Update on the wounded Ukrainian soldiers at the Azovstal steel plant:
“Currently, a ceasefire regime has been established in the area and a humanitarian corridor has been opened, through which wounded Ukrainian servicemen are being delivered to a medical facility in Novoazovsk, Donetsk People’s Republic, to provide them with all the necessary assistance.” Novoazovsk is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Mariupol.
Please pray that all the wounded will be released for medical attention.

Prayer for one of our Y Ukrainian leaders headed to Norway
“He will be speaking in churches and at Y family locations, giving interviews on tv and radio. All of this is connected with the fundraising for Ukraine relief work. Please pray for them that God will lead them through this time and that they will have his wisdom. Thank you.”

Points for prayer: Kyiv Team
1) Pray for our new initiatives in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya and Mykolaiv. The Front line of the war has moved and we need to bring humanitarian aid to them.
2) For restoration and the rebuilding time, specifically for people’s hearts and homes, now and after the war. Many are turning to the Lord in this difficult situation.
3) For our team in Kyiv – they need God’s refreshment, his guidance, and for his protection.
4) Continued financial support
5) For unity and continued great partnership among churches and denominations.

Thank you for your continued and constant support!

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Brother Andrew (God’s Smuggler)
So instrumental in making known the situation of the underground church during the Communist years has just turned 94. We celebrate this man whom God used to raise up a whole generation to go to closed countries to take the gospel. He had such an impact on YWAM as we were just beginning our ministry in the Soviet Union. Here are a couple of examples of praying our way across borders, something that Brother Andrew taught us.

One young man’s story from Ukraine
Last week, a young man was a part of a convoy of no fewer than 1,000 vehicles trying to leave Kherson. The Russians ultimately let the convoy move in batches — but only after holding it in one place for most of the day.
“For me, this was already the fifth attempt to leave the controlled territory. The previous four times it didn’t work out.” “What surprised me was that suddenly Russians let us go through the checkpoint without any examination.”
He had heard stories of extensive checks, phones being examined and property stolen.
In hearing stories like this one, it occurs to me, could that have been the intervention of the Lord. How many other stories will we hear in the future like this one. We need to continue to intercede for more of God’s interventions.

From one of the leaders in Ukraine:
“It went great in Kharkiv! Delivery of Supplies and extractions went smoothly. Staff are still there.
I’m excited for the open doors to get the resources and especially prayer into the areas of need. What a blessing and privilege to serve like this!”
Please continue to pray for our teams making those dangerous journeys into Kharkiv.
Prayer request from Y Ukraine
A large convoy of cars and vans with residents escaping the city finally reached safety in the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia, in what is believed to have been the largest single evacuation from Mariupol since the start of the war.
The convoy numbered between 500 and 1,000 cars, who had to wait three days for Russian troops to allow them to pass.
Officials estimate about 150,000 people remain in Mariupol, many of them unable to leave.
Appreciate prayer as our teams are going to Zaporizhzhia to help the refugees who have just fled from Mariupol.
Prayer for the children who have escaped from the destruction of their homes.
Trauma therapy for children reveals a lot from them drawing their experiences. Here is one example. It opens the understanding of the pain they have gone through because of this war.
“For a nine-year-old boy, the family spent a lot of time in a basement. He was afraid of bombs and rockets. They didn’t have a lot to eat, so his main concern was about food. At the beginning, the basket was empty. (Drawing below). He then added the sun, grass and flowers, and turned the planes into birds, which were throwing eggs from the sky.
“He also added pyrizhky [a Ukrainian bun] to the basket. He was taking them to his grandmother, who could not leave Mariupol. If you look the way he drew the eyes you see they’re big, which is a sign of fear.”

Let’s continue to pray Bro. Andrew’s prayer, “Lord you opened the eyes of the blind, please now blind the eyes that they cannot see.”
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Yulia (Kyiv)

This is what we see every time coming to the villages with food bags.
Crowd of people waiting. They need food but not only physical, their hearts need living water and bread of life that is Jesus.
We have great opportunity to speak into their lives and share about God’s love and hope.
Today we delivered 475 food bags in Kyiv and Chernigov region.
Thank you Jesus for these people who heard Your word today.

Yesterday we asked you to pray for the situation with the lack of fuel for our teams. Here is the answer a day later….

Glen (Kyiv)
Jacek and I were talking about how diesel in Ukraine is the new toilet paper from Covid days. We were below empty with 30 km to go and had just poured in our final container of 20 liters. The entire day we either passed ghost town gas stations with nobody there, or else incredibly long lines with many hours or days to wait just to get about 7 gallons worth. We talked to people who were first in line and had been waiting two full days for the diesel trucks to show up so they could get their 7 gallons worth of fuel.
Incredibly, not 10 minutes after we had emptied our final container into our tank, we missed our GPS turnoff and had to turn around in an empty gas station to go back the right way. We decided to stop and ask if they knew any place where we could get fuel? Unbelievably, they said their station had fuel! Miracle number 1. There were absolutely no cars or trucks at all at this station so we were the only ones “in line” to get fuel. Miracle #2. They said there was a fuel limit but we could fill up to the limit, drive around in a circle, and repeat the process again and again until we had all the fuel we needed. Miracle #3!
Each one of these things is completely unheard of much less all three happening at the exact time after we had just used up our final container of fuel and we were only using the gas station to turn around!
So many have prayed for our fuel situation and this was such a God thing we just kept laughing and laughing for miles afterwards. Rejoice with us!

Thank you for your prayers, they really do wonders.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Valya (Kyiv)
Today we traveled to Trostyanets’, Summy region. This part of Ukraine suffered a lot from shelling. It’s just 50 km to the border with Ruzzia. We saw lots of pain and hopelessness. I met a grandpa, his name is Volodymyr Pavlovych, he lost everything what he had in a moment. A bomb felt onto his home. He and his wife were hiding in the basement. Both of them are 82 years old.
While we were talking he said that he didn’t believe that God exists, but after everything what he experienced said, that only God could save them.
Pray for Ukraine and for people whom we are serving. For hope to be in their hearts.

Glen (Ternopil)
Here’s one of the most common sights in Ukraine now … totally empty gas stations! There is hardly any place in all of Ukraine that sells diesel. If you can find one, you must wait in line for many hours just to buy the 6 gallons limit worth.
We have three trucks filled with supplies and are getting terrible mileage. We filled up with diesel in Poland just before entering Ukraine, plus bought extra containers filled with diesel, but it won’t be enough for us to drive all the way across Ukraine and back again. We need to see God provide this very real need. Keep praying, thank you!

Ukrainian Resiliance

Kharkiv
People just glue a whole wall and move on. Home is home.

Tanya (Kyiv)
They keep their studies in the underground.
Have you ever complained about your school days? I did….
But those kids sleep, study, eat, hide from the shelling wait for their fathers in these underground stations of Kharkov.
As a teacher and as a person who loves kids I couldn’t just pass by this picture.

Thank you for your continued prayers,
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Ira (Kyiv)
When the full-scale war just started, we wanted to hope it would be over in a few weeks. Then we were praying it would be over by Easter. Now, we pray it will be over by the end of summer, but the time keeps stretching. According to the US Intelligence expectations, Russia is going to prolong the war and switch to a crawl in order to exhaust Ukraine and the rest of the world. Putin thinks that by winter, people will get tired of hearing about the war, and they will be annoyed with the inconvenience of the war (higher prices, food shortage, immigration crisis – all of this will impact the world, not just Ukraine). He hopes to get everything he wants, adding more nuclear war threats.

Please, pray for the world not to give up on Ukraine. If you look at the map, you will see how many European countries immediately depend on the outcome of the war on Ukraine. If Russia completely occupies the South of Ukraine, they will have a clear passage to “Transnistria,” the part of Moldova under Russian occupation since 1992, and a doorway to further occupation of Moldova. If Russia gets to the western border of Ukraine, it will not stop there. The Soviet Union occupied part of Poland in 1939, and Russia has been hinting at getting revenge on Poland for helping Ukraine. Since Belarus is de-facto a tool in the hands of Russia and its territory is used for attacks on Ukraine, it is only a matter of time until its territory is used to facilitate invasion in Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia already share a border with Russia – they were under Soviet occupation until the 1990s, and Russia has already made statements about the “poor treatment of Russian-speaking people there.”

