Before I left I asked Bettie Mitchell, founder and executive director of GSM, for counsel as to how I was going to accomplish that.  I didn’t know anyone in Ukraine. I didn’t speak the language.  And I had never done anything like this before.  Bettie answered bluntly, “Ask the Holy Spirit and He’ll tell you.”  Well, I had already been praying and for the new few weeks prior to departure, I continued to pray.  Nothing.  I went on tour and I prayed every day, but there was no answer.  Finally on the last day of the tour, I was riding in the bus when a tour member, a woman sitting next to me, said, “Well, Don, tell me, ‘What is Good Samaritan Ministries anyway?’”  I had been telling her about this remarkable ministry and now I had a chance to tell her more.  I ended by saying that when we act out the Good Samaritan story, Bettie often asks us, “Now, what did you learn from this story?”

The woman looked at me in astonishment.  “Why that’s interesting,” she said.  “Just last night a group of young people from Germany acted out the Good Samaritan story in the lobby of the third floor of the hotel, and when they were finished, the leader of the group, a young woman, asked the group, ‘Now, what did you learn from the story?’”  The moment I heard that, something jumped in my spirit, and I knew it was the Holy Spirit telling me to take note.   In the interaction that continued with this tour member, I learned that the “key lady” on the third floor where the drama took place, was a new believer.  Later that evening, I was able to meet with Galina Bidenko, supervisor of the third floor in the Zhitomir Hotel where we were staying.  I told her about Good Samaritan Ministries and what God had put on my heart.  As I did, her eyes lit up and she said, “For over a year now, I have been asking God for something special to do.”  At that point I was prompted to ask if she would consider starting a small work with widows and orphans in Ukraine.  “But before you answer,” I said, “I would like you to pray about it.”  Galina was on her break at the time and left immediately to find a quiet place to pray.  When she returned, she was weeping and said, “I think this is of God.  I would like to do it.”

We had only a few remaining minutes before she had to return to duty.   Quickly, I gave her the few dollars I had brought along for seed money.  It was less than $100.  I then laid hands on her and prayed that God would bless the work.  When I finished, the tour lady sitting nearby reached into her handbag and added $40. to the money I had given her.  At that moment, out of my mouth flew these prophetic words, “This is going to be a miracle work, and you have just witnessed your first miracle.”  And so it has been, just one miracle after another, of lives being touched and changed by this God-ordained work.

Over the years, I have collected some of the stories of faith, hope and inspiration of Samaritan Ministries in Ukraine.  All of the stories are true.  They really happened.  In telling and re-telling these simple stories, I hope that they build up your faith and inspire you to similar action in whatever setting you find yourself.

MIRACLE STORIES

RAPED BY A GANG OF HOOLIGANS

Several months ago, Irina a 14-year old girl from the village of Karlinovka, near Chernobyl, was found by one of our Samaritans, wandering around in a dazed manner by a river.   Pavel, the Samaritan, befriended her and learned that she had been raped by a gang of hoodlums, and was now pregnant.  Irina had no home, no papers, no education.  Nothing.  Her mother, who was now dead, had killed her stepfather, and her grandmother where she was living, had died.   Pavel took her under his wings, saw that she had a place to live and something to eat, and when the time came for her to give birth to her baby, he managed to get her admitted to a hospital.  Irina gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, but she couldn’t stay at the hospital and the State wanted to take her baby away from her, so Pavel again intervened.  He went to the State and signed the papers for him to be her guardian.  Irina and her baby are now waiting to be admitted to a beautiful missionary home outside Zhitomir where she will be loved, mothered and taught life skills, and where her baby will be well taken care of.   If it wasn’t for our Samaritan ministry there, who knows what would have happened to Irina and her baby?

