December 28, 2022

Dear Friends,

The year 2022 is almost gone. In thinking over the events of the past 12 months the word “momentous” came to mind. Being one who loves words, I was compelled to look it up.

Momentous—adjective: significant, important, serious, vital, critical, crucial, grave, historic, decisive, pivotal, weighty, consequential, earth-shaking.
Antonym: trivial, trifling, insignificant, unimportant, inconsequential.

A momentous year! It was certainly filled with unexpected, historic and significant events, giving rise to contemplation of what is significant and what is not. So many thoughts flood my mind. The new year started without fanfare, although we did set off a few fireworks from the deck of our home in Ukraine. Little did we know that those little rockets and subsequent bangs were but harbingers of what would soon ensue.

On February 24 we were wakened by the sound of bombs exploding close to Kyiv. We left almost everything behind as we embarked on a three-day evacuation with only a small carryon suitcase. It has now been more than 300 days since the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We are thankful for Project Dynamo and their work of getting Americans out of Ukraine. We also are grateful for wonderful friends who met us in Romania and bought us first-class tickets to America.

Upon arriving in the US we had no idea what the Lord had in store for us. But we were immediately overwhelmed by grace as we were afforded a place to live, a car to drive, and even a wardrobe for each of us.

Since last March we have traveled to some 30 states, speaking in many churches, telling not only of our exodus under the mercies of God which are new every morning, but also teaching the Word, some were single events, some were conferences. In addition to those opportunities, we returned to Europe to carry on ministries. We were in Poland for a six-day conference and even visited loved ones in Ukraine for a few days. We flew into Yerevan, Armenia, for two weeks of teaching there.

After a few weeks back in the States we went to Zambia for two weeks of teaching there. We went to two cities where we had not taught before, and the response was really enthusiastic. They asked us to come back soon, so we have already scheduled conferences for next April.

That is the quick review of our year. Even though the Bible college in Ukraine is on hiatus during the war, the Lord has still given us many open doors to teach the Word of God. What a joy!

The Word of God Church in Kyiv still meets in spite of the war. The majority of the congregation has fled the city, some to western Ukraine, others to countries in Europe and some even to the US. Those who can’t attend in person continue to meet online under the very capable leadership of Pastor Oleg Lozinski. They also meet for prayer online every morning and evening.

Below is a letter we just received and I thought you would enjoy reading about the fruit our ministry has borne:

*****
Dear Pastor Jim Myers and Phyllis,

A year ago at this time our circumstances were completely different from what we are experiencing now. We were in Ukraine and as a newly formed church we were all so excited to celebrate the birth of our savior.

No one knew that a war would begin in two months. Today, we are in the 10th month of being away from Ukraine. We have seen so many of God’s wonders on the way unto here to UK. We are in the season of Christmas to celebrate the birth of the One who came into the world to finally redeem people from the slavery of sin by going onto the cross to offer himself as the substitutional sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins.

Let me say Merry Christmas to you and to your family and to your church. What we know about the meaning of Christmas and Christ as its center is due to the fellowship we had with you all through these last more than two decades. I and my family are so grateful to the Lord for you being in our life, walking with us in our Christian journey, praying for us and standing with us in all the seasons of life. Thanks for being a star for Jesus in this dark world and being in our life with the good news of Jesus Christ. We desire a wonderful Christmas time for you. Please know that you are remarkable in our life. THANK YOU for what you have done in our life and in the life of others in this world.

Ali, Tanya and Ramin

*****

Phyllis wrote a short book titled Why Me? This was in response to many people who were asking, not “why did this happened to me?” But “why did I survive?” It gives answers to both believers and unbelievers. It is intended to give comfort and encouragement for believers and to let the unbeliever know that God has spared them to give them an opportunity to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. It is available in English, Russian, Ukrainian, and you can download it from our webpage.Please print it out or forward it to those you think would benefit from it.

We give thanks to the Father for all of you who have had a part in our ministry. Know that our gracious Father has been pleased to answer your prayers on our behalf. Your letters of encouragement and your faithful support have been a tremendous blessing for us. May the Lord continue to work in you and through you in this coming year. May you shine as lights in the darkness of a perverse and crooked generation.

