Pray For Our Ukrainian Brothers and Sisters

[BLEmom]

Last night NBC news, right after Lester Holt said goodnight, they showed the border crossing in Poland. JW.ORG sign in the background. 🥰

[Susan Cook]

On 3/24/2022 at 10:07 PM, Doug said:

Forgive me for not having more information.  I'm actually posting here hoping to learn more.

 

In our meeting tonight it was mentioned that there are 10 more of the friends who have perished in the war.

 

The GB update said there were four who have died.  Are there now 10 more?  I don't see anything here on the forum yet.

Are you following the updates on JW.org? 
 

This will always give an accurate accounting of the situation…

[Lee49]

6 hours ago, BLEmom said:

Last night NBC news, right after Lester Holt said goodnight, they showed the border crossing in Poland. JW.ORG sign in the background.

 

On the right! 😁

[daydream]

   I'm not able to watch NBC news here in the far east. Thanks Br. Lee for that screengrab. Not too clear though but ok.

Edited March 26, 2022 by happiness IS

[hatcheckgirl]

On YouTube caught a glimpse of the brothers helping out on the Hungary-Ukraine border train station. Filmed on March 15. Watch from 40:20 mark for the glimpse.

 

 

 

[BLEmom]

I wrote to one of the brothers in prison in Russia. The letter came back. Evidently because of the sanctions, usps has suspended mail service to Russia. 😢

[Luisabola]

We’ve just found out a family (mum, unbelieving husband and their 3 kids age 14,7 and 4) are coming from Ukraine to a nearby town to live with their unbelieving relatives. A sister in our hall who speaks Russian is keeping us apprised of the situation but at the moment the children need clothes and shoes. They only have what they were wearing and it’s all winter clothes. It’s unseasonably warm here in the UK too. The response has been amazing so far with lots going through their children's wardrobes and giving clothes, or if they can’t do that, then they are drawing a picture or writing a note for them. think they might be overwhelmed with how much they get!

 

“I love you even though I’ve never met you before.” 🎵🎵🎵

 

I bought some T-shirts and shoes for the kids as we didn’t have anything their size, and my children wrote them a card. Even though we don’t have the option to have anyone stay with us, it’s so lovely to be able to help out just a little bit. Hopefully it will be a good witness to the unbelieving husband and relatives too. 😊

[Jothob]

It was announced at out last meeting that if we (our congregation in Essex UK) are in a position to be able to accommodate some refugees we can now give our names in to the brothers. 
As @Luisabolasaid, we’re not in a position where we can offer accommodation, but what a lovely thing to do to be able to help these dear brothers and sisters, so they know we love them. 
I can’t imagine the horrors some of these dear ones have witnessed in their escape. 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

This seems to be a true account:

Enjoy this
Message from Ukraine

"Dear brothers! It's March 13, 2022. There have been violent clashes in our city (Mariupol) for the third week. And all this time I am in the basement of the Kingdom Hall (where, until recently, SKE course were held).
Currently, we are cut off from all utilities: water, heating, electricity, gas, Internet and mobile communications - we are in complete vacuum. But we are not cut off from Jehovah! Brothers and sisters from all over the city and their unbelieving relatives began gathering in this basement. Now there are about 200 of us.
We found ourselves in completely new circumstances. But our elders managed to conduct meetings, organize meeting for pioneers, parents continue study with their children, and brothers and sisters conduct Bible studies with interested ones, etc. We set up various sections for cleaning, accommodation, kitchen, first aid,
security, etc. We have regular midweek and weekend meetings. We named our congregation "Mariopol Basement". Every day we discuss daily text. We feel very encouraged from staying and working together, after months of quarantine and self-isolation!
One day during air raid our hall was bombed, and brothers got very frightened, many cried. We all
heard sound fires raging on the street. We were worried that we might lose our place of refuge. We seriously thought we could die either from missiles exploding or from fire.
At this moment of despair one of the elders said with a smile on his face, "My dear friends, what do we all want? ..." Singing songs! And yes we sung song after song, about 10 or 15 of them! And the louder the sound of bullets and explosions that shook our building, the louder our voices begun to sing, so we did not to hear it! Everyone had tears in their eyes. And then we all read and discussed Psalm 23 together. And we shared our favorite scriptures and told how they inspire and help us to stay strong. At this moment, we all felt and were convinced that Jehovah is "the Father of compassion and a God of comfort" who helps us stay calm in time of distress. Our anxiety disappeared. Here we stay optimistic fully trusting that Jesus Christ, the head of congregation has everything under his control!
Where we are, there is not a single window in the room that is not broken, doors are all blown out and thrown away every day, bullets pierce the walls of the building.
Almost all brothers lost their homes and property. Almost all cars that were parked in the hall's parking lot were burned to ashes. But it is to nice to see that our dear brothers and sisters are not attached to material things and continue to rely on Jehovah. A brother’s car exploded and got overturned during the night and then it burned completely. Next morning this brother said jokingly, "Brothers, who wants to re-park my car so it’s not obstructing?” The brothers have not lost their sense of humor even at such times! Jehovah is always with us!
With tears in their eyes, all brothers and sisters say in unison that their devotion to Jehovah takes first place in their lives, and their life comes second!
We experience first hand that a war is a horrible thing. I find it hard to describe in details what our eyes have seen. But I do not regret what we are going through, because we have seen even with our own eyes how caring Jehovah is!
With love and best wishes, Mariupol-Primorskoye

