Overcoming Fear

When I first heard that we were going to visit the war zone in Ukraine, my first reaction was one of fear and uncertainty.  Is it safe?  How will Americans be viewed in this territory?  Weren’t there other regions we could visit?  One thing I have learned during our ministry work with Potential Endeavors is that we often do not understand why we are doing something, but we must trust God because he often has a plan for us that we cannot see and often understand.

So as we do in Ukraine, we responded with ok, let’s do it.  Saying yes does not instantly remove the fear, but it does remove the control that I often like to have.

On Friday morning we headed off on our journey.  Our first stop was in the border city of Kharkiv.  We stayed in the home of the Regional Pastor of the Kharkiv region.  We were close to the border of Russia, but this was not the occupied territory, so we felt safe.  As we went to bed that night, we heard what sounded like gunfire off in the distance.  Not sure if that was what we heard, but it certainly did not do much to calm my nerves as we prepared to head into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Serviadonesk.  It is the second largest city in the Luhansk region and has become the government center since Russia has occupied the largest city of Luhansk.  As we drove, we came to a military checkpoint.  Ukrainian army personnel stopped all vehicles.  We had to show our passports and explain our purpose in entering the region.  I rolled down my window and showed the soldier my passport.  When he saw it was an American passport, he got a big smile and said thank you to us.  It was a small gesture, but it helped to put my mind at ease and let me know that things were going to be ok on this trip.  As we drove, we saw military vehicles – tanks, personnel carriers and trucks which once again reminded me we were close to dangerous places, but I felt safe.

We arrived at the church where we were holding the meeting.  This was a gathering of the Regional Pastor, his wife and 15 pastors and church leaders with their spouses.  We had a time of sharing with each other and hearing about their ministry work.  We heard about the challenging times since the war begin 7 years ago.  We heard about the people who have left the region, joblessness, and the level of depression in the area.  But we also heard how thankful they were for our visit.  We were the first Americans that they had seen since the war began.  It gave them hope that maybe others would begin to return and help them as they do ministry.

Those fears that I had felt when I first heard about going to this region were gone.  I now saw why God had us make this trip!  As we had two checkpoints on our exit, the fear was gone.  This experience taught me a few things:

First, my fears can often keep me from doing the things that God wants me to do.  I would not have chosen to go to this territory on my own, but I believe this was where God wanted us to be on this trip.

Second my fears are usually based around wanting to be in control.  I was not in control of this trip, I just had to go where God sent us.

Third, my fears are based on what I think could happen rather than trusting that God will protect me and take care of me.

We are so thankful that we were able to make this visit.  We met some great people and in a small way we were able to encourage the pastors and church leaders to look at their ministry and ask themselves if they should do things differently to reach their communities with the hope of Jesus Christ.