and they are in it for the long haul. Relief work will continue throughout a brutal winter approaches and as battles rumble on in Ukraine. This is no mean task. In other situations like Pakistan and the situation in Afghanistan things are equally challenging with, issues of security and travel, and there severe cold is exchanged for severe heat. Back in Ukraine there remains a huge mission field of friends who listen, trust and want to know more. Now is the time to increase industry and support, not lose interest. 

2) WITH GROWING, TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP COMES THE PROSPECT OF HEALING: With relief aid comes trauma help, much given through natural progression and ordinary conversation. Articulating the realities of trauma for any individual releases fresh tears and sometimes fresh anger, but always there is a healthy growing process which brings life back into some normality. Expressing these issues in a helpful way with trusted friends brings a gradual positive dynamic to recovery. 

3) PATIENT SHARING OF CHRIST ACCOMPANIED BY THE CREDIBILITY OF DEEP TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP, CONSISTENT CARE AND AUTHENTIC COMPASSION. 

After immediate trauma friends like Anatoly are not able (or want) to process the five points of Calvinism.  In fact they struggle to remember what day it is. To them a day can seem like a month and a month like a year. The mind and heart has already reached capacity. Over time however, friends are able to process and comprehend the real fact that a human being loves them, and that they seek to represent and following Christ in doing so. It becomes apparent that those who came and stayed with the situation came in the name of grace and redemption and in every way were driven by the love of GOD. This is the simple but profound foundation from which many good things grow. Anatoly's land may still be some seasons away from growing anything fresh, but our prayer is for the mustard seed of faith may be planted, take root in that heart and home, to the blessing of many and the glory of Christ. Please pray with us today for all who share Christ in these pivotal and critical situations.

HELP FOR PASTORS REACHING THE UNREACHED IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS.

In the next blog we'll share what we are doing to encourage and help pastors stick with the task God has given them at the most strategic times in the most difficult of places. 

URGENT REQUEST:

Please pray for our Brother B who is trying to get with the team to train pastors and gospel workers in the hills of North West Nepal. Their timetabled travel was postponed due to bad weather. Pray for the door to open for travel, for the providence of God to open up treasure from his word, supernatural equipping in his people, the birth of more new believers and churches. We trust God in his providence and give him all the glory for what he is doing as the church continues to grow.

 

The Queen who kept her promise... points to the one who keeps all his promises.

 

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God."

2 Cor 1:20

"The things which I have here before promised, 

I will perform and keep. So help me God."

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Coronation 1953

The young Elizabeth solemnly promised "I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."

She kept this promise. For 70 years 214 days and even as a 96 year your old grieving great grandmother, Elizabeth demonstrated an anchored stability, consistency and faithfulness that our contemporary world so rarely sees.

 In 1953 the world was a very different place. The post-war era of rebuilding from destruction, living in humble gratitude for peacetime, meant that "service and duty", or "serving others above ourselves", were not despised words. 

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others 

and to give his life as a ransom for many." 

Contemporary Britain however is a much prouder, bolder, more individualistic place, where self-control is an anathema, and promises broken (either in brazen arrogance or casually) are not a surprise in our culture. Having appointed 15 prime ministers, her majesty knew a thing or two about broken manifestos and their consequences. Runways that he promised would not be built, tax increases that they promised would not happen, and boozy parties without social distancing which all there promised to be "work events", are nothing compared to the multitude of infidelities, indiscretions, broken relationships and hurt families which litter the roadside of our age. Secret, murky affairs at the core of pubic life once meant the end of careers in the 1980's, as details squirmed out in memoirs and tabloids. In 2021 however, even being recorded in HD by the House of Commons internal cameras was no deterrent or prompt to inhibition. When such a video went viral, some plaudits suggested it would actually aid career progression to be seen as "normal". In such a moment, are we being caught throwing away commitment, or just being true to ourselves  for a moment of "me time" pleasure?