All by grace,

Jim

P.S.: I received many queries about Ukraine, especially in light of very negative remarks made by some in the media lately. I will give you my perspective in my next letter. [Note: this letter was sent Dec 23rd, 2022 and can be viewed here.

December 23, 2022

Dear Friends,

I have had many queries concerning a number of troubling reports concerning Ukraine. Some are in response to a recent diatribe by Tucker Carlson on FoxNews. https://youtu.be/PbUZurUIcfI

Others questions relate to various articles on different news sites on the Internet. I do not claim to be an expert on Ukrainian politics, or US politics for that matter. But I hope that my perspective might help to clarify a few issues.

First, let me say that I neither appreciate nor agree with Tucker Carlson’s assessment of what is going on in Ukraine. His view, in my opinion, is short-sighted and ill-informed in several respects. The first clue to this can be seen in his criticism of the manner in which President Zelensky of Ukraine was dressed for his address to a joint session of Congress, characterizing it as something that might be worn by a strip-club manager. In the same rant, he also made a snarky remark about older members of Congress wearing orthopedic shoes. This certainly adds no credibility to his assertions.

Next, let me address the issue about Zelensky being anti-Christian and that he is trying to shut down churches. Zelensky is quoted as saying, “Personal economic and restrictive sanctions will be applied to any Christian caught worshiping in unapproved ways.” There is no doubt that this was said, but what does it mean

The religious culture in Ukraine is rather complicated; some of this is a historical problem which has existed for centuries, and some of it is contemporary. You can do an Internet search for Ukrainian Orthodox Church if you want to get the historical background. The current situation in a nutshell is this: There is a Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchy and there is a Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchy. Those under the Moscow patriarchy are tied to Russia. The Ukrainian government inspected several locations and gave notice to several clergy, believing that some of those churches were promoting Russia in its war against Ukraine, were transmitting military information to Russian leaders about the location of Ukrainian troops and materiel, and were hiding caches of weapons and saboteurs in their church buildings and monasteries. The Security Service of Ukraine stated that it was investigating allegations that church property was being used “to hide sabotage and intelligence groups, foreign citizens, storing weapons.” As of last month, officials said 33 priests had been arrested for assisting Russia since it invaded in February, most of them charged with gathering intelligence and feeding it to Moscow’s forces.

The actions on the part of Ukraine were carried out in a tiny fraction of Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of the Moscow Patriarchy. It was not an attack on Christianity or a particular denomination, rather it was a response to information that certain clergy were promoting support for Russia in this war, and that certain locations were being used for military purposes against Ukraine.

It should also be pointed out that those so critical of this so-called “anti-Christian” action have completely failed to note Russia’s bombing of numerous churches during this war. Churches that were housing refugees, many of them with children inside, were deliberately targeted by Russia. They have also been silent about Russia’s arrest of Ukrainian clergy, and in one well-known case, a Protestant clergyman and his son were taken prisoner, tortured, and murdered.

As one who has lived in the former Soviet Union for 30 years, my opinion is that Ukraine is a country that has had great religious freedom and tolerance. There is an openness to Christianity not seen in any other European country. Evangelical churches are proliferating throughout the country. Evangelical ministries have been pushed out of Russia, and non-Orthodox churches must be very careful about their activities. Many missionary organizations who left Russia set up operations in Ukraine. We have enjoyed many years of religious freedom in Ukraine and have seen much fruit from our work there.

Other questions being asked:

Why should America help Ukraine in this war?
To begin with, in 1994, America, along with the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland signed what is known as the Budapest Memorandum. In this document, the US made commitments and gave assurances “to provide assistance to Ukraine … if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.”

This was in connection with Ukraine giving up all of its nuclear weapons. America promised, in essence, to protect Ukraine against Russian aggression. But now people are saying that this was not a formal treaty, and that America has no legal responsibility to fulfill its promises, in spite of words in the documents such as “commitment,” “confirm,” and “will” (not “shall”). In other words, our assurances, our promises, or our words have no meaning. If that is the case, why would anyone ever believe anything we might say

Is Russia America’s enemy?
Well, they certainly are not our friend. Since World War II they have been working against us to weaken us and to bring us down. The implication in the question is that since Russia has not directly attacked us, they are not the enemy.