Old (Downunder) Tone

[Dages]

7 hours ago, ➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone said:

This seems to be a true account:

Enjoy this
Message from Ukraine

"Dear brothers! It's March 13, 2022. There have been violent clashes in our city (Mariupol) for the third week. And all this time I am in the basement of the Kingdom Hall (where, until recently, SKE course were held).
Currently, we are cut off from all utilities: water, heating, electricity, gas, Internet and mobile communications - we are in complete vacuum. But we are not cut off from Jehovah! Brothers and sisters from all over the city and their unbelieving relatives began gathering in this basement. Now there are about 200 of us.
We found ourselves in completely new circumstances. But our elders managed to conduct meetings, organize meeting for pioneers, parents continue study with their children, and brothers and sisters conduct Bible studies with interested ones, etc. We set up various sections for cleaning, accommodation, kitchen, first aid,
security, etc. We have regular midweek and weekend meetings. We named our congregation "Mariopol Basement". Every day we discuss daily text. We feel very encouraged from staying and working together, after months of quarantine and self-isolation!
One day during air raid our hall was bombed, and brothers got very frightened, many cried. We all
heard sound fires raging on the street. We were worried that we might lose our place of refuge. We seriously thought we could die either from missiles exploding or from fire.
At this moment of despair one of the elders said with a smile on his face, "My dear friends, what do we all want? ..." Singing songs! And yes we sung song after song, about 10 or 15 of them! And the louder the sound of bullets and explosions that shook our building, the louder our voices begun to sing, so we did not to hear it! Everyone had tears in their eyes. And then we all read and discussed Psalm 23 together. And we shared our favorite scriptures and told how they inspire and help us to stay strong. At this moment, we all felt and were convinced that Jehovah is "the Father of compassion and a God of comfort" who helps us stay calm in time of distress. Our anxiety disappeared. Here we stay optimistic fully trusting that Jesus Christ, the head of congregation has everything under his control!
Where we are, there is not a single window in the room that is not broken, doors are all blown out and thrown away every day, bullets pierce the walls of the building.
Almost all brothers lost their homes and property. Almost all cars that were parked in the hall's parking lot were burned to ashes. But it is to nice to see that our dear brothers and sisters are not attached to material things and continue to rely on Jehovah. A brother’s car exploded and got overturned during the night and then it burned completely. Next morning this brother said jokingly, "Brothers, who wants to re-park my car so it’s not obstructing?” The brothers have not lost their sense of humor even at such times! Jehovah is always with us!
With tears in their eyes, all brothers and sisters say in unison that their devotion to Jehovah takes first place in their lives, and their life comes second!
We experience first hand that a war is a horrible thing. I find it hard to describe in details what our eyes have seen. But I do not regret what we are going through, because we have seen even with our own eyes how caring Jehovah is!
With love and best wishes, Mariupol-Primorskoye

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

This was posted recently and this was confirmed on the Website. But it was Psalm 27, not 23

 

[BibleSteve]

On 3/27/2022 at 4:32 AM, Luisabola said:

We’ve just found out a family (mum, unbelieving husband and their 3 kids age 14,7 and 4) are coming from Ukraine to a nearby town to live with their unbelieving relatives. A sister in our hall who speaks Russian is keeping us apprised of the situation but at the moment the children need clothes and shoes. They only have what they were wearing and it’s all winter clothes. It’s unseasonably warm here in the UK too. The response has been amazing so far with lots going through their children's wardrobes and giving clothes, or if they can’t do that, then they are drawing a picture or writing a note for them. think they might be overwhelmed with how much they get!