THEY LOST EVERYTHING IN ONE DAY

On the 18^th of October I’d got a call that a family needed help in the village Zhadki,  25 km from my village. Our Samaritans gathered shoes, clothes, and some food and went there. There we got acquainted with the family: father, mother and seven children. They have been living in an old house since they got married.  From that time on they have been dreaming about new house with enough space for their large family. They denied themselves everything to build the new house and worked very hard.   Eventually the house was finished.  They bought some pieces of furniture, curtains and were ready to move into this house. But one day the house caught on fire. The fire-fighting vehicle came very late and the house burned to the ground. We saw this burnt house. It’s a pity because people had been working so hard for so many years to build it. They lost everything in one day. Nine people were left without clothes and money. They were very thankful for our help. And we give thanks to God that we could help.

HIS MOTHER IS A PROSTITUTE

Recently Alex, our national director, was returning home from Vigoda, one of our Samaritan centers, when he encountered a little boy by the side of the road.  Here is his account:  “On the way home from Vigoda, I passed by a little three-year old boy.  I could hardly see him.  He was lying by the side of the road, sleeping.  He was so close to the road that he could easily have been run over.  I stopped and tended to him.  First I thought he was sick, as he didn’t react when I tried to wake him up.  His underwear was dirty with excrement.  I was going to call the ambulance when finally he got up.  A neighbor showed me his house and told me his mother was a prostitute and that he has four other brothers and sisters age one to six.  I brought the little guy to his home.  The condition in the house was worse than the outdoor toilet of any I have seen in the village.  I then went to the orphanage in Zhitomir to see if they would take him in.  They sent me to the village administrator.  The village administrator sent me somewhere else.  Nobody cares for this little boy.  This is very difficult for me.  What am I to do?  Where can I find a safe place for him?”

RESCUED FROM DESPAIR

Her name is Nadezhda.  She had three children, two sons and a daughter.  Both of her  sons were in jail.  Her daughter was a prostitute, became pregnant and delivered a little boy.  With this Nadezhda became a “Granny.”  Her daughter, Lena, left the little boy with her to raise and went on living the way she used to.  She eventually became a drug addict, was taken to the hospital and left there to die.  Vladimir, our Samaritan worker from Korestyschev, visited her and ministered to her.  She repented of her sins and was miraculously healed.  She returned to her home a new person, but then she began to drink again and run with her old friends.  Two weeks later she was dead.  Nadezhda, in despair, began to drink, too.  Vladimir sought her out.  One day he and his wife visited her.  The door to her home was open.  When Vladimir and his wife gently knocked on the door, a tiny little voice was heard to say, “Granny, someone has come to see us.”  Nadezhda replied, “Nobody cares about us.”  At that point Vladimir answered, “We care and we have come to visit you.”  In time Nadezhda confessed her faith in Jesus Christ and now she regularly attends church with our Samaritans, but best of all, there is hope in her eyes.  She has truly been delivered from despair. 

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Valentina is our “Samaritian” director in the village of Vesnyanka.  Recently our mobile dental and medical team went out to the village to care for the sick.  Most are too poor to afford a doctor or dentist.  Approximately 40 men, women and children came to be treated.  One of the men who came is an alcoholic.  He’s 35, but looks like he’s 50.   He had a terrible inflamation of his gums due to an infected tooth.  The pain was so great that for two weeks he couldn’t eat or sleep.  The only thing that gave him relief was alcohol.  When this man’s tooth was pulled, he was the happiest man in town.  Otherwise he would have had to go to the hospital for surgery, but he had no money.  He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

HER EYES LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE

A few days after Christmas our Samaritan team in Zhitomir made a trip to the children’s hospital to spread a little cheer.  Among others, they found a little girl who has been there a whole year.  She’s an orphan.  She has no parents, no Grandmother, no neighbors, no friends, no anybody who pays attention to her.  She is four years old and is unable to speak.  When we saw her she was looking down at the floor.  There was no life in her.  But when they gave her a small gift, hugged her, talked to her and prayed with her, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.  This one child was worth the whole trip.

