The Encirclement of Kyiv
For almost a month Russian forces have been trying to lay siege to the city of Kyiv by encircling it. They began by amassing their forces on the eastern border. Then they spread out joining forces with Belarus. On the southern flank they planned an amphibious attack.
At one point a convoy of tanks and trucks nearly 40 miles long set out to encircle the city. All along the way these plans were foiled and after a month of fighting, the encirclement has remained stalled.
As I pondered this situation these past few days, I saw another encirclement. I saw our ywamers inside the city, a beautiful U of N campus full of young people with Ukrainian, Russian and other foreign staff. Spread throughout the country were other ywam centers.
When the war started, another circle formed around Ukraine. Ywam centers in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia all gathered at the borders to bring refugees to their centers. Around them they had a circle of churches and friends who brought food, supplies and provided housing.
Outside that circle another group of ywam centers joined and formed a bigger circle. These were our centers in Germany, Holland, Norway, Finland and others who gathered goods in trucks brought tons of medicines, supplies, and food to feed each of these circles.
Then an even bigger circle, all over the world, ywamers rose up to the challenge to pray and give. From the Solomon Islands came a sacrificial offering, from Hong Kong, from Australia and from Africa came a special offering with promise of more to come, saying “we have received so much from Europe, it’s our turn to give.”
As we continue to lay siege spiritually, perhaps we too like Elijah will see an even greater circle around us, that the Lord will say to us, Open your eyes and see. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Let us pray and recruit thousands of others to stand and pray with us. This really is a battle of worldwide significance.
PRAYER REQUESTs:
From Kyiv (March 15, Day 20). Today was a very busy day for our team. They visited and delivered food to places where it was needed. We are working on getting the meds. In the last two nights, Kiev has been under very strong shelling. Today was even stronger. According to the guys – every 10 minutes the building shook from explosions. And it was very difficult to sleep in such conditions.
PLEASE PRAY FOR PROTECTION!
MARIUPOL (From Anya-leader in Kyiv). This is right now the most tragic city in Ukraine. We see the most cruelty and devastation in this city. The city with a population of over 400,000 people has been under siege for over two weeks.
The Russian army is specifically targeting hiding places of women and children – a maternity hospital (on March 9) and theater (on March 16) are just the two most prominent examples but there are hundreds of them!
Constant shelling, nonstop bombing, artillery attacks on cars trying to escape this hell. No electricity and no heat, people cooking food over fire. No water supply, people melting snow and taking water from puddles in the street. Children dying from dehydration.
Those seem to be horror stories of WWII, but unfortunately, they are taking place in Ukraine, in the heart of Europe, right now.
Let’s circle around our brothers and sisters, let’s join hands with them,
Let’s join our hearts with them and pray for God’s grace, His mercy.
Let’s pray for victory over the spiritual powers and authorities over these lands.
In Jesus,
Al Akimoff and Slavic Ministries Team