“Blinded Eyes….” (April 2022 Update)
Truth represents the greatest danger to evil. If truth is seen, evil wilts away. This is why dictatorships and communist nations block internet services and totally control TV and radio media so people cannot hear the truth. Truth destroys falsehood. This is why Satan hates the Word of God so much. In “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” Luther says of Satan, “one little word will fell him.” What “word” was Luther talking about? That “word’ is the Word of God. Luther was under constant attack and had reason to fear for his life. But his confidence was that the Word of God could not be defeated.
Satan hates the Word of God because he knows that truth has the potential to set people free from his lies and bondage. In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Paul tells the church at Corinth about how Satan suppresses the truth: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” In other words, Satan’s main tool to prevent people from hearing the gospel is to blind their minds to the truth of God’s Word.
This is why Paul makes it clear that his ministry was to focus on preaching God’s Word without resorting to any “craftiness.” He was convinced that the Word of God, clearly preached, had the power to destroy the lies and deceptions of Satan. It had the power to open even the eyes that Satan was blinding from the truth. In verse 6, Paul says, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” I’m sure he remembered his own blinded mind before the Damascus Road. But God broke through even the deceptions of Satan so that the light of the gospel shined in Paul’s heart.
This is where the real battle takes place. If the truth can be hidden, if minds can be deceived and blinded, then Satan can prevent people from learning about what Jesus has done to provide for their salvation. What can we do? Two things. First, we need to be committed to share the Word of God as our one priority. The Word alone has the power to open eyes and convince people of God’s truth. Second, we need to pray that God will open blind eyes and show the truth to those whose minds are being deceived. Prayer is essential to evangelism. Without the work of God on people’s hearts, all that we do and say falls on deaf ears. Pray and share. Don’t resort to gimmicks to get people to make “decisions.” Listen to what Paul said he did: “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” This is what we must do too so that many others will hear the truth and come to faith.
The parallel with what is happening in Russia today is similar. All media outlets are totally controlled by the Russian government. They are trying, more than anything, to convince the Russian people that Ukrainians are Nazis who are openly killing Russian speakers in Ukraine. The rest of the world knows it is not true. But Russia is trying to blind the minds of their people so that the war against Ukraine can be justified. Pray that God will open blinded minds – not just about the war in Ukraine, but more importantly, about the truth of the gospel that can really set men free. Because truth always destroys falsehood.
Teaching to Open Blind Eyes …
I finally had the heart to open up the online website for my last class on the Theology of God to grade the papers that have been submitted. The war has made it difficult for me to focus and, when I do focus on Ukraine, it continues to break my heart for the country, for our students and for our friends in Ukraine. Just grading the papers made me realize again what a wonderful group of students we have in Ukraine. And it reminded me, that, no matter what the outcome of this war, our students have a view of God and the gospel that will help them to share and minister in every circumstance. Still, I am praying for these students – for their protection and for their effectiveness in sharing Christ in such dark and difficult times.
It was a difficult joy grading the papers I have received. Those after the invasion (February 24) show that their confidence is in God – not in the terrible circumstances that they are experiencing. I have always said that good theology prepares us to difficult times, and I can certainly see this in the papers I have received. Only a few have submitted papers. All of them are either refugees, soldiers or working day and night to help with evacuations and other emergency needs. And all of them are spending their nights in cellars, bomb shelters or subways to be protected from the Russian missiles and bombs. I am praying for them daily!
With the invasion of Ukraine, our seminaries continue to be very active in helping with refugees and supplies. Kyiv Theological Seminary in Kyiv has been closest to the action and has even had rockets land in nearby neighborhoods. Most of the faculty are involved in helping people evacuate from Kyiv and are helping with other refugee issues. We also have a number of chaplains who are directly involved in the military actions. Ukrainian Baptist Seminary in Lviv has been transformed into a refugee center helping to feed and house people and helping to get them across the border to Poland. All of the faculty are involved in some way, most in humanitarian and refugee efforts. They are overwhelmed with the number of people trying to evacuate to Poland, but they continue to help. Pray for them as they minister to many. Pray that God will use their efforts to open eyes and open hearts to the gospel!
We have so many friends affected by this war it is impossible to remember them all. Some serve in the army while others are helping with evacuations and refugees. Most have lost their homes and possessions, and many have lost loved ones in the war. This continues to be a great burden for us as we are praying for all of them.
On our website, we have posted some links to ministries we know about that are helping people in Ukraine. You can find those links at https://teachingresources.org/2022/03/03/help-for-ukraine/.
God’s amazing provisions … (Sorry for the lengthy update!)
Last month, we shared that our most pressing need was getting a car. God provided both the car and the finances for the car! So, we are now driving our own car! We needed to get something that we could travel in so that we could visit supporters in various states over the next few months. As we looked, we realized that used car prices were very high right now, especially for something like an SUV that we thought would fit our needs. So, I planned to go to a car auction last week with a friend to see what we could get in the $10-15,000 range.