What is the goal of helping Ukraine?
Mitch McConnell said that helping Ukraine defeat Russia is our number one priority. While I think that there are much greater issues that America needs to address, I do think it is important to help Ukraine to keep Russia from asserting hegemony over neighboring countries, such as was experienced in the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslavakia, and Putin’s 1999 invasion of Chechnya, which resulted in its capital, Grozny, being declared by the UN to be the “most destroyed city on earth.” Putin made reference to Chechnya as a model for his invasion of Ukraine, stating that it was a war against terrorism. It would seem that he would like to destroy cities in Ukraine even as he did in Chechnya. It must be noted that Ukraine was invaded without provocation. Ukraine was not committing acts of terrorism against Russia or against Russian people, as Putin falsely claimed.

I have no answer as to what extent the US ought to help Ukraine in this war. I do know this: Putin has inflicted incredible suffering and damage in Ukraine. Many atrocities and barbaric cruelties against innocent Ukrainians have been documented. America has certainly made a lot of bad decisions about its involvement with other nations over the years, but I don’t think that helping Ukraine to maintain or regain its freedom is a bad decision. Thinking back to World War II, was it a bad decision for us to become involved in the war in Europe? Was Germany our enemy when they invaded Poland and France and began its attacks on Britain?

Some people are objecting to the amount of money that has been committed to this endeavor. And yet, the US has spent much more in helping countries that are sworn enemies of America. On balance, the amount that the US is pouring into Ukraine is a pittance when compared to the pork barrel and foreign aid spending. Of course, this is not a justification for any policy with regard to foreign aid. Decisions about the US supporting Ukraine will be made by the politicians. We can’t change that. But we can change what we are doing in the spiritual realm.

Whether or not you agree with the political stance taken by the US with regard to Ukraine, at the very least, we as Christians ought to be involved in ministering to the Ukrainian people. We need to be in much earnest prayer for these people who are suffering greatly. Pray that Christians there will stand firm in their faith, that it might be a testimony to the glory of God even in the midst of tribulation. Pray that they will use the suffering as an intensified opportunity to serve the Lord and to give the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to those who are lost. Pray, too, that the Lord will supply their material needs. No matter what the government might do, we can still show love, mercy, and compassion through the giving of material aid. The solution to man’s problems is ultimately spiritual, not political. What should we be doing for our brothers and sisters in Christ?

In previous letters, I have addressed questions about corruption and anti-Semitism in Ukraine. We are living in a sinful world, and we can’t solve that problem. Only God has the solution for that. Let’s keep our focus on the spiritual aspect.

May the Lord be glorified in you and through you as we celebrate the birth of the One who came to save us from our sins, and may the coming year be one in which you bear much fruit in your service for our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift,

Jim

P.S. :Phyliss's booklet, “Why Me?” is now available for download in English, Ukrainian, and Russian. Click here to access the links to download the PDFs.

November 2022

Dear Friends,

What an amazing journey it has been since leaving Houston on October 7. We flew to Krakow, Poland. I spoke six days in a row, two hours each day, and in five different cities. The churches were all in the Brethren camp, having a grace gospel and a literal hermeneutic. The church leaders have a good doctrinal foundation, and I really enjoyed the fellowship. The response of the people was very enthusiastic, and I have been invited to come back to teach some courses in the not-too-distant future. The home which was our base in Poland was literally in the back yard of Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Since we were traveling to different cities each day to teach we didn’t visit there. I have been there some years ago and would like to see it again, but that will have to wait.

Another treat for us was to see our college student, Denis, along with his wife and son, who are now living in Poland. He drove to each of the places where I taught that week. He is a Belarusian citizen, but he does not want to return there for fear that he would be drafted and be required to fight against Ukraine. Because he is not Ukrainian, he was permitted to leave Ukraine after the war started. He has now obtained legal documents from the Polish government which allow him to live and to work in Poland. Denis was just a few months short of finishing his course requirements to graduate from Word of God College. He disciplined himself to take the remaining courses through videos and online correspondence. We are very proud of him; he is going to make a fine pastor-teacher. He and his wife are currently working among Ukrainian refugees who are attending a Polish church.

Following our week in Poland we had a truly wonderful time returning to Ukraine for a few days. We went to the western city of Lviv. This is a delightful old European city with cobblestone streets and many promenades. The leaves were turning gold, red, yellow, and brown, combining with those still green to paint a delightful landscape. But the greatest treat was reunion with many loved ones.

