Pray For Our Ukrainian Brothers and Sisters

[hatcheckgirl]

Just want to add Brother Oleg, we love you all very much and are proud of your faith in such stressful times. Jehovah is pleased with his loyal ones. Praying hard 🌹

[Michał]

From Polish TV. Picture sent by my mother-in-law.  Unforunately, I couldn’t find the clip on TVP Info website for better quality. 
 

 

[luisenriquereyes]

This reporter makes a mention of us at the 47 second mark:

 

 

[carlos]

4 hours ago, Susan Cook said:

( why are people posting unverifiable information? )

It's human nature. We are concerned about our Ukrainian brothers, and then someone we trust sends us this nice video of some brothers singing in the snow in a language which could be Ukrainian (or whatever) and we immediately assume it's true. After all, our friend would not send us false information. Only that our friend received it from someone he trusts the same, and so on.

 

I learnt this lesson some years ago when a friend sent me a video in which Putin was allegedly speaking about Jehovah's Witnesses. I showed it to another brother who speaks Russian and he told me the subtitles were completely wrong. Putin wasn't saying anything about JWs. So I asked the first brother why on earth did he send me that video. He admitted he had forwarded it without even watching it. From that day on I almost never send any videos, no matter how impressive they seem.

[cme]

I'm very, very disappointed when friends post pictures or videos without confirmation of such.  I will not take that at face value anymore.  I will wait for it to be announced by JW.Org.

 

I'm so sad about this and feel let down and lied to.

[Nedric]

I still prefer the video on jw.org, at least there will say when and where it happened.

[Hugh O'D]

1 hour ago, cme said:

I'm very, very disappointed when friends post pictures or videos without confirmation of such.  I will not take that at face value anymore.  I will wait for it to be announced by JW.Org.

 

I'm so sad about this and feel let down and lied to.

That's why when @molnarj posted his first video @Dages asked

Quote

Is it confirmed? I'd love to share it

Only because molnarj gave a line to connect it did I share it (the one where he said he didn't know where it's from I'm just not sharing). The Scriptures have always encouraged us to 'check things out' first.

 

Ubless something is on JW.org we have to double-check it, always. And I have a list of embarrassing stories where I didn't do that and got burned for it.

[halfspanishlee]

So its true that the brother's singing in the tent is old? People are posting it everywhere 😥next time a video is sent makes sure it's confirmed. 

[Hugh O'D]

2 minutes ago, halfspanishlee said:

next time a video is sent makes sure it's confirmed.

It's practice. I'm sure come the GT there's going to be a tsunami of fake news/videos targeted at us personally. Consider this free extra training to recognise the Shepherds voice. 

[cricket246]

There will be alot of learning experiences as time goes on, and we will all learn together.

[hatcheckgirl]

1 hour ago, halfspanishlee said:

So its true that the brother's singing in the tent is old? People are posting it everywhere

I googled it, and no hits came up.  All the tents for Ukranian refugees looked very different, not in a forest with teepee type tents.  Though, most probably they were brothers because who else sings Kingdom songs.  It is a lovely video, but the context is not what it first appears to be.
 

[Tortuga]

I was told that a couple in Ukraine attended a local congregation meeting today and they said that sadly a sister died during the invasion. Has anyone heard that yet?

[GeordieGirl]

I was just watching the news and they were interviewing a young woman who has fled to Germany with her baby daughter, leaving her husband in Ukraine.  She was visibly upset, close to tears and talking about the friends and family she had left behind and being so worried about them,

 

It made me think of our brothers and sisters sticking close together, singing songs and having each other, and more importantly our God, Jehovah, to trust and rely on for courage and support.

How fortunate we are to know the road we are walking down, unlike these in the world who are feeling so lost and desperate, not knowing the way out of what is happening to them.

 

I shall be keeping them in my prayers, too, as well as my brothers and sisters, as some of these could be sheep-like ones  and sometimes it can be dramatic events that turn peoples' hearts around.

[Stee]

This coming Sundays WT…”Those seeking Jehovah will lack nothing good”. ..Talk about food at the proper time.

