Prayer Letter: January-February 2022

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

We would like to put out our prayer letter a little earlier due to the news coming out of the country. There is a very real threat of invasion from Russia. The United States and European news outlets are publishing as much intelligence as they can, in case Russia tries to invent a pretext for war that is not there. It may be an overreaction on the part of the US, but their intentions are to keep the news consistently focused on Russia, and incriminate the Kremlin in case they do decide to invade. The information that we have is that the capital Kyiv is under threat of invasion from the Russian military buildup in Belarus, which was not as likely even a month ago. Ukraine, without appearing to be anxiously militarising and drawing accusations from Moscow, has been quietly preparing and making plans in case of invasion. If nothing comes of these invasion plans, then it won’t be for a lack of preparation on Russia’s part. They have almost everything in place to decisively take control of at least half the country and Kyiv. Many Ukrainians still don’t believe that Russia will move in, and many Russians are opposed to open war with Ukraine. A more likely scenario would be Russia shaking things up with threats of war, getting some benefit from the instability, and continuing to try to influence Ukraine away from the West. But no one is sure what the next few weeks or even days hold. The Lord may have plans for Ukraine to be taken in by Russia, which will factor into the last days in an interesting way. Our prayer and desire is of course for Ukraine to remain a free and independent country, with their own language and good Bible translation. But it’s in the Lord’s hands. He has given Ukraine many years of peace and many missionaries to have a free and open witness, and to get the Gospel and Bibles into Russia and Central Asia from here.

We are still planning to remain in the country. In case of war, communication and power would be disrupted, so we wouldn’t be able to keep anyone updated. But our plans would be to keep a low profile and stay near the church here. We are located outside the city, on the way from the eastern airport highway into Kyiv. It’s a strategic area to capture militarily, but has water and forest nearby to sustain us. If we are evicted by the Ukrainian military, then we would attempt to head westward any way we could. If there is no war, we will carry on as usual with the church and ministries here. We’ve seen some blessings that keep us excited about what the Lord can do here if the door stays open. The Lord blessed us in our January revival and institute, giving us a good group of men who have a desire to teach, preach, go as missionaries, and serve the Lord in their regions. We have been able just in the last few days to send Bibles and material to Russia.

My father-in-law got in contact with a husband and wife in Moscow who love the King James Russian text and are starting correspondence courses. Another two men in Eastern Ukraine want to start a Bible-believing church in the city of Lviv (where the American embassy is currently relocating), and would like us to come out and visit and help them. Another Ukrainian brother in Poland got in touch with us, and said that he met our friend in Poland, Jacek Godlewski, street preaching and passing out tracts. Brother Jacek gave him a Russian King James New Testament that we send out, and this Ukrainian, Gennadiy, wrote requesting a full Bible. I just sent him the full Bible, several additional New Testaments, and John/Romans and tracts in Ukrainian. He will have access to many Ukrainians who are in Poland for work, and in case of war, will see a large increase in Ukrainian refugees going into Poland.

I got to lead a young man named Patric to Christ downtown, whose father works for the French Embassy. He speaks good English, French, Russian, and Ukrainian. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him since the embassies have been evacuating their non-essential workers, but am praying for his growth in Christ. We’ve gotten a good chance to deal with folks when we go for street ministry by the subways here. A lot of tracts, John/Romans, and New Testaments go out each time we gather there.

We appreciate all of you who have written and called. We don’t have a lot of new information or insight that would explain much, except personally that we are praying hard to stay and continue. We are praying for no war, which would see the deaths of untold numbers of unsaved Russian and Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. We are praying that no part of Ukraine is absorbed by Russia, who would not have the leniency for missionaries and open witness like we’ve seen in Ukraine. We are planning to continue like usual as long as we can. Philip is turning 3 on February 17th, so we are sharing his excitement, looking forward to the upcoming days and the Lord’s provision for us! May the Lord bless you all.

David, Naomi, and Philip Lohman