  Sadly the Queen herself was not a stranger to the sad consequences and desolate realities of reckless living in her own family, yet she stood apart as a woman of principle, dignity and trustworthiness. She was simply in a different league of moral reliability and quiet (understated) steadiness in her inner life. Rising above the volatility and crowd noise was a single life of exceptionally long equilibrium.  

What enabled such consistency ?

Phil 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"

In '53 the commentator said...

"The bible itself is presented to her by the moderator of the Church of Scotland"... who said...

"Here is Wisdom;

This is the royal Law;

These are the lively Oracles of God."

There is so much to admire in the Queen's legacy. Grace, compassion and equality of unconditional and impartial welcome came from a Queen who knew her Saviour.

Multitudes of testimonies, from myriads of countries and cultures in the last week  have declared that private receptions with the Queen revealed an honest humility, genuinely sincere transparency, which rather than being a window of folly inspired so many others to greater love for others, to be peacemakers, to be gracious. 

The trending media has had a united thirst to meet those who "met" and "knew her well". Giles Brandreth, David Beckham, Jon Anderson, Marilyn Monroe and many ordinary folk have expressed in many ways a consistent line from every angle, that she was a "good" woman. The question remains, will her legacy and this impact left with so many continue now that this central thread which ran through all our lives these last 70 years has been cut ?

I fear our country has misunderstood what made the Queen the woman she was.

As the double rainbow over Buckingham palace reminded us of the God who is eternally unchanging in his global rule and promise, "The rock" on which the Queens life was built, people wanted to express their gratitude.

Sadly however they seemed to direct their honour (and even worship) not to the one living God for his kindness and faithfulness to us through her and all generations, but to anything else that would give a sense of momentary pathos and pseudo spirituality. Note the many marmalade sandwiches left in the parks, plastic wrapped flowers and spontaneous moments of applause (a thing which became a Thursday religious ritual for many in the pandemic). What do these expressions mean or achieve? What do they say about what our nation is hoping for, and trusting in for the future? 

Is the Queen being led into the future by Paddington ? Is he the only one holding her hand ? If this is so, how firm, real or true is our hope?

We pray for the King. We will look to honour and respect him, and seek to praise everything that is "good" (Phil 4:8). We pray that in his heart he will not believe that he has outgrown or is above the foundation of "the faith". We pray that media coverage will expose reality to our country, that faith is only as worthy or secure as what or who our faith is trusting in. We pray that in humility our King will sit under the Word of God, and find Christ.  Christ is for every one of us (regardless of status, role or failure) the only answer to our many broken promises before God and others.  He is the beginning of true life, the true image of humanity, the answer to our deepest relational and eternal needs. He is the root of all faithfulness. He is the only future of Hope in life, death, eternity, and the future of our nation.

HOW SHOULD WE BE IN A POST-QUEEN WORLD? 

1. WORSHIP THE ONE WHO MADE THE QUEEN WHO SHE WAS.

So what will be our response over the next few days? Is it to weep with those who have no hope, or to point people ourselves to the one and only hope? 

2. POINT TO THE ONE WHO LIVES AND KEEPS HIS PROMISES. 

 "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him."

1 These 3:13-14

There is a promise which outshines all other promises, an "Amen" to summarise all "Amens" which displays the unalloyed truth of Christ. When he walked out of the tomb, all fear was banished, all power of God's enemies was defeated. Because he lives we can face tomorrow, whatever that means for us personally or for our country. 

It may be that we now enter an era in the UK where Christianity is even more marginalised in our multi-faith, post-Christian nation. Does this mean that the true church and those who belong to Christ live less powerfully? My bible says "no", The Spirit in me says "no", my current experience of world mission in frontier places and church history tells me "no". Our confidence is in the risen Christ, who is all powerful, active by his Spirit to reach all places and shine in the darkest recesses of our hearts and planet. As times get darker, the church shines brighter. 