RAISED UP FROM HER DEATH BED

There is a little house in the village Vigoda. Olga and Myckola live there. This couple is one of the oldest in the community as Olga and Myckola were both born in1922.  In 1999 the Mission Team from America met them for the first time. One summer day they called Dr. Mila from our medical clinic and Dr.Gery Sawall whom was on the mission team because Olga was very sick. She was lying in bed and her body was exhausted. She lost all hope of recovery and humbly waited for an hour to die. The doctors examined her and gave her some medicine. Then all people who were present at that time in that room began to pray. Don, who founded Samaritan Ministries in Ukraine, was also there. They asked God to encourage and heal the woman. Miracously God raised her up.  Now Olga is healthy enough to work in the garden and tend to her household duties.  When she doesn't feel well she makes her way to the medical clinic for consultation.  But most of all she praises God for His loving kindness in raising her up.
 

NO LONGER ASHAMED

Yura is the man in the house.  The main man, even though he is only14 years old.  He lives together with his penniless mother and aging grandmother in a small shack.  They attend the Baptist church in Korosten.  Recently Yura became very nervous and irritable, especially when someone came to visit them at their home.  He was ashamed of his shabby living quarters and grubby pants.  Sensing a need to do something about the situation, our Samaritans did some minor renovation on their house and bought Yura a new pair of pants for Christmas.  For the first time in his life Yura was proud of himself and their little shack.  His eyes just shone with gratitude.  Yura is now preparing himself for baptism this summer.  He is no longer ashamed.

FROM FEAR TO FAITH

Lena was scared to death.  The Mafia was after her.  She had been selling watches for them and owed them $50.  They threatened her life.  In despair Lena came to one of our Samaritans for counsel.  Lena had a rebellious spirit, which originally led her into this problem.  She repented and through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord vivaciously began to transform her life.  When we saw her a year later, she was married and her husband was studying at a Bible school in Korosten.  She herself is active in Sunday school working with children. 

A CAMP FOR UNBELIEVERS

Alex, our field director, had a bold new vision: a camp for unbelievers.  There would be lots of fun and fellowship, but the main thing would be a “user-friendly” discussion on How to become a Christian.  Surprisingly, 13 people signed up for the weekend.  Hour after hour they worked their way through a prepared guide, checking out Scripture and applying the Word to themselves.  At the conclusion, Alex said to the campers, “This is the time when we can become one body.  It is the time to overcome our sin: our fear, shame and pride.  We can make a choice right now.  This is not about SMU or me.  It is about you and God, repenting of your sins and letting Jesus come into your life.  I will read the prayer and if you are ready to give your heart to Christ, please repeat after me in a low voice.”  After the prayer, Alex asked the men and women who invited Jesus into their hearts to raise their hands as their first act of public confession.  Seven people raised their hands, among them a “one time” avowed atheist, a criminal trial lawyer, a doctor, a teenager and an alcoholic.

After the moment of decision, Alex prayed with them and gave each of them a Bible.  In recounting the experience later, Alex said, “This is the first time I ever led anyone to Christ.  Maybe I missed something, I don’t know, but I thought it was great. Later I told them about my own experience three years ago when I invited Jesus into my heart during a mission tour.  For almost a year I lived my life the same as always.  Then God sent me the circumstances and the right people who helped me overcome my sins and addictions.  I told the new converts, ‘This is the process of sanctification.’  Everyone liked the camp a lot.  There were several other groups at the camp.  One group started drinking in the morning and by early afternoon they were drunk.  It was a lesson sent from God.  The guys could see the difference between the old way of life and the new.” 

A CATCH 22

One day while at the hospital in Zhitomir, Alex spotted a man lying on the sidewalk outside the building.   At first he thought he was just another drunk.  He was about to pass him by when he noticed the man was an invalid.  Both his feet had been amputated.  The man was covered with rags and smelled to high heaven.   Alex said, “I asked him what his name was.”  He answered, “Victor.”  Victor was about 45 years of age.  He had been lying out in the rain without food or shelter for two days.  The hospital refused to have anything to do with him because he didn’t fit their categories for treatment and the Social Services didn’t want to mess with him because he didn’t have the appropriate documents.  It was a catch 22.

