Another night of war is coming. God, have mercy on us!
The enemy has lost any human face, they are destroying everything they can reach with their rockets. We don’t know the numbers of casualties among civilians but these numbers are already high and growing. The Russian general who gave the order to destroy Kharkiv with bombings had been born in Kharkiv. I keep wondering if these people have hearts. What is happening in the head of a Russian pilot who drops bombs on civilian buildings knowing that there are children there?

Today we read that during 12 days of war Russian aggressors destroyed or damaged 202 schools, 34 hospitals, more than 1500 residential buildings, many of those were multi-storied. 900 of our towns and villages are without electricity, water, heat. This week’s temperature will drop to -9C at night. God, please, keep warm our defenders and people who have no roof over their head or no heat in their home!

Many of you, our friends, are urging us to leave Kyiv. We said this before – we believe we are in the place where God wants us at this difficult time. In any case, leaving Kyiv is not a good option. We were coming up to our apartment in the elevator with a neighbor this afternoon. We asked her how she was doing. Her eyes were full of terror. She said her family tried to get out of Kyiv today in direction of Zhytomyr and on the road they got into a Russian ambush. There were about 30 Ukrainian civilian cars stopped. Russians pulled men and even teenage boys out of the cars, lined them up, and threatened to shoot. She said Russian soldiers all seemed to be on drugs. She reached her floor and exited the elevator. We don’t know how they got back to Kyiv, but they did, thank God. We believe even with all the bombings and shelling we are safer in Kyiv where every person is ready to defend our city!

I was messaging a few times with the Principe of Danny’s former school. Together with her daughters, she had joined the territorial defense unit. So many people did (men and women), so many more will if the enemy gets even closer to our homes! When the whole nation becomes an army how can Putin hope to occupy Ukraine and keep it under occupation?!

During these 12 days of war 479 babies were born in Kyiv – 251 boys, 228 girls. Our baby girl will bring a little more balance into these numbers when she arrives . Tomorrow is Sasha’s official due date, though statistics show that only 4% of babies are born on the due date. Please, keep praying for Sasha!

As I was writing this post we moved to bomb shelter again. We heard a distant explosion. The night is coming, the bombings intensify.

Our night prayers today are with Psalm 11:
In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
“Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
~Maia

Please share these updates with others. Your prayers are precious to us. Thank you!
For those of you who use Facebook, I have fixed the link below. There are several updates from our
churches across Ukraine.

In Christ,
Brandy Ezzell
International Partnerships