As you can see, WWIII is only a matter of time if this is not stopped soon. Please, pray for deliverance and divine intervention.
Please, keep praying for Mariupol. Today, Azovstal suffered 34 air raids. It is bombed and shelled using all possible weapons from the land, sea, and air. There are over 1,000 Ukrainian defenders there, and hundreds of them are wounded without access to the medical care they need. May God’s mercy and power be with them.

Thank you for your prayers,
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

No news is sometimes good news….
A huge victory parade was expected in Moscow today. Instead there was a toned down parade with no victory speech, no declaration of war or talk of taking other countries.
Could this be an answer to so many people praying around the world?
Nevertheless, the war continues with bombs falling on the Eastern front, Odessa and Mykolaev. Let’s continue to pray…

From Rachel Tijuana, Mexico
There are 72 Ukrainian refugees left in the city of Tijuana waiting for their turn to get into the US. Today we hosted them at our YWAM campus and it was so special. The kids loved playing soccer, bouncing in a bouncy castle, having their faces painted and doing piñatas. Thankful to be able to bless these beautiful families today

Please pray also for the Ukrainian refugees in the Mexico City camp. Our 2 families have been there several weeks now as they wait for their applications to be approved. The camp had a surge of 500 refugees arrive there!

Thank you for your continued prayers

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

In the U.S. and many other countries this is a day to celebrate Mothers. We want to celebrate our own mothers and the mothers in Ukrqine.

Anya {Kyiv}
Happy Mother’s Day!
This special day let’s lift up mothers in Ukraine and Ukrainian mothers that had to leave the country, leave their husbands running for the safety of their children.
It is an unbearable burden to be a mother during the war. Even the Bible talks about a special hardship for pregnant and mothers of newborns during the war times. It is a different kind of pain to be able to protect your child, to be able to feed your child, to watch the fear of your child, to not be able to provide peace for your child.

Let’s pray today for the Ukrainian mothers.
Let’s pray today for the Ukrainian mothers of our soldiers. It is a different kind of pain to know that your son or daughter is giving up the right to stay alive for the sake of the country’s right for a future.
Let’s pray for mothers that already in these 70+ days have experienced loss of their children. In our culture we have a saying: it’s wrong for a parent to live beyond your child.
Let’s pray that the all compassionate Lord of Might comfort, strengthen, support, provide, give hope and help to Ukrainian mothers!!

The 9th of May is the big celebration in Moscow commemorating Russia’s victory in WW2. There are many expectations and fears of what might be proclaimed at this parade. The possibility of a declaration of war? This would allow for a conscription of young men into the army. It could formalize and takeover of the lands that have been taken by the Russian army. It can also mean a declaration of war on some of the other surrounding areas and even countries.
Let us pray for peace, for an end to the killing and senseless destruction of these cities. Many churches across the world are being encouraged to pray on this day, let’s join them in deep and fervent prayer.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Minstries Team

A special call to prayer:
Call to pray together for peace on 8 May It is becoming increasingly clear through more and more channels that Monday, 9 May, may well become a crucial date in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Particularly in Eastern Europe, there is a growing rumour that Russia’s President Putin will officially declare war on Ukraine. Not only Ukraine, but also other countries in that region such as Poland, fear that this will have major consequences and that Putin will definitively set in motion his plans to conquer much more of Europe. There is a growing realisation that not much is needed to trigger a new war with global impact.

Call to prayer Encouraged by the Word of God and by leaders with a global ministry of proclamation and prophecy, we believe that as followers of Jesus Christ, as the Church, we must move in unity and prayerfully ask God to intervene in this situation. The Bible teaches us in several places that the prayer and faithfulness of God’s servants has influenced the course of history. Therefore, we call on all believers of all churches, this Sunday, 8 May, preferably during the worship service, to pray together for peace and that God will intervene in this situation. Let us ask God together to move the heart of President Putin, as he has done so many times in biblical history with kings and Pharaohs, so that he will not declare war on 9 May.

Prayer and fasting in addition, we want to encourage, stimulate and support Christians to pray and fast together in the coming time – to continue to pray together for peace, not only in Ukraine, but in all those places in the world where there is currently unrest, discontent, revolt and war. In the coming days we will set up a website for this purpose. Prayer In February, when the war in Ukraine began, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote a prayer for the country and its people. We are happy to offer this prayer, supplemented for the specific point of this letter, as a suggestion for the prayer on Sunday. Of course, every church, congregation and believer is free to give their own content to this moment of prayer for peace.