Vasya Munko is pastor of Word of God Church in Lviv, where he has ministered for more than 15 years. He was one of my earliest students in Ukraine, going back to the late 90s when I taught at Ukraine Bible Institute, and he was one of the first graduates of Word of God Bible College. After studying with us in Kyiv, he went to Mogilev, Belarus, where he worked with the church we had planted there. After a couple of years there he went to Lviv and started a church. He has done an outstanding job of verse-by-verse and categorical theological teaching to prepare his people to face the war and to minister to the thousands of refugees who have come into Lviv.

The facility where the church had been meeting is now being used as a shelter for refugees, mostly women with children, or some old folks who had to flee their homes. Mattresses line the floor in what had been the auditorium, and it is crowded. But at this point it is safe, warm, and dry. Another room is stacked with boxes of donated clothing and dry food stuffs. The church bought a washing machine and a dryer to take care of laundry. They have no kitchen in this place, but they have arranged for a nearby restaurant to cook the food for these refugees. We are so thankful for you have contributed to help supply these material needs. But the most important aspect of the ministry there is that the people are being provided with spiritual food on a daily basis as Vasya and others meet with them for prayer and Bible study.

On Sunday I had the joy of preaching at the church. Not only did we have a good turnout for face-to-face teaching, but there were even more who joined us online. Then we were overjoyed when a contingent of our loved ones from Kyiv drove to Lviv just to spend some time with us. Oleg Lozinsky, pastor of Word of God Church in Kyiv, came with his wife. Two other couples came as well, along with some of our young adults. It was a such a blessing for us to have a day with them. They are all doing well and standing firm in their faith.

Also, a young man currently serving on the front lines in the Ukrainian artillery had a few rest days and was able to join us. He left us spellbound with so many war stories, some of them were amazing testimonies of God’s grace in delivering him and his unit from immediate dangers, including being shot at by the enemy and having the bullets hit the dirt right in front of his feet. In other cases, his vehicle was actually strafed by hostile fire, but he and his team escaped with only minor injuries. One of the interesting points he made was that most of the Russian soldiers were continually drunk or getting high on drugs. Obviously, this is not a good strategy for effective warfare. Our man enlisted right after the war began in later February. He had no prior military experience and has received little training. However, he is a natural leader/administrator. He knows how to motivate people and how to get things done. Since he has proven to be conscientious, resourceful, and reliable, he has been appointed acting company commander. This is not something he wanted, but his superiors told him that they would tell him what to do, and that he needed to get it done. He has been a good testimony to his squad and platoon, witnessing to them, praying with them and for them. I believe God has plans to use him. For a couple of reasons I cannot give you his name at this time, but please do pray for him. He will also take with him “Bible Sticks” produced by the ministry, “Faith Comes by Hearing” located in Albuquerque, NM. These Bible Sticks, which are small MP3 players, have an audio Bible in the Ukrainian language. Along with each stick is a pair of earphones. This enables the soldiers to be able to listen to a reading of the Bible whenever they have opportunity. They also come with instructions on how they can download the Bible to their cell phones in virtually any language they want. We pray that these will be used by the Lord to comfort the Christian warriors in Ukraine and also to bring unsaved soldiers to faith in Christ.

Through the contacts we made in Poland we have been able to ship some sorely needed supplies into Ukraine. We have purchased some power generators for churches in areas where they have been without electricity for a long time. In addition we have been able to purchase food, which is being given to pastors to distribute among their congregations. In this way we know that the food is going to people who are truly in need.

After our brief visit to Ukraine we returned to Poland to get a flight to Zambia. The temperature was freezing in Krakow and it was necessary to de-ice the plane. When we arrived in Africa it was close to triple digits! It took us almost two days to get to Zambia because of layovers and changing airlines. But we arrived in Lusaka, the capital city, and drove out to the village of Chipembi. This was the first place I taught in Zambia back in the year 2001. I have gone back there every year since then, except for the time when Covid restrictions prevented me from doing so. The village is still without electricity, although they have been promised power for several years. They still lack running water as well. A number of years ago we raised money to drill a couple of wells in the area, but they have since gotten plugged up. So we funded a renovation of the wells in the village, and now they are enjoying fresh water again. The church there is strong, being pastored by Benjamin who has studied with us for the past 20 years. We had a great time in Chipembi, preaching to a church that was packed wall-to-wall and overflowing out the doors. Exciting!