One night, Sean told me that someone in their church needed to sell his car. I was not totally interested because I thought we could get a better deal at an auction. But Sean said, “first, let me tell you about the car. It is a 2006 Highlander Hybrid.” Before I moved to Ukraine, I had that exact same model and loved it. But I had to sell it to downsize because I needed the money to move. When I sold it, I told myself that I would never be able to have such a nice car again. So, when he told me about the car, I was definitely interested! We looked at it, and it was in great shape – almost like new even though it was 16 years old and had over 150,000 miles. And we were able to buy it for less than $10,000. What a blessing! It was just another example of how God provides “exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all we could ask or think!” Additionally, we had a few people and churches respond and give gifts to cover all the costs of buying the car (and some other expenses). So, we are now driving a wonderful car that we hope will meet our needs for the next few years. Our girls keep asking, “is this our car or are we just borrowing it until we go back to Ukraine?” It is such a blessing that even they are amazed at what the Lord has provided for us!
Many of you are asking what we need. It is really difficult to answer. Since we left everything, it is hard to even think through what we need – until we need it! 😊 We are daily realizing all the little things that we left behind. Just yesterday, we wanted to bake some apples and realized we don’t have our apple corer here. It’s a small, inexpensive thing, but you don’t realize what you need until … you “need it.” And I find myself constantly saying, “Oh, we have that in Ukraine.” So, probably the biggest need would be for some extra finances so we can begin, little by little, to replace all the “little necessities” that we have lost. We were hoping to ship many of our possessions (like kitchen things, clothes, tools, etc.) back when we returned to the states in a couple of years, but now it looks like we might need to replace them while we are here. So, it is hard to be specific about most of our needs now because we don’t know what we need until we “need” it.
One need we definitely had was for clothing. When we evacuated, we only were able to take a few suitcases of clothes, mostly winter clothes. After our last letter, a dear friend provided a gift that should help us with most of our clothing needs for the summer. We are planning to buy almost everything at secondhand stores and garage sales so we think that we will have all we need in terms of clothing – at least for the summer months. What a great provision for us!
Even with the financial provisions, we have been especially blessed regarding clothes. This week, we were in a second-hand store for ladies that is run by a Christian ministry. While Katya was trying on some much-needed spring clothes, they asked some questions about where we were from. When I explained that we were from Ukraine. The manager said that Katya could have the clothes she had chosen for free! I explained that someone had given us money to help pay for clothes, but they said they wanted to help out, and they would not let us pay for those items. What an amazing, totally-unexpected blessing!
Right now, we have free housing and that too is a tremendous help! We have been blessed by a family here in Fayetteville that is allowing us to stay in their basement apartment until the end of summer. We have some other friends that might provide some place for us to stay after that. But be praying about our housing. This is the next critical step for us. We really don’t have the extra finances right now to afford housing. We had planned to use the money from selling our house in Ukraine to relocate here in the US. But that looks very unlikely. Pray that we can find some housing for at least a year while we sort out what our next steps will be. (Some have asked me about our house in Cabot. Currently, we have a lease, so we want to honor our contract with our renters – two more years. Also, we rely on the income from the house too, and we are not able to manage financially right now without that income).
So far, our home in Ukraine is still standing. It was being used by some neighbors with small children because we had a sturdy home with a cellar for them to hide in during the bombing. They even sent us pictures of a piece of a missile in our yard which had been shot down by Ukrainian defenses! But the fighting became so difficult that the family decided to evacuate the country also. Currently, our home is being used as shelter and a sort of barracks by soldiers from the Ukrainian Territorial Defense who are protecting our village. So, we realize that the house will probably be in pretty bad shape from rotating troops in it, even if it survives the war. But we are glad that the house is useful to Ukraine during this war.
As we mentioned last month Katya’s mother and grandmother were finally able to be evacuated to stay with some friends of ours in Poland. After staying with them for a few weeks, they were able to get tickets to come to the US. Last week, they arrived in California to stay near Katya’s sister in Sacramento. We are grateful for all your prayers for them. This has really lifted a big burden from our hearts! Now they are waiting on the completion of the permanent immigration process that they had almost completed before the war began.
We also need to find regular doctors here. This is much more difficult than I had thought. In the US, very few doctors are taking new patients. If they do, there is a long wait to get your first appointment. I need to find some doctors quickly to continue following my heart and colon issues. This is further complicated by the fact that I only have Medicare insurance and not everyone takes Medicare. Katya and the girls need to find physicians for their regular care, but also in case they need any emergency care. Pray that we can find some good, compassionate doctors in the coming months.
Our biggest need right now is continued regular support. We think we will need at least another year more of regular support to be able to make our transition to the states. This will give us time to find some permanent housing and furniture, collect the clothing that we need for living here, purchase the many various kitchen items needed for our home and meet other needs that we will have in the transition. And everything here in the states is two to ten times what we were paying in Ukraine! So, we will definitely need continued financial help during our transition. Please consider continuing our support until at least next summer. That would be a tremendous help for us!
We are also trying to get all of Katya’s documents in order – each filing is costing around $500 – we have filed two of the documents so far and need to file 2 more in the coming months! The amount of paperwork is mind-boggling. Fortunately, I have a friend who has been helping immigrants for over 20 years and his advice on which forms to file is immeasurable. Sometimes we think it would be simpler to travel to Mexico and walk across the border (that’s a joke – we want to do everything legally). But we need to get these documents so that Katya can get her driver’s license and green card.