 

The Ukrainian brothers are a great example of faith in Jehovah, leaving (material) things behind and fully trusting in Jehovah to provide what they need. ❤️

[cme]

7 hours ago, Stee said:

This coming Sundays WT…”Those seeking Jehovah will lack nothing good”. ..Talk about food at the proper time.

 

The Ukrainian brothers are a great example of faith in Jehovah, leaving (material) things behind and fully trusting in Jehovah to provide what they need. ❤️

They obeyed.  They remembered "Walk by faith and not by sight" video.  It pretty much happened exactly the same.  By the time the fighting began they were gone.

[Susan Cook]

Did JW families inc. men vacate Ukraine prior to the invasion?

 

 

[Ms. Piffle]

40 minutes ago, cme said:

They obeyed.  They remembered "Walk by faith and not by sight" video.  It pretty much happened exactly the same.  By the time the fighting began they were gone.

Our coordinator and his wife has kept in touch with some of the friends in Ukraine since they attended the convention there.  They shared a video with us yesterday after the meeting from some of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.  They (our Ukrainian brothers, sisters) had just finished their zoom meeting.  Many are still in Ukraine.  Whether they remain there or leave, I can not say.  The situation may have changed from yesterday but as of yesterday they were able to still attend the meetings via zoom and there were many in participation during that meeting. It was so heartwarming to hear their words of faith.  They expressed how thankful they were for our prayers and for Jehovah's support. They also said that the brothers who were leaving/ left the country are being well taken care.  The brothers in the neighboring lands are making arrangements so they have a warm, dry accommodation.  This is all I can share but as has been mentioned many times on this form we need to continue to keep them in our prayers as well as our brothers and sisters in Russia and of course those throughout the world that's undergoing persecution and hardships.  

Edited February 28, 2022 by Eggcorn

[Ms. Piffle]

I will add that they are so thankful for the direction and the frequent reminders  from the governing body to make sure that we have our GO bags ready.  They are very good example of ones who obeyed that direction.

[Michał]

40 minutes ago, Susan Cook said:

Did JW families inc. men vacate Ukraine prior to the invasion?

 

 

I’m sure some did but not all who wanted were able to do it yet. Lines before the border are between 10 and 40 hours. During first 5 days more than 300,000 people entered Poland (I don’t know how many in Romania, Slovakia, Moldavia and Hungary). Polish officials expect between 1 and 5 million refugees. 
 

There is a Ukrainian couple in our congregation. They’re waiting for their daughter. She left her apartment, gave keys to elders to use at congregation discretion, took her cat and set off to reunite with her parents here.

 

I pray the most for Ukrainian brothers, who as far as we know cannot cross the border, to help them remain loyal to Jehovah in case they were forced to conscript. 

[Susan Cook]

1 hour ago, cme said:

They obeyed.  They remembered "Walk by faith and not by sight" video.  It pretty much happened exactly the same.  By the time the fighting began they were gone.

Can you elaborate on this please?

[cme]

47 minutes ago, Susan Cook said:

Can you elaborate on this please?

Watch the video.

[Susan Cook]

2 minutes ago, cme said:

Watch the video.

I have seen it a number of times… 

 

How does it relate to the unfolding situation in the Ukraine?

[cme]

The friends got out in time.  When they were told to leave before this happened the Poland Branch asked them to leave in view of war breaking out.

[Susan Cook]

7 minutes ago, cme said:

The friends got out in time.  When they were told to leave before this happened the Poland Branch asked them to leave in view of war breaking out.

Ahhh I see… ok thank you for clarifying

I didn’t know the Polish Branch had asked them to leave the country ahead of the invasion.

 

Was it country wide? Or just certain cities?

Edited February 28, 2022 by Susan Cook

[hatcheckgirl]

I think that it’s not really the same situation, Sister Carmen. It was not possible for all to leave Ukraine. The majority are still there, but that doesn’t make them unfaithful, does it? Surely not. 
 

You have to understand, most Ukrainians are very poor. The pension is about $60US a month. It’s in the wintertime with snow and ice. They may be sick. Some don’t own cars. Etc etc. The vehicles I can see that cross the border seem to be better off models, so I’m guessing they can better afford the flight. 
 

But what I have seen is those left behind are being taken care of spiritually and physically by Jehovah, and the brothers are sharing and looking after each other. Our prayers for them are not in vain.