On Monday we made a drive three hours north to Kabwe, the capital of the Central Province. This was our first time to hold a conference in that city. The response was very enthusiastic and they are eager to have us come back to teach them again. Our schedule started at 9:00 in the morning and went until 4:00 in the afternoon. Our venue was in a church building whose electricity came from a small generator outside. This did provide for lights and a sound system, but there was no air conditioning, and the temperature was close to 100 four days in a row. I was grateful to have help in teaching from Benjamin and from Charles, two Zambian pastors with whom I have worked for many years now, but I did the bulk of the teaching.

On Saturday we drove back to Lusaka and got on the bus to go to Livingstone. It should be a pleasant seven-hour drive, but because of some things that came up it turned out to be a ten-hour journey and we didn’t get in until late at night. We got up the next morning and went to Charles’ church where I had the privilege of teaching for an hour and a half. One of the unique features of this church is that people bring hard copies of the Bible, and when you tell them to turn to a passage, the auditorium comes alive with the crepitations of turning pages. In addition to that, almost everyone in that congregation has a notebook and takes notes during the message.

From there we went to another city, new to me, named Kalomo, about 2 hours north of Livingstone. We had people from about a dozen different congregations in this city, representing several denominations. These people, although they have been saved for some time and are active in church, have never been exposed to sound doctrinal Bible teaching. Our schedule was as the previous week, starting at 9:00 in the morning and going until 4:00 in the afternoon, with an hour break for lunch. The temperature here was also in the mid to upper 90s with no A/C. It was demanding, but oh so rewarding. The people were super attentive and wanted more and more. At the end of each day they had lots and lots of questions. They begged us to come back soon to teach them more. So, already we have made tentative plans to return next April to do conferences in those two cities. It is also gratifying that they have invited the Zambian pastors Benjamin and Charles to come back to teach in their churches as well.

After all of that we flew to South Africa. We had the great joy of meeting Tom and Cheryl Molinar, missionaries in South Africa. We have known about them for years and have had some correspondence with them, but we had never met them. So this year we tacked a few days onto our itinerary so that we could finally meet them. They hosted us at Kruger National Park, which is a huge game preserve. We spent two fabulous days driving through a tiny fraction of the park, seeing so many animals that it was overwhelming. We saw large herds of elephants, all kinds of deer and antelope, leopards, cape buffalo, rhinos, crocodiles, warthogs, and many amazing birds that ranged from big vultures to tiny oxpeckers that piggy back on rhinos and giraffes. It was wonderful way to unwind after the vigorous schedule of the previous month. Thanks, Tom and Cheryl, for your most gracious hospitality.

Now we are headed back to Houston. I don’t know what we will be doing in the near future or in what place(s) we may being doing it, but “have Bible, will travel.”

We thank all of you who have been praying for us. The Father has certainly been faithful in answering your prayers.

All by grace,

Jim

October 10, 2022

Dear Friends,

We are in Poland, just a stone's throw away from Auschwitz. We began our 6 days of teaching here on Sunday in a Brethren Church. Wonderful service. We continued tonight and had a great response.

We have been without internet for 3 days and so we did not get the news about today's missile strikes against Ukraine until after the night's lessons. I called to talk with Oleg in Kyiv. He was very grim faced as he spoke about the bombing in Kyiv. A dozen people were reported to have been killed and several dozen wounded in the missile attacks that took place on civilian targets during rush hour. From our standpoint the good news is that all of our people are alive. Praise the Lord for His mercy and His wonderful works to the children of men.

Vasya Munko, pastor in Lviv, reportedly spent four hours in the basement of their home until the bombing was ended there. The power in the city has been knocked out, as well as the heating for homes. We are planning to go there on Saturday. Pray that we will be able to go there to see our loved ones, to take in some supplies, and to encourage the believers there.

Several other cities were also targets of the Russian missiles. These targets have absolutely no military value, but were just intended to create panic among the civilian population and demonstrate that Putin can throw a big tantrum. According to several sources the majority of the Russian missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense, although those that landed caused death and damage in several cities.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

Jim