Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks,
the door will be opened.

— Matthew 7:7-8

             In November of 2022, I had the honor and privilege of traveling to Ukraine to volunteer my time and talents. I was so grateful for the opportunity to help, as the sheer injustice of the whole situation had been tugging on my heart-strings for months. In partnership with Medic Corps, an Arkansas-based disaster relief nonprofit organization, and Grace Bible Church, which has been sowing the seeds of Christ’s love in Kyiv for thirty years, I helped organize and conduct a mobile medical clinic in a recently liberated, rural village in eastern Ukraine.

             The clinic was an incredible success. We saw forty to fifty people in just a few hours. My team provided Ukrainian citizens with free medical care, medications, and supplies to help them survive this harsh winter. Most of our patients were elderly, grandmothers and grandfathers, and they did not have easy access to hospitals or clinics. Our location was more than a two-hour drive to the nearest hospital, and snow was on the ground. Sadly, traditional medical care facilities have become targets for missile and drone strikes, so people are scared to seek care there.

             People were already lined up at the make-shift clinic building’s door when we arrived, and they were so gracious and appreciative. (This building had been hit by a missile earlier in the war– guys were up on the roof, repairing it, when we arrived!) God overcame all obstacles and uncertainties, and trust me, there were many! From denied border crossings, to power outages across all of Ukraine, to heavy, slushy snow on the ground (which added hours to our travel time), to the availability of local doctors—any one of these things could have resulted in the clinic being interrupted or worse— not even happening.

             When I was despairing about whether we would even be able to get into the country— of course, the night we attempted to cross from Poland into Ukraine was November 15, the one day during the entire conflict when Poland was struck by a stray missile— the border guard told us that the border was closed; he didn’t know why; he didn’t know when or if it would re-open; and no, we could not stay there and wait— my colleague, Joseph, calmly offered some sage words of advice: sometimes, it may seem as though a door is closed… but sometimes, you just need to turn the handle to open it. We prayed. And God opened that closed door! We got up at 3:00 AM and drove to the border again, where we were able to cross after a three-hour wait.

             I feel very strongly that God brought us the people He wanted us to see— and He did one better— He provided the people and resources we needed to make the clinic a success. Thank you for all of your prayer support during this time! Those prayers were answered in amazing ways. One major area of uncertainty going into the clinic was the availability of local doctors on the ground. A Ukrainian family medicine doctor had agreed to volunteer with us, but her availability depended on external factors such as weather conditions and electricity. We had off-site doctors on standby to serve via telemedicine, if needed—and if that capability was even available for the day and location of the clinic. But the MVP of the clinic that day was added in last-minute— less than two days before the clinic was to take place, we got confirmation that a Ukrainian cardiologist would be working with us.

             The cardiologist was the perfect final piece to the puzzle. Of the patients we saw that day— every single one of them had high blood pressure. Living in a war zone will do that to you, it seems. But more than that— many of them had complex cardiac issues, including one man who had just suffered a heart attack in July; one who was in heart failure with an ejection fraction of 25%; and one sweet grandma who had the highest blood pressure I’ve ever seen— 200s over 130s— and it did not go down with medication. The cardiologist heavily stressed the need, to her granddaughter, to re-check the grandmother’s blood pressure when they got home, and if it hadn’t gone down by then, to take her to a hospital. (That’s stroke-level blood pressure, folks).

             One woman really broke my heart wide-open that day. She was elderly, eighty-something, and she had come unaccompanied. I saw reflections of my own recently-passed grandmother in her blue-gray eyes, as she wept while telling us her story. She told us that she couldn’t sleep at night, due to being overwhelmed by fear. I asked her if she would like us to pray for her. She said yes. So our pastor and translators prayed over this woman, for her to receive God’s peace that surpasses all understanding, for God to make Himself and His great love known to her, for her to learn to trust in the Lord. I felt compelled to reach out, to hug her, to offer the earthly comfort of human touch, so I did. Her tears fell on my shoulder while her fragile chest heaved and trembled with each sob. I did my best to project a calm presence, to project the peace and power of the Spirit. Eventually, she calmed. I’ve continued to pray for her since then, and I hope she’s doing okay. I’ll carry her in my heart for so long as it beats in my chest.

             One man came in with a hand injury. He’d burned his hand while cooking a couple of days earlier— hot oil seared off several layers of skin on the fleshy part of his hand between his thumb and forefinger. He’d applied iodine to it and had it open to air when he arrived. I cleaned it, applied antibiotic ointment, and dressed it for him. I then instructed him on how to properly care for it at home, to avoid infection. Funny isn’t it, that I knew exactly what to tell him, seeing as I had just suffered my own traumatic hand injury two months prior… (see “God Speaks–Amputation Anxiety” post).

             I love to marvel at the way that God’s plans unfold. I feel that He prepared me in advance for this clinic in Ukraine— by directing my steps to the medical mission trip that I participated in with my church this past June, in Honduras (see “Honduras Mission Trip — Saved by Grace” post). When I was asked to help the team with this first-of-its-kind-for-us clinic, I had the Honduras template in my mind, and I adapted it to the situation in Ukraine. In June, I had no idea, not even the faintest inkling— that I would be traveling to Ukraine. Much less, that I’d be helping with a medical clinic. I’m a planner-at-heart. I like to know things in advance. But God doesn’t always give us advance notice. I’m learning to be okay with that, to let go and let God, as they say.

             That being said, I feel like my work in Ukraine is not done. I’ve been praying for guidance on my next steps, and my heart is still being called towards Ukraine (see “Sunflower Story” post). Unless something changes, I expect to return to Ukraine in March or April. God willing, our goal is to continue conducting these clinics, with each week or two in a new location. I thank you for your prayers as we continue striving to serve and provide care to the incredibly courageous people of Ukraine!