By Andy Baker
The church service had ended, and we were invited to stay for a fellowship dinner in the church basement. I had just preached on “prayer” and the service had been emotional for me. I was there with a team from the United States as well as the Romanian congregation and Ukrainian refugees. I had used the hymn “How Great Thou Art” in an illustration, and the pastor ended up using it as the closing song for the service. My eyes were tear filled as three languages sang, “then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee. How great thou art!”
I stood in the basement alone eating when a young lady approached me and spoke to me in perfect English without the hint of an accent. She introduced herself as Liza and proceeded to tell me how excited she was to be there. She said when she heard me speak, she was relieved to hear the English language. I asked her if she was Romanian and she looked at me perplexed and answered, “no, I am from Ukraine.” Then she told me she had fled Kyiv and had ended up in Romania
My initial response was, “WOW!” I told her that her English was so good that I did not expect her to be from Ukraine. I had thought I had met all the refugees, and she then informed me that she was staying with a local family and not at the site where most of the refugees were being housed.
Andy and Liza
As we stood there talking, Liza began to unpack her story with me. She related how she was in Kyiv in a bunker with bombs exploding all around her knowing that she was at the end of her life. She had an understanding of God but had never pursued a relationship with him or had sought to fully know Jesus as her Savior. She said in those moments of fear, she simply cried out to God to save her, and he did.
The bombs did eventually stop and she made her way to a train to Lviv. Liza speaks four languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, and English. As she arrived in Liviv, she was certain she would be moved to Poland because of her language proficiency. However, as the line she was in moved forward, she was instead sent to Romania. She prayed again on that train ride to Romania that God would protect her and place her with Christian people.
As Liza arrived in Romania and disembarked from the train, she moved forward and met a couple from one of our churches. In fact, it was Ioan and his wife who met her that evening. Ioan serves as an elder in the church. As Liza engaged them in conversation, she realized that once again God had brought her safely to a Christian family. She was relieved and trusted them and went home with them and has been attending church services weekly for two months. She listens to everything through a system that translates the service into Ukrainian. RtC bought the system for the church, and we are pleased that 30-40 refugees hear the Gospel each Sunday because of it.
Liza told me that she sees God’s plan in all of this. She was seeking God, and a war broke out sending her to Romania where she has heard the Gospel, and she told to me that she was ready to take her next step in baptism.
Sometimes in life we find ourselves in situations where we don’t know exactly what tomorrow will bring. Liza had lost her security in her homeland, and the dreams that she had for her life had now shifted to where she is seeing God lead her to where her life will find meaning and purpose. Liza is once again dreaming for the future, and I committed to stay in touch with her to see where I might be able to help her move forward with her plans. Proverbs 16:9 reads, “We make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Liza believes this, and I can’t help but trust that God truly is determining her future. One moment she is praying to live, and the next she is in a place where God is protecting her and introducing her to people that can help her spiritually and help her make plans for her future.
Do you believe in miracles? God showed me one in the life of Liza. Thanks be to God!