We had an evacuation of a single woman in her fifties. The location was less dangerous than some, but we always trust God has us covered when praying for his protection before each evacuation. We arrive and meet this woman who was dressed in ratty clothes that had a unique musty, unhygienic smell to them. She seemed kind, and a little lonely. We helped her load her two bags into the vehicle and headed on our way to the shelter. It was just myself and our translator Karlin. He was running on four hours of sleep and had a lot to focus on with driving, and watching the sky for drones. In the midst of his exhaustion, after we are on a safe road, he proceeds to share the gospel with our new friend Ira. He was able to share the truth that Jesus loves her; and that even though her children have moved to different countries, her mother is stuck in a village too close to Russian lines to be evacuated, and now Ira has no home, Jesus is with her in the chaos. She had her questions, and we did our best to answer them. Sometimes just listening does more than having answers to tough questions like, “why is there so much suffering in this world?” At the end of the day, it’s not in our ability that saves a life, it’s in God’s. So after praying for her, we said our goodbyes, believing God used Karlin’s obedience to bring another daughter into the kingdom. God leaves the ninety-nine for the one. (Mathew 18:12)

Today that was her.