Stories from Both Sides of the War

GEORGIA ATL MINISTRY, PART 3

When the world gets shaken up in cataclysmic events (like 9/11/01), the question gets asked: “Where were you when this happened”? Stories begin to emerge from people of all walks of life that find themselves in one particular place or time as dramatic world events unfold. The stories of these people tell the tale of what is taking place on the world stage through their lenses. As the war with Ukraine and Russia started, my squad and I found ourselves in the country of Georgia. After a month of ministry mainly in Batumi, there is a lot going on in this country with Russia being next door to us.

We partnered with a church called Grace Centre in Batumi. Some of their main ministry focuses include a school for Kurdish children. These people are very marginalized, and a lot of the families are stateless. The church also helps with the local homeless population and feeds them each week. Furthermore, they host an English Club weekly. English clubs are a great way for people in Georgia to get to know each other, and most of the students are from Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine. There is also another English Club that is not affiliated with the church that I participated in. We also got to meet many locals from Georgia as well while at the church!

It has been hard but wonderful to minister to these people. Because Georgia does not border Ukraine, it has not been getting as many refugees from there. However, I have heard that people are being flown here from Eastern Europe to get settled. There is a number of Ukrainians that were here before the war and also others who took the southern route through Turkey to get here. Many people from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus who came prior to the invasion now find themselves “stuck here” being unable to go back to their home countries. One of the Ukrainians became very close friends with us. She has family from Kyiv, who are very close to where there is fighting. Please be praying for them. Another guy that I met is from Dnipro, which is where one of the M Squad teams ministered at in November. Dnipro is in Eastern Ukraine and has faced multiple airstrikes.

Georgia is one of the few countries who welcome people from Russia and Belarus. These people have very few options to leave their countries because most Western nations have banned visa and airspace travel for Russians / Russian planes. There are a lot of Russians and Belarussians who do not agree with the war and what is happening in Ukraine. They have been streaming into Georgia- many of them on their way to places like Turkey or Armenia (https://www.nhpr.org/2022-03-25/meet-the-russians-who-are-fleeing-not-the-war-but-their-own-government). Border crossing wait times on the Georgia Russian border have risen to much as 40 hours as people on the Russian side brave the snow and freezing cold to get out. Both Belarus and Russia are facing significant political repression, and these people have also become “refugees”. They are not refugees because of the war but instead because of the totalitarian regimes that are trying to destroy Ukraine as I write this.

One of my friends here is a musician that has toured throughout Europe. He made a dash for the Russian border as soon as the invasion began. He described a concerning turn of many Russian citizens towards embracing the Kremlin’s propaganda rhetoric. This has been evidenced by the “Z” symbol, which is now being seen on athletes’ uniforms, buses, billboards, trucks, and even terminally ill patients that have lined up in a “Z” formation. “Z” is the symbol that is on much of the Russian military hardware in Ukraine and has become the “pro war” symbol of Russia (see https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/21/europe/russia-vladimir-putin-z-fifth-columnists-intl-cmd/index.html). Many people across the world have nicknamed it the “Zwastika” (referencing Nazi Germany’s swastika) and some governments are trying to outlaw its use.

More stories are pouring in. A friend who knows people who have been jailed because they protested against the invasion in Russia. Another friend who fled Belarus and barely spoke English who is trying to eventually get to Turkey. A lady who tearfully and emotionally presented her Ukrainian passport to the Georgian government agent right in front of me on our first day in Georgia (which happened to be the day that Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine). A couple who was originally from Donetsk (a city that has been occupied by separatist forces in the Donbas since 2014), see (https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/22/history-donbas-donetsk-luhansk/), fled to Kyiv, and then had to flee once more. Many Russians are fleeing areas that are not close to Europe like Moscow or St. Petersburg. Some people have even made the long trek from Siberia to cross the border and get out. 

It has been heartbreaking but also humbling to listen to these stories. It also speaks towards the sacrifice that Jesus challenges us to. How are we going to love these people who have lost nearly everything that they once had? We got to hang out with a lot of them over the course of the month and prayed over them. A couple of hikes were organized by the church group and I to get outside and enjoy God’s creation. The first hike to the cross on top of the mountain was beautiful, and also a great opportunity to get to know some of our Russian friends that joined. A second one was planned for March 28 but cancelled because of bad weather. But we got to eat an amazing dinner and have a time of great fellowship. Since debrief is in Batumi, I hope to continue meeting with some of these people before we leave the city near the beginning of April.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. After debrief takes place, we are planning to do a week of prayer in the mountains before going to Armenia. Armenia also has had a history of conflict with its neighbor Azerbaijan. We are trusting in the Lord as we move there in a couple of weeks to serve!

1 Peter 1: 23-25: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God, For ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.”