The Human Cost of Illusive Peace In the Middle East, Ukraine

Please meet me at end of this article where I share why we’re asking God for 100 more children to be sponsored by end of 2025. – Dee

Most of us are hospitable to some extent, but folks in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, take hospitality to whole different level. Lavish dinners for guests and total strangers is not unusual. I’ve been humbled and amazed at the graciousness and welcome I’ve experienced. Cultural norms of honor and traditions are the very warp and a weft of the fabric of their way of life. But war has torn these very threads not a little, leaving families and communities broken, struggling to reconnect.

For many who have no homes left to invite family and friends into and no steady income, it isn’t just pride that is hurt, but the very fabric of these communities being shredded. Families impacted by both the Israel/Palestine and Ukraine/Russia conflicts experience unrelenting drama and trauma. As international leaders step in to broker peace negotiations, what is the human cost of this illusive peace?

Imagine what this peace actually could trigger: neighboring countries working together exchanging peaceful trading, education and business opportunities with the well-being of their citizens in mind. Tragically, instead, it is blood and death that bind these two regions together. The death toll in the Israel/Hamas conflict on the Israel side is 1,195 and on the Gaza side, as many as 62,000, many of whom are civilians, have died. The death toll in the Ukraine/Russia conflict on the Ukrainian side is between 60,000 and 100,000 troops (with another 13,883 civilian deaths). As many as 250,000 Russian troops have died in the Ukraine conflict. Just as peace is illusive, even the exact numbers of those who gave their all are shrouded in confusion and secrecy.

While peace talks drag on (see page 4), cell phones, mind-numbing YouTube and Instagram are no match for broken families and missing limbs. This is where churches are trying to step in, but many pastors and churches are in great need of help too.

The clear differentiation between God’s intent and Satan’s intent simply could not be more stark: Life and death. God’s side is Life with a Capital L, as Pastor Matt Heard says, and as for Satan’s side, he has only death in mind – death on earth as well as eternal death. This is no ying and yang resistance and struggle. This is not a match like the matches between super powers like Godzilla and King Ghidorah, roaring over poor little humans, rather, this is the King of Kings, the maker of everything (Cont’d on page 2)
who allows Satan to have his way. For a time. God is sovereign, He is firmly in control, even though it’s at times so difficult for our human eyes to see and keep that in mind. Many struggle with why a loving God would allow this kind of suffering. Doesn’t He see it, doesn’t He care? Yes, He sees it all, and the evil He is more caring and loving than we an imagine. What we see today is a temporary struggle with pain and suffering. God has already won the final battle and Revelations 21:4 says that one day there will be no more pain, no more suffering and no more tears.

The message for war-weary families is the same one you and I need, for we too are in a war, though perhaps not physical, certainly a spiritual war for the hearts and minds of our families, children, marriages, communities and country. The issue is that we don’t keep in mind that we are at war – many things and comforts tend to distract us, keeping us from facing our moral need for God. We too are broken and in need of redemption, of healing.

Earlier this year in Iraq I sat with one of our dear refugee families in a refugee camp listening to an update on their lives. Yousef and Miriam (not their real names) are from Syria with three teens who have been in our CSP for years. Once living on two upper middle class salaries, this precious father and mother struggle – after over eight years as refugees – with finances, health issues and providing for their family they never expected to grow up in a refugee camp in North Iraq. Visas to Australia continue to be stalled. Yet I saw smiles on both their faces. Even as they work hard to provide, their faith has never been stronger and their main focus is passing their faith on to their children.

The girl in the photo, left, is Donya and on the right, the tall boy is her younger brother Yousef receiving their backpacks this month. They were some of the first children in our Iraqi Child Sponsorship Program in 2017. While stopped at a checkpoint, their parents were murdered in front of them, when they were four and two years old respectively. They lay under their mother’s body for two days until a policeman found them and took them to their uncle. Imagine the trauma they have endured. But the story continues and grace has been poured over them; with God’s help they doing well. Our team regularly checks on them encouraging them in school and in the Word. They are loved and cared for.

Scriptures remind us not to be afraid and to live in faith, by faith. This is the message we share with refugees, who struggle with anxiety and fear and trusting God. Not the positive message, “keep the faith and all will be well” because false hope is not truth. Rather, we share the truth of eternal hope found only in Jesus Christ and that because He gave all, and He lives, we know we belong to Him. And if we know that, then nothing can separate us from His love – not even the chaos, and death stemming from corrupt leaders and broken promises. Maybe this encouragement is for your heart today.

We are not able to fix the tears in cultural fabrics but we can share the Hope of Christ with children and their families who, as they come to full salvation begin to find healing and a new beginning. Churches and communities can rebuild and restore relationships, putting aside the rubble of the past for a new work that only God can bring about. We are seeing this in the lives of refugees!

I am asking God for more transformations, more healings! In that light, I am asking God for 100 more children to share Christ with this year. The most effective evangelism outreaches for us have proven to be child sponsorships. Our teams minister faithfully to children and their families, then our local pastors follow up. This is how we are planting churches. And this is how God is healing families, communities and churches. Through his regenerative love.
I’m asking you to pray with me for 100 more children to be sponsored by the end of 2025. The cost is $39/month, or $498 a year. If you have been thinking of sponsoring, would you join me today and sponsor a child with Indigenous Ministries?

The human cost of peace negotiations is great, but God gave His son so we might have lasting peace. He made the final negotiation once and for all. No matter what kings and leaders do, God is our lasting peace, the healer of hearts, families and communities. Satan does not have the victory. God will not fail us, and we continue to proclaim Him. Thank you for your partnership with Indigenous Ministries.

Dee A. Cook, CEO