Alex got him some food, clothing, blankets and bedding and then mobilized his team of Samaritans.   They traced his brother down in Solodyri, a remote village 30 km away.  The brother rejected him.  “If you bring him here to me,” he said, “I will feed him to the pigs.”  They then found Victor’s former wife who was reluctant to have anything to do with him, but she eventually gave Alex the man’s passport information.  Putting their meager resources together, the Samaritans managed to collect around $30. to pay the hospital to keep Victor for a week or so until they can determine what to do with him.  Victor is obviously a “throw away” in that society, but to our Samaritans he is a human being who is worth saving. 

A week later Alex and his Samaritan friends went to the passport office to see if they could get the man a new passport.  They got the standard Ukrainian runaround.  The person at the desk sent him to the woman in charge.  The woman in charge sent him to the local registration office. The local registration office sent him to the regional office in Wolodar-Volynski 50 km away.  Our Samaritans want to help this man -- and they will – but in the meantime the State regards him as a nobody not worth the time of the day.

BABY IN A TRASH CAN

It was in the middle of winter.  Someone was going through a trashcan in Pulin looking for food when they found a newly born baby, another “throw away” in a disposable society.  They were aghast.  The baby was still alive.  It was a miracle.  The baby was taken to the local hospital where a social worker was called.  The social worker in turn took the baby to Nina, director of our Samaritan center “where I know it will be well cared for,” she said.  The rescue was a matter of life and death, another miracle.  In this case, it was life.

SCROUNGING FOR FOOD.

We were in Vigoda making our way to Zhitomir.  Suddenly, from the right side of our transport van, we spotted two ill-clad youngsters, a boy and a girl, pulling a huge cart loaded with scrap iron and lumber.  The boy was in front, hooked up like a horse, struggling to make it move, while his sister was behind pushing with all her might.  Instinctively, we stopped, jumped out and helped them pull their precious cargo through the meadow on to the highway.  When we asked what they were doing, they said they had found the iron and wood in the bush and they were on their way to sell it for something to eat.  Later we discovered they were orphans.

PIGS FOR JESUS

We were there on a mission trip.  The Samaritans in Skolobov showed us their huge pig farm.  We were astounded to see the former broken down barns just a few months earlier now transformed into a walled compound, with not one but a number of newly-constructed brick buildings.  In barn after barn, we viewed well-fed contented sows with their snow- white piglets, while in one barn we were shown a half dozen or so undernourished hogs that had just been dropped off from an abandoned collective farm.  We dubbed them “the demon possessed pigs” because they were dirty, dark, skinny, wild, ornery and cantankerous in contrast to the other pigs.  The farm is expected to provide employment for a number of villagers, generate income for Samaritan Ministries and feed the poor.  They are pigs for Jesus.

DEFENDER OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

Galina, one of our Samaritans, owns a small kitchen garden.  It’s less than an acre, but large enough to feed her family of four and share generously with those who are less fortunate, especially widows and orphans.  One day a man with a huge tractor and plow from the nearby collective farm began plowing the field next to her property.  He kept getting closer and closer to the boundary line and finally began encroaching on her land.  Galina stopped him and spoke kindly to the man, thinking that perhaps he didn’t know where the boundary line was.  He knew very well and when it looked as though he was going to continue victimizing her, she took authority in the name of Jesus Christ.

She said, “If you don’t stop right now, I’m going to report you to my Father.”  The man sneered at the simple peasant woman and said, “And who is your father?  “What is his name?”  Galina answered, “He’s a well-known judge in this city who specializes in defending widows and orphans.”  “What’s his name?” the man repeated.  “Where does he work?”  Galina looked him in the eye and responded evenly, “His name is God and He works out of His office in heaven.”  The man looked at her in disbelief, slowly put his hand to the plow, and vanished without a word.  It was a small miracle, but worth the fight.