 

“I love you even though I’ve never met you before.” 🎵🎵🎵

 

I bought some T-shirts and shoes for the kids as we didn’t have anything their size, and my children wrote them a card. Even though we don’t have the option to have anyone stay with us, it’s so lovely to be able to help out just a little bit. Hopefully it will be a good witness to the unbelieving husband and relatives too. 😊

Thats lovely my six grandchildren would like to make cards for them (all active in the ministry) , is it possible to PM me an address or an address to forward them on to them please?

[Luisabola]

3 hours ago, BibleSteve said:

Thats lovely my six grandchildren would like to make cards for them (all active in the ministry) , is it possible to PM me an address or an address to forward them on to them please?

Of course. That’s so sweet. 

[carlos]

On 3/27/2022 at 5:32 AM, Luisabola said:

The response has been amazing so far with lots going through their children's wardrobes and giving clothes, or if they can’t do that, then they are drawing a picture or writing a note for them. think they might be overwhelmed with how much they get!

It's wonderful to be able to do something practical for the friends, besides praying for them, isn't it?

 

My parents' congregation has been given a similar privilege to take care of the needs of a family from Ukraine. They are staying with some relatives but field service groups take turns to do their shopping for the week.

[Chris7]

From a reliable person but cannot verify:

Message from Ukraine:

    Just a small account of how the Ukraine conflict is affecting our children at school and how much they are struggling to stand up for Jehovah:
 In our congregation area, students are encouraged to dress in the national colours of Ukraine when coming to class.
  Or they should paint doves of peace, flags and other symbols in these colours in class.
 But our “little ones” are really big role models here.
 A 12-year-old boy who is very shy and timid used to get very excited just to make a comment in the meeting.
 And he of all people got into such a situation where he was supposed to paint pictures with symbols in the colours blue and yellow.
He was completely unprepared, didn't know what to do at first, and immediately prayed to Jehovah.
And just as our father promised, he gave our little one the right words to say.

He said to the teacher: You know, I have siblings on both sides of the war – siblings in Ukraine and siblings in Russia.  And I love both.  That's why I can't wish one peace and not the other!

 

 Apparently the teacher couldn't refute this argument - and he was allowed to completely draw another picture.

 What great role models we have in this emotionally and nationalistically heated time.

 This beautiful experience was recently told during a daily text review at Bethel Selters.

[Sofia]

6 minutes ago, Chris7 said:

From a reliable person but cannot verify:

Message from Ukraine:

    Just a small account of how the Ukraine conflict is affecting our children at school and how much they are struggling to stand up for Jehovah:
 In our congregation area, students are encouraged to dress in the national colours of Ukraine when coming to class.
  Or they should paint doves of peace, flags and other symbols in these colours in class.
 But our “little ones” are really big role models here.
 A 12-year-old boy who is very shy and timid used to get very excited just to make a comment in the meeting.
 And he of all people got into such a situation where he was supposed to paint pictures with symbols in the colours blue and yellow.
He was completely unprepared, didn't know what to do at first, and immediately prayed to Jehovah.
And just as our father promised, he gave our little one the right words to say.

He said to the teacher: You know, I have siblings on both sides of the war – siblings in Ukraine and siblings in Russia.  And I love both.  That's why I can't wish one peace and not the other!

 

 Apparently the teacher couldn't refute this argument - and he was allowed to completely draw another picture.

 What great role models we have in this emotionally and nationalistically heated time.

 This beautiful experience was recently told during a daily text review at Bethel Selters.

Some children here in Portugal are being asked to do the same.

To support the children in Ukraine.

I guess worldwide JW children are being pressured into this. May Jehovah help them

[Vinnie]

Prayers much needed

 

Forwarded

Dear brothers and sisters!  

Please fervently pray for our brothers from Mariupol.  
They are trying to leave in groups.  The roads are very dangerous.  Everywhere they shoot to kill.  
About 600 of our fellow believers have gone missing.  
There were two theocratic circuits (approximately 3,000 publishers). 
It is known for sure that 10 brothers died.  
Many are injured.  There is still no contact with them.  

Several groups are moving towards Zaporozhye.  The brothers have nothing at all!  
Now there are about 2,000 of our brothers and sisters left there.  
From all over Mariupol 30 thousand of people have already been taken to the Russian Federation.  Among them there are also our brothers, but we can not contact them and local brothers over there do not meet them because of the ban.

They need your fervent prayers to Jehovah!  🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Every day groups are trying to get out of the city.  Pray that they arrive alive.

