Shadrach, Putin, And My Super Cool Ukrainian Friend

I spent last month working with some really cool people. My team was incredible, the ministry was amazing, the local and international friends that donated to help the refugees absolutely blew my mind with their generosity. People are just cool, man. As I’ve mentioned before, I had the opportunity to live alongside some Ukrainians fleeing the war. At times the language barrier was pretty hard, but thank God for Google Translate and the love that transcends all tongues. Plus, luckily, many of them actually did know some English. Like my friend Alex, for example. He came to our church with his super sweet wife and the cutest three daughters. We get a lot of Ukrainians cycling through, but it did not take long to realize that something was different about this family. 

The first day I met his wife Anya, I thought she was a reporter. I had just done an interview with the Bucharest Journal the day before, so since they asked me to take her to interview some of the refugees, I just assumed she was a journalist as well. On the car ride, I watched her check the news and messages from worried friends often. I saw in her face how much it was hurting her. I just thought she was an empath, honestly it made me excited to read her piece. But as it turned out, she was Ukrainian as well. She was interviewing her fellow refugees to make a video to send home to show her community that it was safe to leave. Her heart was to help those still stuck in Ukraine to know that they would be taken care of and safe here. Her and Alex made multiple videos during their first week in Romania. Some for Ukraine as an encouragement to come, some for the U.S. to thank everyone who had donated, some to get more donations for the ministry, some just to let their families know they were safe. 

This turned into more work for the ministry quickly. It wasn’t long until Alex was translating for all of the refugees and even leading their welcome briefings. Alex has probably met over 200 Ukrainians, just being here in Romania. The ministry has begun to rely on him. The Lord used Alex more than he ever could have thought possible. He was just trying to get his family safe, he had no idea what was waiting for him in Romania. 

There was one day that sticks out to me the most. The pastor was speaking to around 20 Ukrainians, encouraging them through a Bible story. He told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel’s friends who refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar and were thrown into a fiery furnace as punishment. I’ve always loved this story in Daniel 3. The three men stood in the furnace, but came out unburned. More than that, when the people looked into the furnace, they saw 4 people standing there, an angel amongst them, protecting them. Nebuchadnezzar saw this and exclaimed, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants!” (verse 28). He went on to declare that their God must be the one true God and believed. 

The pastor shared this story to tell the refugees that they were not alone in their hurting and pain. There is another in their fire standing next to them, taking care of them. He told them how Jesus is with them and that they can rely on Him to do the impossible, as with these three men in the book of Daniel. It was a powerful message. I watched Alex translate while many of the women cried or nodded their heads in agreement. They had hope. They would be okay. They trusted in what the pastor and Alex were sharing. They trusted in the Lord. 

After the message we headed to the mall with the pastor, Alex, Anya, and their youngest. Their middle daughter would turn seven in a couple days, they wanted to get her a gift. All she wanted was a small stuffed dog, we were on a mission and ready to search high and low for that thing to give her some joy and normalcy. We found out today that their city had been hit. Odessa was in shambles. Their home, their neighbors, their church, gone. They had nothing to go back to. In the car I overheard the pastor and Alex talking. They got on the subject of the war, which is pretty easy since it is constantly on their minds every second of the day anyways. They spoke of Vladimir Putin and the damage that he has caused. The pastor began, “Putin is a bad man”. Anya stared out the window solemnly, holding her little girl as she whispered, “The very worst man”. He continued, “He has hurt so many and doesn’t even care what he is doing to people”. Alex agreed that it was awful, “He is our Nebuchadnezzar”, he added, “The king that hurts people for the sake of his own pride”. 

I studied their faces as they continued talking about the similarities. I could see the pain, the fear, the anger, the hatred, until one specific moment. His face changed. I saw Alex take a deep breathe and soften his gaze. He didn’t look angry anymore, he looked hurt. He glanced back at his crying wife and sleeping child, then looked to the pastor. The next sentence looked like it took everything out of him to say. He declared something so true, so pivotal, yet so hard in the midst of brokenness caused by one single person. He said, “But in the end of the story, even this violent man, this King Nebuchadnezzar turned to God.” He went on to tell the pastor how he would choose to pray for Putin, instead of hating him. This man that had caused so much destruction and changed Alex’s life as he knew it, this man that had  uprooted his family, killed his friends, and caused heartache in countless more ways, was now Alex’s main prayer request. He would go on to choose prayer over bitterness, hope over anger, forgiveness over hatred. 

Can you imagine? I always hear stories of mothers forgiving their son’s killers and I am awestruck by it. I don’t know that I have that kind of mercy in me to give. But this? A man that has destroyed Alex’s whole country! That’s insane! That’s unheard of. Could you imagine a Jew forgiving Hitler during the time that his reign was the most fierce? I could never. I have been known to not be the best about forgiveness, I still hold a grudge from that one time my grandma told me there was no mayonnaise in the dinner she had cooked. There was. I hate mayonnaise. I still don’t trust her cooking. But I guess this whole forgiveness thing is pretty cool. Praying for the ones that have hurt you the most, seems Biblical. Probably because it is. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells the people, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus Himself cried out on behalf of those who hurt Him, literally as He hung on the cross dying, saying, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do” as seen in Luke 23:34. 

I can think of a few people that I still need to forgive (…Grandma). When I think of the things that seem too big for me to forgive, I think of Alex. No one has ever killed my family and friends, destroyed my church, bombed my city, or made my family homeless and on the run. Yet I still think there are things too big to get over. That seems so silly in comparison. I thought of a couple names just while typing this out today. I’m sure one or two have come to your mind as well. I’m not naive enough to think we can all just get over the ways that those people have hurt us in one day, one quick “You’re forgiven” and we’re chillin. But I do think that realizing that we still harbor unforgiveness in our hearts and recognizing that it does not need to make it’s home there is a good segway into forgiveness. “Admittance is the first step” or whatever. 

I don’t know how long the process will take, I don’t know how much it will hurt to dive into, but I know its worth it. I know there is freedom in forgiveness. I saw it in Alex’s face. I saw him live it out every day after that. He was different after that day, I want to be different too. I want to walk in that same freedom, leaving unforgiveness and resentment behind. I won’t claim to know how to have that freedom in three quick easy steps, but I do know one thing for certain: it starts with Jesus. Let’s let Him lead us in that today, however He desires to. I’m thankful that He was with me in the fire and that He is still with me now. He knows the hurt, He saw it happen. He saw me crying on the floor, He saw Alex’s city in flames, He saw your pain too. He knows our hurt, He knows our hearts, He knows how to mend the broken pieces within us. Forgiveness is hard, but healing, scary, but necessary. I pray that we press into that. 

Lord, thank You for this reminder today to forgive. Thank You for this example of forgiveness in.a capacity that I can’t even fathom. Teach me how to forgive how Alex forgave. Teach me how to forgive how You forgave. Speak Your truth over the hurt, continue speaking it every day.  

-K