AN UNFINISHED STORY

In Yasinuka I was told of woman who lives on the edge of town with her two small children.  “She an alcoholic,” Victor said.  “The roof of her house needs repairing.  You can see daylight through it.  Summer or winter, there is no covering.  None.  She has no money.  Can you help?”  When I asked how much he needed, he said, “$200.”   Without hesitation, I reached into my neck pouch and pulled out the necessary funds.  I needed to ask no more.  I trusted Victor.  Victor thanked me for the money and said that the brothers from the center would repair the roof in the next few days.  “You can see the house on the edge of town as you’re leaving, “ he said. 

We found the house.  It was nothing but a broken down shack, with overgrown blackberry bushes around it.  I wondered how she managed in the middle of the winter. Two boys, approximately eight to ten years of age, were playing outside near the door.  When we approached them with candy, pencils and balloons, they disappeared in the bushes like frightened wild animals.  About that time the young alcoholic woman appeared at the door.  She was angry and cursed us.  We told her we meant no harm, but that we had come to tell her that the brothers were going to fix the roof of her house.  She looked puzzled.  Dazed.  She was obviously drunk, though it was not yet noon.

Five days later, we returned to the village.  As we passed the house, we noticed that a beautiful new wooden roof had been installed.  We later learned that when the brothers came to repair the roof, the woman in her drunken stupor, despised them and chased them away, knowing that the kindness of God often leads to repentance.  (Romans 2:4).  The men waited until she left, then quickly roofed the house, and went on their way.   We have no idea what the woman’s immediate response was, but something in us tells us it’s an unfinished story. 

BREAD FROM HEAVEN

While walking on the street in Zhitomir with Galina, a Samaritan, we met a young woman with a child.  The woman was an acquaintance of Galina.  When Galina asked about her welfare, the woman said they were struggling.  “I don’t even have 25 cents to buy a loaf of bread,” she said.  Since the conversation was in Russian, I had no idea what she said, but I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to give her $10.

The following day, Galina again met the woman on the street.  Her face was shinning.  “I was so surprised,” she said, “when that stranger with you yesterday gave me that money.  I thought I met God.  It was bread from heaven.  We were down to our last crumb.”

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE

She lives in squalor with her dog in a one-room shed filled with potatoes.  She is alone and dressed in rags.  In and of herself she has no hope for the future, but with the promise of friendship, she manages not only to survive, but also to thrive.  Once a week, Nataly, director of our Samaritan work in Skolobov, visits her.  She comes loaded with love.  She talks to her, sings with her and prays for her.  In the process, the old babushka is given a new lease on life.

A BIG SACRIFICE

We were sitting in the sanctuary of the Baptist church in Ivanovka with the pastor and several members.  Ivanovka is a very, very poor village.  We wondered how we could help without making them feel like a charity case.  One of our team members noticed a beautiful white crocheted tablecloth on the communion table.  He asked if someone could make another one like it in exchange for a donation to the church.  The woman who made it happened to be sitting there with us and sadly said, “That would be fine, but I have no wool.”   She then told us that in order to make that one, she had to unravel her only sweater.”  Many of the people in the villages are in that kind of a survival mode.  They have nothing, yet they often sacrifice everything.  It may not seem like much, but for her it was a big sacrifice.

FROZEN TO DEATH

It had been a hard winter in Ukraine.  Lots of snow and very cold.  Many people in the villages struggled just to stay alive.  At the director’s meeting, Tatiana, our Samaritan team leader in Tschernjachov, reported this tragic news:  “Two women from our village, a mother and daughter, froze to death last week.  They were alcoholics and simply didn’t have the money to heat their home.  As Samaritans, we gave them a decent burial.”  Later, we bought a chain saw, which the Samaritan team uses to cut wood for the poorest of the poor.  We are determined that this should never happen again.