 This information is not confidential, you can share it with others.  
This is constantly told by the circuit overseer of one of those circuits. 
He managed to leave for Lviv and from there collects information about the brothers.  
But now prayers and fervent supplications for them are very much needed. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

 And also pray for our sisters. They are treated with cruelty by military under Kadyrov supervision.

[Sofia]

8 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

Prayers much needed

 

Forwarded

Dear brothers and sisters!  

Please fervently pray for our brothers from Mariupol.  
They are trying to leave in groups.  The roads are very dangerous.  Everywhere they shoot to kill.  
About 600 of our fellow believers have gone missing.  
There were two theocratic circuits (approximately 3,000 publishers). 
It is known for sure that 10 brothers died.  
Many are injured.  There is still no contact with them.  

Several groups are moving towards Zaporozhye.  The brothers have nothing at all!  
Now there are about 2,000 of our brothers and sisters left there.  
From all over Mariupol 30 thousand of people have already been taken to the Russian Federation.  Among them there are also our brothers, but we can not contact them and local brothers over there do not meet them because of the ban.

They need your fervent prayers to Jehovah!  🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Every day groups are trying to get out of the city.  Pray that they arrive alive.

 This information is not confidential, you can share it with others.  
This is constantly told by the circuit overseer of one of those circuits. 
He managed to leave for Lviv and from there collects information about the brothers.  
But now prayers and fervent supplications for them are very much needed. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

 And also pray for our sisters. They are treated with cruelty by military under Kadyrov supervision.

Praying several times a day... This is awful... Oh please, let your Kingdom come. Kadyrov is the Chechenian leader of the cruel troops in Mariupol. Some reports of rapes are arriving here. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Sofia

[My little flower]

Got me thinking.....

[carlos]

Today in service I learned a brother from my congregation, who speaks Russian, is collaborating with the brothers receiving the refugees. He speaks to them to learn their needs and also translates when they have to deal with the authorities.

 

He said that while most of the Ukrainian friends who come to Spain have family or friends, some do not and have to stay for some days in the refugees reception center until accommodation is found for them. He says the center is actually a hotel the government rented so the conditions are good.

 

He mentioned that a special case are friends who are coming from Ukraine but do not have Ukrainian nationality. For example, there is a sister from Azerbaijan who has been living in Ukraine for most of her life but doesn't have the nationality. Since she is not Ukrainian, the authorities are reticent to give her refugee status. The legal department from the branch is doing all they can to resolve this.

 

He also said some friends who came with their pets are having problems since the hotel doesn't allow pets. One sister in particular had four dogs and had to abandon three of them at home and leave with just one. We updated our offer of accommodation to mention that we welcome pets too. Many of those brothers and sisters have lived through terrible things, we hope they soon find a place to stay and be cared for.

[cme]

We are SUPPLICATING Jehovah for these dear ones.  We are hurting along with them.  May Jehovah bring his Kingdom soon!!! 

 

 

[SUNRAY]

On 2/25/2022 at 9:09 AM, MyLien said:

This is message from my friend Alex-Saxophonist,he and his wife live in Ukraine but they are not there now:

https://youtu.be/nYXK2jgzKSw

💕pray for brothers and sisters in Ukraine!

Hello Sister! Have you heard anymore about where Alex and Vicki are now? Do you know if they were able to evacuate their families out of Kiev?

[hatcheckgirl]

https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/global/Ukrainian-Refugees-Share-Stories-of-Leaving-Everything-Behind/

 

What faithful brothers and sisters!  It's encouraging to hear their stories.  "We are confident that Jehovah will bless our brothers who have ‘taken the loss of all material things’ as they look ahead to a future without war.—Philippians 3:8."

[Kiku]

1 hour ago, SUNRAY said:

Hello Sister! Have you heard anymore about where Alex and Vicki are now? Do you know if they were able to evacuate their families out of Kiev?

Yeah, I'm curious too! ❤️

Edited April 1, 2022 by Kiku

[MyLien]

18 hours ago, SUNRAY said:

Hello Sister! Have you heard anymore about where Alex and Vicki are now? Do you know if they were able to evacuate their families out of Kiev?

Alex and Vicky live in Texas with their friend now.They're looking a car because they can't back home and they have plan stay here.Sorry i don't know about their family because I don't ask them too much in this time.

[SUNRAY]

8 hours ago, MyLien said:

Alex and Vicky live in Texas with their friend now.They're looking a car because they can't back home and they have plan stay here.Sorry i don't know about their family because I don't ask them too much in this time.

Thank you for your information! Please take care!