There is a phrase that we often hear growing up, “Follow Your Dreams.” For some it is to be an astronaut, or maybe a doctor or a farmer. As a child, we have many unbridled dreams of what our lives will be like and what our lives can be. Then the realities of life in this fallen world and natural limitations set in, and we revise those dreams. Tied to those “dreams” is a hope for something more. As the dreams of a future fade, so does hope. In contrast, when we are filled with hope, we are filled with possibilities and we look forward to something more.

As young children in Ukraine imagine what their lives might be like, their dreams have been interrupted by the invasion, the loss of life around them, and possibly even injuries to themselves. When the world is closing in, it is hard to imagine a future. Yet this is what God does. He assures us and comforts us that there is a future grander than what we could ever imagine.

God reminds us in His Word that this world is broken, and that life can be very hard. But God also teaches us, His little children, that we should not define our future by our present circumstances – either good or bad. We should instead look to Him, and let our dreams be filled with the certainty that in Christ the best is yet to come. Where our earthly dreams may be faulty at best, our heavenly dream is a promise secured through faith in Jesus Christ. Pastor Sergei is an SGA-supported missionary pastor in Ukraine who sees the pain in the eyes of young children and tries to comfort their hearts. Sergei is ministering to refugee families in his region and seeks to point them to hope. He shares...

“We continue to serve God and people in such war conditions. We accept refugees at our home. We help those who need any help. There are those from Bucha, Irpen, and Kyiv.

On April 18, we started our first meetings with children who live with their parents in the dormitory of one of the educational institutions in our town. About 20 refugee families have been granted shelter for an indefinite period of time. They are from different regions. There are people from Mariupol, Donetsk, Dnipro, Kyiv, Bucha, and Irpen. I had a conversation on the topic, “Follow Your Dream.” We carefully touched on the stories of how they lived through the evacuation. One young girl responded on the expression of following dreams. She simply said, “It is going through from the beginning to reach the end.” I realised that children who are 10-13 years old spoke to me in full adult language.”

The dreams that the children once had have been replaced with just surviving and moving on from all they had known to a place of safety. Their earthly dreams have faded, and they are being forced to grow up too quickly. In times like these in Ukraine, where all earthly dreams are shattered, it is difficult to move forward. Sergei adds...

“One boy said, “I don't have grandparents anymore.” I immediately tried to support him, that he should continue to live one with his relatives and, most importantly, to not lose hope. Now we are preparing the next meeting with them. We are also discussing the possibility of helping parents. Please, continue praying for us and our country. We really need it. Thank you so much!”

SGA-supported missionary pastors in Ukraine are ministering to little children and their parents who have lost any dreams of what their future held. In these times, these faithful pastors point a weary people to Christ, to a hope of standing in heaven one day with Him where there is no more pain and no more suffering. This is a dream, a promise filled with hope, that nothing in this world can destroy. For those who follow Christ, hold fast to the hope of heaven in these challenging days. For those struggling with the hopeless, let God’s Word become your hope and promise in Jesus Christ for He will never leave you or forsake you.