Prayer for peace God of peace and justice, we pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia today. We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons. We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them. We pray for those with power over war or peace, for wisdom, discernment and compassion to guide their decisions. We pray for President Putin, who plays such an important role in this conflict. Will you move his heart, as you did with princes and rulers in history. Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear, that you would hold and protect them. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen

This letter was prepared in consultation with various leaders and organisations. For the sake of completeness and the short time to set this up, it was decided not to include names. Opwekking Netherlands

Let’s join in this worldwide prayer effort and encourage our churches to join us.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Ira and Ivan (kyiv)
Russia keeps looting Ukraine. They have stolen over 100 tons of wheat from Luhansk region (and destroyed 30 tons of grain in Rubizhne, Luhansk region). This supply could have kept the region fed for almost 3 years. This cannibalic government wants to starve Ukrainians just as they did less than 100 years ago during the Holodomor (1932-1933). The farmers aren’t allowed to start the planting season in the occupied territories; their farming equipment is confiscated. Please, pray for God’s provision and protection.

Today, we started planting my grandma’s vegetable garden. Even though I usually enjoy it as it enables you to partake in this mystery of the planting and harvesting cycle, I felt some special awe this time. Our life is filled with more uncertainty than ever before. We don’t know how long the war will last. Thankfully, we are blessed with having more than enough food and having the rest of our needs covered today, but we don’t know what the fall or winter may bring.

That’s why I was praying as we were planting – praying for a good harvest and abundance (not only for us but for all of Ukraine), praying for those who starve today and may lack food in the future, praying for us to be aware of the needs of others and be ready to share what we have. Please, keep praying for good crops and wisdom in handling them.

Pray that famers will be able to sow their seed, that good weather will come this Spring. Pray for safety for farmers. Pray that ports can be opened on the Black Sea. Ukraine feeds many poor countries with the wheat, corn and sunflower oil it produces and exports through these ports.
Thank you for your prayesr,
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Minisstreis Team

Farmers have to wear bullet proof vests and helmets

Latest update from Ukraine
Teams are safe at the moment. Tonight couple places in Kyiv region were hit. Tomorrow part of the team are going to the East to see if they can make another humanitarian aid location. Please pray for their safety. 3 trucks of food heading their way, so all hands on deck to unload. Another volunteer is coming their way as well, driving a good reliable vehicle.
Please continue to pray for Mariupil –

Conditions of the remaining Ukrainian citizens in the Azovstal steel plant:
More than 500 people nursing injuries are still inside the vast industrial complex. Two hundred of them were in a critical condition. The health of the wounded was worsening due to a lack of medical assistance and unsanitary conditions. There was a “total lack of everything”, – whether food, water, or medication.
Thank you for praying with us. It means so much to our Y staff serving in Ukraine.

Japhin and Marie/Kyiv
Romania shares a border with Ukraine on the west side. From Day 1 of the war, Romania has responded to the needs of Ukraine and the Ukrainians.
Like us, they kept all their dreams, projects, and desires aside and jumped right into serving the people in need.
As the world is praying for Ukraine, we all should remember Romania and Poland as well. I picture these nations like the two men who held the hands of Moses to see victory. If not for Romania and Poland, we would have experienced many difficulties in maneuvering, aid, and refuge.
Marie and I got the privilege to go to Romania and see everything happening on the other end of the chain.
Our people in Kyiv drove to far north to evacuate people and sent them to YWAM Ternopil and they sent people on to Romania (and to the ends of the world). YWAM Cluj has been hosting people, helping them find homes, or find transportation further.
When I thought about what it would look like to host refugees, I thought of long rooms with beds next to each other. But I was wrong. They are hosting refugees in homes in which I would love to live. In homes, even their staff would love to live in.
The staff still live in rooms that can hardly fit their bed, but refugees live in 2 bedroom apartments with a big kitchen with a view—a beautiful symbol of selflessness.
I dont know what it is, but I sensed a different spirit among the people there. It was so refreshing to be around them. I felt they were genuine, and their words were filled with meaning and not just empty sounds.
We also got to meet a few of our friends there, all serving in Romania along with Ywam there.
If Romania’s helping hands fall, then Ukraine will suffer. So, remember Romania in your prayer. Minus the death, destruction, and violence, they are also heavily influenced by war

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team