The news is currently full of stories and pictures of the mobilization of reservists and the fear of
being drafted by young men throughout Russia. Borders are backed up by many miles, airplane
tickets are not only very expensive but are sold out for weeks. Trains and other means of
transport are filled to capacity. This of course brings the interest of the whole world to this
situation
Stories are coming out of Russia that some villages are totally empty of men as especially poor
and remote places are being targeted. Minority peoples who already make up a
disproportional amount of the military are once again targeted for mobilization.
Where this comes home is when it hits your friends and families. Zhenya, a Y leader who left
earlier and is abroad now wrote how his family is affected as now his sister and brother in law
are among these masses and 10 families from his church. There are 10 families from his not
very large church who are leaving, then multiply this by the hundreds of churches affected and
you begin to feel and see the situation for what it is.
Our Y family is also affected by this and many of them are part of these masses as well. How I
wish we could give you their names and show you pictures of them, but we can’t. All we can ask
you for is for prayer for them. I just received a phone call from Russia asking for just that:
“Please pray for us!”
There are no details to share at this point, only a desperate request for prayer. Can we pray for
miracles, for protection, for difficult decisions that have to be made. Pray that this can be a
turning point in this war, that the people of Russia will finally rise up and stand against this evil.
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team
The Finnish Russian Border