Maybe one of the Queen's greatest legacies to the United Kingdom, will be the way her longevity shone a spotlight on changing Britain, and made people yearn for the better day; a leader who gave more, who lived for something greater, who gave us a glimpse of the ultimate, the greater reality in humanity and human leadership, and made us hunger for it again.

Praise God for the life of the Queen. Thank God for her restraint, leadership, influence, and desire to use power well in our country . We do not idolise her or make a saint out of her, but we do honour her as creature of God who became a blessing to his world. She was a child of Christ and with her we shall reign together, with Him, forever. 

Lord, help us now to live as citizens of heaven, steadied in the joy of the resurrected Christ. Help us live in gratitude and with liberty, self control, and faithfulness, knowing that our eternal security is in the loving hands of the King of Kings, who loved us and gave himself for us. To the one who is immortal, and the one whose reign will never end, we dedicate afresh our love and our lives. He is more than worthy of the very best in our lives. 

 Love divine, all loves excelling, 

joy of heaven, to earth come down,

fix in us your humble dwelling, all your faithful mercies crown.

Jesus, you are all compassion, pure, unbounded love you are.

Visit us with your salvation; enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe your loving Spirit into every troubled heart.

Let us all in you inherit, let us find the promised rest.

Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be.

End of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.

 Come, Almighty, to deliver, let us all your life receive.

Suddenly return, and never, nevermore your temples leave.

YOU we would be always blessing, serve YOU as your hosts above, 

pray, and praise YOU without ceasing, glory in YOUR perfect love.

Finish, then, your new creation; true and spotless let us be.

Let us see your great salvation perfectly restored in you.

Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,

till we cast our crowns before you, lost in wonder, love and praise.

So thankful, so safe.

 Rejoice always,  

pray without ceasing,

 give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

1 These 5:16-18

We are home, safe, grateful, nourished and reinforced. After months of being unable to see some gospel partners, there was concern (even worry), but there should not have been. At every turn we tried to take this to the one who knows all things, has ultimate power to further his good purposes and micro provision for the smallest of needs. However, we have an enemy. We are not unwise to his tactics. They appear especially when communication is difficult. He loves to breed suspicion, to sow the seed of doubt, and drive a wedge between gospel partners doing such critical eternal work at the most pivotal of times. 

He that is in us  however, is greater than he that is in the world. The most profound reflection of our travels, is that God is living at work in the lives of those who serve him. Christ is risen, working in, and through his family. He holds all things in his hands including the keys of hell. He equips his servants in the most demanding and unimaginably dark times. Suffering is a core part of his plans. Suffering produces perseverance, character and ultimately hope. Suffering comes to those who follow his path, but suffering is always followed by glory for those who invest their suffering and respond to it in faith and dependance.

This short blog is to give God all the glory for his protection over his people during the  last few months, especially where the gospel is dynamically at work and there are good explosions... of new believers. To the outsider such friends who have recently come to Christ may look fragile, both spiritually, and emotionally, but their hope is in the one who never fails. We have a commander who knows exactly what he is doing. 

Children's playground in Borodianka

The war in Ukraine is real brutal and grotesque, but there is an even more violent battle going on for the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, your heart and my heart are not excluded. 

Make no mistake you  live in a spiritual battle zone wherever you are, however comfortable you have made yourself. Wake up, and put on your full body armour (Eph 6:11-12) today with urgency ! Don't be asleep to the danger or reality of the times (1 These 5:1-5). Cling close to the commander (2 Tim 2) and follow his instructions in firm trust. 

Those who do so, know they are winning. We are in the safe hands of the one who leads us to victory, and have much to thank him for.  

Close-by in a residential back garden are a collection of military hides. 

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT SET IN A PLAYGROUND (WITH THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF ENJOYMENT) IT IS SET ON THE FRONTLINE OF THE ETERNAL BATTLE WHICH CHRIST HAS WON.