I entered into the shelters foyer and there was a strong smell of Cannabis. I started communicating with Julia, who was staying at our shelter, and soon realized she was not in a good state. Through google translate, Julia was trying to convince me to go for a walk, smoke cannabis, drink beer, and go hang with men. This saddened me. I told her “I’m worried about you and care what you are going through.” She was quiet and then suddenly the tears started to flow. I put my arm around her and together we sat in silence crying. Julia went on to tell me that her house was bombed. I asked if I could pray for her and she said, “yes, for me and for the men of our Armed Forces”. So, we took these burdens to God. I told her “I want you to be able to experience peace. You can try to take the pain away with these desires, but it does not solve the problem, it is only a temporary fix. God is what can give you peace and the will power to keep on living.” At one point she said we are all going to Hell and He will never forgive people. We talked about God’s forgiveness and love. Julia and her teenaged son Artem each accepted a Bible to take with them. Pray that in this broken world, they would choose to seek scripture, realize Gods love for them, and accept the free gift of Salvation. Pray that when given encounters such as this, God would give wisdom to speak and that God would receive all the glory.

*names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals