March 4 - SoL -- It's a small world: Mechanicsburg & the Crimean Peninsula

What is happening in the Ukraine? I'm not sure I could even find it on a map before this week. Being in the mommy bubble often prevents SAHMs from keeping abreast of world news. It's unfortunate, isolationist, maybe even elitist... but it's true.  Most of us don't know (or care to know) what's happening around the world... to other women, mothers of small children just like us.  We tell ourselves that we have entirely too much happening right here in front of us to worry about what's happening somewhere else. And maybe that's true... a person can only think about so many things at one time. But I still don't think it's right. 

My mommy bubble burst wide open when I heard the brief testimony of Alysa, a Ukrainian mother who just happened to be at the table behind me at Bible Study this morning. We listened to a short version of her story: She's a wife and a mother of a toddler. She and her husband run an orphanage in a small town in the part of Ukraine that has just been taken over by Russian troops.  They were here in the US for a conference related to the mission work they are doing at home, when Russian troops invaded the Crimean Peninsula (a part of the sovereign nation of Ukraine) over the weekend. 

As I understand it (she had quite a thick accent, so there are parts of the story that are unclear to me, but you'll get the idea), she and her family are unable to return home because the Russian military has deemed them spies and they would certainly face some dangerous, life-threatening repercussions if they were to return right now. 

They are in the process of applying for asylum here in the US and are very fearful for their friends and family back home. Alysa told a story of Russian snipers shooting at random less than twenty blocks from their orphanage. Seriously, MILITARY SNIPERS.  It really puts things into perspective, doesn't it? 

When I woke this morning, my biggest problems related to being "great with child" and not much more. I was humbled by this woman's testimony, not only by what has happened to her over the last week and the incredible situations she and her family are facing; but I was also humbled by her complete faith. The same lips that told us of her dire circumstances, also praised God for His provision thus far, and confidently made known her dependence upon her Lord for the safety of those remaining in Ukraine, for wisdom in how to proceed, and for the asylum that would grant her family's safety.  What a lesson in true dependence! 

I do not know how she came to be there this morning; I think they are staying with someone who attends the church. I am so thankful for her story, for the way that God used her to shrink my world today. I do not know what (if any) support or help Alysa and her family might need from The Body this week, but certainly, I can take the time to pray for God to work in this very messy situation... and now, it's real to me. There's a face and a deeply personal story to make what's happening on the other side of the world very real to me.