Our dining table got transformed into a jewelry studio!!! We are gathering ideas, and preparing sample pieces for jewelry-making sessions we will hold for refugee families in 4-5 different cities in Hungary. Our team will also deliver aid, do other crafts, play music, and play games with the children.
I must sit out on the back porch, listen to the birds chirping, and watch as the white fluffy clouds are slowly floating in the blue sky.
I’m longing for a simpler life. Maybe it would be better not to know about wars, the cruelty of people, the suffering of so many, and the selfish, evil, mass-manipulative plans, and secret deal-makings of the few. Maybe it would be better not to see the methodological misguiding, and confusion of the innocent, and not to see through the blatant lies misleading the masses. It would be so much easier not to know about all this. … But then who would try to do something?
… I look back up to the slow-moving clouds and ask God to lift my spirit. To help me remember that however badly we screw everything up down here, He is in control and can and will bring GOOD out of it all.
…. “Be still and know that I am God.” …
So, I go back and continue to do the little I can to increase good and decrease evil, no matter how tiny and insignificant it might seem to be.
In less than two weeks I’ll be traveling with a group of dear friends to Hungary to help the Markey family – an American pastor and his wife who have been serving in Ukraine for many years. After the start of the war, they had to flee their home in Kyiv with their 6 sons. They now live in Budapest and are instrumental in taking care of the one million Ukrainian refugees living all over Hungary. For a long week, we will travel with them to different cities, distribute aid, play games with the kids, hold arts and crafts sessions for the adults (most of them are ladies), sing hymns, give them Gospel tracts, and share Christ with them (via Google translate).
FROM SHARON MARKEY: My 12-year-old son Peter spent much of the last 5 days writing this song, recording it, and making this music video. In all these months, he’s hardly talked about his feelings, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to help him process all that has happened. He’s found his way.
Lyrics
“I Miss Ukraine”
Verse 1:
I never thought that I’d leave Ukraine,
But now I’ve been gone such a long, long time.
Sometimes I can’t stand the pain,
But sometimes I feel just fine.
Chorus:
It makes me sad—why did everything change?
But I’ll fight my tears and hide the pain.
It breaks my heart—why can’t I be at home?
But I’ll push right through it, even when I’m alone.
Verse 2:
Now it has been almost one year,
Since the last time I saw my best friend,
Every day I wish he could be here,
Will we have a happy end?
Chorus:
Verse 3:
I hope and pray that Ukraine will win.
I believe that the tide will turn.
When it’s over Ukraine will rise again,
And then all her children can return!
Chorus 2:
It makes me sad—this is not what I want,
But I trust God, if I go home or not.
It breaks my heart—why can’t we all be free?
But I know God knows what’s best for me.
I pray that our Heavenly Father, the one who created it all and who provides every breath we take, the one who knows our every thought, loves us dearly and cares for us even when we don’t think of Him, I pray that He will bless us this year with His wisdom to know His will in our lives, and with the passion to act on it in every small and big decision we make. Father, I pray that You help us plant seeds of Your Truth in the hearts of those who think that You don’t exist and that “this is all there is”. I pray that You open their eyes to see You and open their ears to hear Your Word. I pray that You help us shine Your Light into the lives of those who live in the temporary comfort of the devil’s deception and feel that “they are ok” and don’t need You. I pray that You help us encourage those who long to know You but allow the world to hold them preoccupied with the demands and problems of daily life. I pray that You give us strength to withstand temptation and the relentless attacks of the adversary. I pray that in everything we say we will be messengers of Christ’s love, and with everything we do we will glorify You. Please let us be encouragement to others! Please bless us with opportunities daily to share the Gospel! In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
– I prayed this on a New Year’s Day a few years ago, and it’s stuck in my heart ever since.
One of our friends who has been spreading our tracts by traveling to small villages and putting them into mailboxes was attacked by a dog. He got treated at the local clinic, then he went back right away to continue. He didn’t want to leave the village before he reached every house there. Praise the Lord for his devotion to taking the Gospel to everyone he can reach.
Missionaries are often expected to write nothing but inspiring reports of successful projects and uplifting accounts of God’s blessings. But our reality is very different. The enemy focuses on those who make it their lives’ purpose to turn people toward God. Plus, God often calls those who are not the strongest, the best equipped, the most promising to succeed. Our obvious weakness makes His power shine through even stronger.
We have only a few days left before leaving for a long mission trip with a demanding schedule. Still, there are many things that need to be taken care of. In the morning I made my TO DO list for the day and was working on the tasks one after the other. When I needed to look up a connection on my FaceBook, the app put a Memory in front of my eyes. Reading my sweet baby’s post from a couple of years ago starting with the word “Mom” made me hear her sweet voice calling me that. “Mom”. … That was all I needed for my day to get derailed. How I wish to hear her one more time calling me Mom! Missing her hurts so much like a part of me was torn out. Since she passed, I live with an invisible, but huge, nonhealing wound. … Will it ever get better? Will this pain ever go away? … Sometimes even the promise of Heaven doesn’t make it easier in the here and now.
Please forgive me for sharing a moment that is less than glorious.
We are preparing for a four-week-long mission trip!
We will go to Hungary, Switzerland, and Ukraine. We will
– spread gospel tracts in 4 languages
– work in a full-time, week-long Bible camp with Hungarian and Ukrainian kids
– run a small Bible camp ourselves over the border in Ukraine for misplaced children
– serve food and clean rooms for refugees with a group of dear friends from Pittsburgh
– meet with new churches and ministries to discuss how we can work together
– and visit and encourage other missionary friends.
What a blessing to get the opportunity for all this!!!
Our tracts are being spread already in the countries colored green. We are now working on getting them to churches and organizations in those we colored yellow. The Lord called us to reach every European country with His truth and love written into tracts in their own native language. Thank you for helping us with this work! If you aren’t on our team yet, please pray about joining this incredible opportunity to reach masses of people for Christ.
… and a totally different thing to hear it from someone who is living in the middle of it. Last week we spoke to a Hungarian pastor living and serving in the Hungarian-speaking area of Ukraine. He said that in the last two months their town’s population more than doubled with the many refugees who came from the war-torn areas of the country. They managed to provide them with food and shelter and are helping them in every way they can. Many of them are in shock and depression. Not only women but men and children have been raped by Russian soldiers and had to watch their family members going through the same abuse if not killed. The church was able to organize visits by groups of international doctors who came and tried to help them. Since then, those who have relatives in peaceful areas have left. Those who stayed with the church are the ones who have no one and nothing left and nowhere to go. They are the poorest and most desperate.
We are planning to visit them, take them a few things the pastor said they would be happy for, and will run a little Soccer- Crafts-Bible camp for the kids. If you could help us with any small items in this Amazon Wish List, please do so. We are leaving before mid-June. Thank you!
UPDATE: We are grateful. We received everything on our wishlist. Thank you!
