This update is being coordinated and released with Grace Ministries International (GMI). GMI is the sending agency for some of the faculty and leaders of the TMAI school in Ukraine.
As the situation worsens in Ukraine, our team members have shared the following updates and prayer requests.
Updates:
- Both of our missionaries are still in Ukraine. One is still hosting church services in Kyiv, and the other has moved from Kyiv but remains in the country. He has helped several of his church members relocate either to safer countries or safer cities. However, bombs have recently hit an airport in western Ukraine, which raises concerns about the general safety of western Ukrainian cities. This missionary is praying for wisdom regarding whether to travel throughout western Ukraine and help his church members there, since gas shortages and mechanical problems heighten the risk of getting stranded without help.
- A TMAI faculty member and pastor comments on his situation: “Every day, from morning until night, [we are] on our feet, so I am a little bit tired.” This faculty member has also been able to purchase significant amounts of food to disperse to those in need. They’ve taken others into their shelter, including a child and a man in need of medical treatment for sickness. Requests for shelter have come in every day and the church expects them to continue. Thankfully, a team from TMAI’s school in Berlin drove a truck with supplies into Ukraine to deliver aid to this pastor’s church (link here to video). The drivers have successfully made it back out of the country and the faculty member is prayerfully looking to distribute these resources.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for one TMAI pastor and faculty member in Chernihiv. He usually contacts one of our GMI & TMAI missionaries every morning, but the missionary has not heard from him and has tried to contact him without success. Please pray for him and his family.
- Pray for one graduate of our seminary who is a pastor in Mariupol. He is ministering to the people there while under constant bombing and shelling. The city is surrounded and has no light, water, or heat. Please pray that the Lord would either make a safe corridor to be able to evacuate people, or even disperse the Russian soldiers, which He has done over and over to enemies in the Old Testament.
- Pray for a pastor from the same church as one of our GMI/TMAI missionaries. He and his son were last heard from several days ago while they, along with about 150 other people, are sheltering in the basement of a nearby church because of heavy fighting around them. They lost power, internet, water, and likely heat. It is several degrees below freezing today. We do not know how they are doing or what is going on. Pray for supernatural strength and wisdom to go through this excruciatingly difficult and scary trial.
- Pray for the many churches in Ukraine that are preparing emergency boxes of food and essentials for those in urgent need of help. Pray for their safety as they deliver them. A few days ago, one person was killed trying to deliver such aid. Pray for the gospel to go out in the midst of all things and that a great revival will result.
Thank you for keeping Ukraine in your prayers,
The Master’s Academy International
Grace Ministries International