Finally, we are praying about what the Lord would have us to do in our next stage of ministry. We are still hoping that we can return to Ukraine in some capacity. But we are trying to be realistic too. We realize that the window of opportunity for us to serve in Ukraine is closing. But we are not completely ready to close it yet. We keep hoping and praying. But we realize that we were already planning our move back to the states in the next two years. So, even if we can get back to Ukraine, we are unsure how much more time we will have to actually serve there. But we are still hoping and praying!
In the meantime, we are praying about a number of possibilities for ministry while we are here in the states. There is the possibility of helping with training some pastors in NW Arkansas and also with helping a Ukrainian (Russian-speaking) church with some training in Florida. Also, there might be opportunities to teach a few classes at local seminaries and Bible schools in the fall. We also have some possibilities of helping with ESL and some campus outreaches in the Fayetteville area. Right now, we are not sure what is best for us. We want to be careful to not be too committed to anything here until we are more sure about the direction we need to take. And I am overwhelmed right now trying to get all our documents together and trying to make plans for our housing and other needs for the next few months. Hopefully after the summer, we will have some more clarity about how we can be most helpful during our time here in the states. Pray for wise use of the time that we have and for wisdom about what we can be doing in ministry while we are here.
Family …
Even with the difficulties of evacuation, God has still blessed us with many, many unexpected blessings! First of all, we have been blessed with a place to stay until the end of the summer. It is a basement apartment right across the street from the University of Arkansas. Our host family has been wonderful providing us with some Ukrainian memories and even buckwheat from Ukraine! Also, they are flying the Ukrainian flag on their front porch to show their support for Ukraine.
One of the saddest things for our girls was having to leave all their toys (their friends!) behind in Ukraine. But, little by little, they are accumulating a new collection. Actually, we think they have more than enough now! But they also are finding lots of creative ways to enjoy their new surroundings here in AR.
God has also blessed us with a number of special blessings. One concern that the girls had was not being able to ice skate in Arkansas. Our winters in Ukraine are great for ice skating and sled riding but Arkansas is much, much warmer. But we quickly found the Jones Community Center with ice skating all year around! So, the girls are super excited about being able to go ice skating – even in the hot AR weather! Also, we were able to be here to celebrate Haven’s birthday with her. She decided to have a piñata at her party. Everyone had a great time, and the girls are all enjoying their time together. Every day is like a special party when these girls get together! (And they all love little baby, Sully, too!)
Pray for Ukraine …
Please remember to pray for Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine. As I have mentioned previously, the only thing worse than Putin winning is Putin losing! When his forces are losing, he shifts to indiscriminately destroying civilian areas to create such a humanitarian crisis that the country will eventually surrender to save the lives of civilians. Russian forces have been beaten so badly in the last month, that Putin has already shifted to this phase of the war. Pray for the countless people left homeless by these actions and pray for the children who are subjected to nightly bomb and missile attacks.
Ukrainians all over Ukraine have risen up to defend their country and also to care for those affected by the war. We have many friends and students who are serving in the armed forces, in the territorial defenses, and helping with evacuations and refugees. They are caring for Ukrainians physically while they are also actively sharing the gospel with those affected by the war. Pray that God would give them strength and the resources to feed and house so many refuges. Pray for their safety as many of them travel back and forth through enemy lines bringing evacuees out of surrounded cities so they can be cared for in other locations. Pray for their stamina as this war continues on – they are ministering night and day, and fatigue is increasing.
We continue to be so grateful for all the humanitarian help given to Ukrainians fleeing the war zone. Poland and the Polish people have been especially generous with food, shelter and care for Ukrainians. They remember when both Russia and Germany divided Poland and tried to eliminate Poland as a country, just as Russia is trying to do today to Ukraine. Pray for these countries that are helping Ukraine and especially for Christian workers who are not only helping with aid but also sharing the gospel.
Pray also for the people of Russia. Satan is clearly blinding the eyes of the people of Russia to the truth about Ukraine and also about Russia’s war against Ukraine. Putin’s propaganda is in full swing about the war and the Duma (the Russian Congress) has even imposed prison sentences of up to 15 years for even reporting about the war, the losses of Russian lives, or even using the word “war” instead of calling it an “intervention” or “special operation.” Pray that the truth will get through to the people of Russia and that they will rise up and demand that their leaders will deal justly and rightly with Ukraine. Pray for them to call for peace and to demand accountability for their leaders. Also, pray that Christians in Russia will boldly speak out about the war, but also that they will continue to faithfully share the gospel so that many in Russia will also come to see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!
By His Grace,
Jim, Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
Also, some have asked about how to support us. You can send checks to Teaching Resources International, PO Box 1025, Cabot, AR 72023 or pay through PayPal on our website. Just put “#1000 Ehrhard” in the memo so our treasurer knows where to allocate the funds. If you want to help with our relocation to the US – just put Relocation in the memo.
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