Tuesday, 17 June 2008
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Gabriel. Somehow I can't get it out of my mind. What a great guy. (See pictures in the photo album from the sailing trip he took us on--wouldn't let us pay for a thing except some food!) And the thing that is amazing is about his family--and by extension the Polish nation. You see, Gabriel's grandfather was murdered by Ukranians, along with the rest of his village, during WW 2. The Ukranians were on the German side and were promised Polish villages, but they had to do the dirty work of "cleansing" them of their Polish inhabitants.
What would it do to you to know that your grandfather died in such a way?
And yet to Gabriel it doesn't seem like anything special. And the reality is, it isn't unusual. Many of our acquaintances have similar stories of immense tragedy and heartbreak. Our 95 year old former neighbor was saved by a merciful German soldier. I recently traveled with a prominent Pentecostal leader who was born in Siberia where his family had been deported--they lived underground and barely survived. It's the story of this nation. It's the story of being beaten down, being brutalized, suffering terribly. I've lived here 7 years but somehow my American, free world mind cannot grasp it. Maybe nobody can grasp it. That's why they just live with it. That's why Gabriel doesn't act like it's anything special that his grandfather was killed in ethnic "cleansing". What is there to say? In the face of such horror there is no logic, no explanation.
And in spite of the blackness, we say, blessed be Your Name, though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your Name! We don't understand the world we live in, but we worship the creator. We are here to lift Him up and to make Him known, in this part of the world that has known unspeakable suffering. His love is greater than the enemy's hatred. May His name be exalted!
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Comments (6)
May God's love and blessings surround you and those you work with...sa fii iubit, BRAD
Thanks for the verses from Isaiah! I really need to hear "do not fear" today.
I noticed that you had visited my site, and wanted to thank you for taking the time. I hope you found it worthwhile and something to encourage or uplift you in some way. Are you living in the Ukrane? It is so tragic what was done during WWII! I can't imagine what the families that are left must feel. May God bless you in your work there. In Him, Judy
hello strangers!!
thanks for the encouraging comment and email Lolita! I'm excited about being there too!
I've traveled across Ukraine by train and I've seen the bareness the bleakness and hopelessness in the eyes of the people. I've seen the hundreds of empty factories, and I've heard the struggling people lament the fall of Communism. Even though they had no money, they had to work hard, had no say in anything and no freedom of public worship, at least they had a job and the government paid their medical care and schooling. I've also heard the stories of those whose faith grew stronger under the oppression. Here in America we know so little about the heartaches you described. Over there most families have been touched by the kind of suffering you wrote about. We need to hear those stories. Who knows what is ahead for the USA??? The important thing is that we have a strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!