May 22, 2026 (Day 1549)
News from Ukraine
When the acacia trees bloom, our small town is filled with their sweet fragrance. The beauty of the flowering trees offers a gentle distraction from heavy thoughts and inspires us to keep living with gratitude and joy for the blessings around us.
May has always been a beautiful month, bringing flowers, warmth, fragrance, and hope. This year, perhaps more than ever, we feel the importance of these simple gifts as we long so deeply for beauty and peace. At times, if we set aside the news for a moment and ignore the sound of drones passing overhead on their way to attack Odesa, it can almost seem as though the world is filled only with beauty.
This month, the counselors from our counseling center traveled to Lviv for a conference. Lviv is a beautiful city in western Ukraine and is generally considered safer than many cities in the south, north, and central regions of the country.
Along with learning and professional training, the conference gave us a valuable opportunity to rest, enjoy fellowship, and worship together. The theme of the conference was “Integral Approaches to Mental Health and Family Therapy.” These are topics and questions we encounter every day during counseling sessions and group therapy with people who have experienced deep pain and many difficult events.
We came to the conference carrying not only the stories and struggles of our clients, but also our own stories, which have become many during these challenging times. We are deeply thankful to Jerry Harwood and Jim Hall, our speakers who traveled to Ukraine during such a difficult season. They shared valuable knowledge and practical wisdom with us, answered our questions, met with us individually, and did everything they could to encourage, support, and strengthen us in our work and ministry. After the conference, Jim Hall willingly traveled with us to Odesa and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, where he spent several days meeting with people and supporting us in our counseling ministry and daily work.
We were very glad that Vasyl was able to attend the conference with us. Vasyl is our new military counselor who has endured many difficult experiences since the beginning of the war. He defended Mariupol and was later taken into captivity, where he spent almost two years. Yet these hardships did not break him. He continues to serve in the Marine Corps as a squad commander. Vasyl and the soldiers under his command regularly patrol the sea and help protect our town by shooting down drones flying overhead.
After returning from captivity, Vasyl began pursuing a second degree through distance education so that, alongside his military service, he could support other servicemen who have gone through experiences similar to his own — combat, captivity, trauma, and the difficult process of recovering from PTSD. His brother, Serge, who lost his both legs few months ago is recovering and will soon be getting prosthetics.
A week ago, Dr. Anya returned home for a few days, and we were glad to see her at church on Sunday. She has asked for prayer. Her medical team has received orders to redeploy, but a group of soldiers from their unit who were on the front line cannot be evacuated due to ongoing danger and have been there for an extended time. The doctors do not want to leave the servicemen without medical support. She asks us to pray for this situation, that the soldiers may be safely evacuated from the danger zone and brought to safety.
And we would like to share one more prayer request for two boys from an orphanage. For two years, we have been in contact with a group of children in a local orphanage, praying for them and asking God to provide what every child needs most—loving families. Over the past six months, we have begun to see answers to these prayers. One by one, the children have been adopted, and we rejoice greatly for each of them. Some were adopted by families in our own town, and we are able to see them and stay in touch.
However, two brothers, Serge and Art, have not yet been adopted and have recently been transferred to an orphanage in another city. Please pray for them, that God would provide a family for them. It is especially painful for them to see their friends being adopted while they remain behind, and they are struggling with this waiting and uncertainty.
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and support during these difficult days. Your care and faithfulness mean a great deal to us. We continue to see both sorrow and hope in our work, and we are grateful to walk this path together with you.
May God bless you and give you peace and strength. We remember you with gratitude and prayer.
Please, send your donations to Pathway Ministries:
http://www.pathwayministriesinc.org
In Christ,
Lyuda
