From Anti-Church to Active Servant: A Story of Transformation in the Midst of War from Lena Morrison

[00:00:04] Today, we at CGN Media are honored to present you an episode of a new podcast from CGN called CGN Voices. This show is a glimpse into the hearts and minds of leaders from all across the Calvary Global Network, where they share insights, perspectives, and best practices.

[00:00:20] In today's special episode we dive into a mini-series hosted by Pastor Nick Kady, who conducts interviews with leaders and missionaries based in Ukraine. These are stories of resilience, unwavering faith and sheer Christian spirit in the face of war.

[00:00:34] They're compelling their humbling and we believe they will move you. If you enjoy what you hear today there's a lot more where that came from. CGN Voices is working on some great upcoming episodes, including some insightful post-CGN conference discussions and Q&A's with our conference speakers.

[00:00:50] So, make sure to subscribe to CGN Voices to stay updated and join us on this journey of discovery and faith. Without further ado, here's the special episode.

[00:01:01] Welcome to CGN Voices from Ukraine, a podcast dedicated to sharing powerful stories of resilience, faith and service in the face of great difficulty. In this podcast we speak with members of our church network who live in Ukraine,

[00:01:23] and who have been there since the full scale invasion of their country by Russia in February of 2022. Prior to the war there were 20 cavalry chapel churches in Ukraine. The goal of this podcast is to give you first hand accounts from church members who have faced unimaginable challenges.

[00:01:40] We will explore how their faith has sustained them, and how God is at work and the gospel is moving forward even in the midst of adversity, along with how you can be praying for them and supporting them as part of the body of Christ.

[00:01:54] Welcome to the special podcast which is about telling the stories of people in the cavalry chapel family of churches in Ukraine, and what their experiences have been throughout the course of the war as well as how God has been using them.

[00:02:12] We want to bring this to the cavalry chapel family so that you can know about what's going on, so that we can join with them in praying and also in celebrate and the great things that God is doing,

[00:02:21] even in the midst of the terrible war that's going on in Ukraine right now. So today I'm joined by Lena Morrison. Lena, would you please just introduce yourself to our listeners who you are and where you live? Hello everyone, my name is Lena Morrison. I'm from Svetlowotes,

[00:02:40] a Ukraine, a cavalry chapel of Svetlowotes, and I am Ben Morrison's wife. A Ben Morrison is a pastor of cavalry chapel in Svetlowotes. Yeah, and he's been a missionary and you crane for quite a long time now.

[00:02:52] Yeah, honestly, I don't know how many years, but more than he lived in America probably. Yeah, it bends a friend and somebody who's been involved in a lot of things for many years, and so Lena, we've talked to Ben on different podcasts related to cavalry chapel in Svetlowotes,

[00:03:08] but I wanted to talk to you because I know that you have a unique experience having been in Svetlowotes over this past year. Tell us what it was like and what's been your experience since the beginning of the war.

[00:03:22] Now what we are at the one-year anniversary, what has been your experience and what has been happening in your church in this time? Well, actually many things have happened to be in a year. Mostly I can say that this was the most fulfilled year as for me.

[00:03:38] I have a feeling that everything that happened before was preparing us for this year, and I feel that this is the moment that we've been preparing for or living for to go through. Like everything that was before was for this moment to summarize it.

[00:03:58] Great, and so tell us about your church has been involved in. And what are some really want to know some of the stories of ways that God has used your efforts to bring help and relief in people's lives? Well, the work that we've been doing is actually multi-directional,

[00:04:14] and it depended on the face of the war that we were going through. There was no preparation or a plan because how can you plan for a war for something that you were not expecting to happen?

[00:04:25] So depending on what was happening, we were just reacting. I can say the first thing that happened was mass evacuation of people from the war zone, and we opened up for evacuees.

[00:04:40] And I just went to the mayor office on April, I mean I'm sorry, on February 20, 5th or 6th, and offered our church building as a refugee center because we have a lot of space.

[00:04:55] We didn't have any beds or bedding for that matter, but we will open to receive people who are running. And so people just come in the evening, we would feed them, soup, simple food that would remind them of home and warmth and comfort.

[00:05:12] And early in the morning at 5, we would feed them breakfasts and then on a way to the western Ukraine or abroad. In the middle of all of this, we were able to hug them or cry with them or pray with them.

[00:05:26] All of them, they were all open for praying and that kind of supports spiritual support, that many of them would probably reject or not receive before the war. So I remember a large group of people, non-believers, standing in a circle next to each other in praying.

[00:05:43] That was amazing, you know, and shocking for us as a church. Next, what we started doing is the humanitarian aid, the humanitarian aid, was poured into Ukraine. And we were very grateful for churches and other organizations funds that were ringing a lot of help.

[00:06:03] And so some people in my team were doing that, and we were helping people with resources. Because every time when you thought about your own family, perhaps I know that your parents live in sweet divorce, you have children.

[00:06:18] I mean, was there ever a thought that maybe we need to leave us? Well actually they were warning us because my husband is in American citizen and my children are.

[00:06:27] And so we were contacted by a consulate and they were warning us to get out as soon as possible. But we actually didn't believe that anything serious could happen.

[00:06:39] So my husband came up with a plan and he, you know, just in case if anything happens, you know, what should we do? We were wanting to evacuate our children to Moldova, which was bordering Ukraine. And then come back and serve the people of Ukraine.

[00:06:55] But when the war broke out on the 24th, we felt we couldn't go because people started coming on the 24th, already we had three families coming going through the church. And we felt we, we can't, we were actually arguing till 11 in the morning, you know, that we,

[00:07:13] we need to get out if we wanted to get out because the lines on the roads were very long. But people started coming and we started taking care of people. And then the next morning on Friday, the same situation happened again.

[00:07:25] We were wanting to leave, take the children to Moldova, but people were coming again. And you know, we couldn't leave. And then the children came into the room and they said our children are worth 13 and 16, 15. And they said, why are you deciding for us?

[00:07:44] This is a home we wanted to stay. So they didn't want to leave. And there was a couple that evacuated from Kiev and they needed to be married. And they asked benefit and marry them on Saturday, the 26th. And he said, I guess we're staying.

[00:07:59] And we came to the conclusion that we're going to stay. And when we finally came to this conclusion, we, you know, we, we understood that we're not going anywhere. And tell us some of the stories about refugees. I know about one particular lady from Sumi region.

[00:08:15] Could you tell us that story? Yes, Natasha is her name and she has daughter Yavah, who is 11 years old and a dog. And they have been evacuated from Millitopal, which is in the South region.

[00:08:30] And later on top of Tava and the Tuscitla was because they had somebody in my hometown. They've been on the bus for 19 hours. And it's been incredibly hard trip for them and she told us how, you know, the dogs were holding on and not going to the bathroom.

[00:08:51] And the kids were very obedient. Like everyone felt the stress of being evacuated and everyone was on their best behavior. And people were very supportive of each other. And finally when they came to Svetlava, it's because they have a dog. Nobody would, nobody would let them stay.

[00:09:07] Nobody would give them shelter. So they said there is a church in the in town, cold them. And so they called us and they said, can we come but we have a dog? And we said, sure.

[00:09:18] And she said, but I have a dog. And we said, yes, you can come. And so she was shocked. So they came and, you know, they lived with us for quite a while.

[00:09:29] But knowing the story of her side, I can tell you the other side of the story is that she was in touch and anti-God. And so they were not believers or even close to that.

[00:09:41] And when they came to church and the church received them with their dog, you know, and in the time of trouble, in the time of hardship. And they lived with us and we fed them. And one of the days it was Sunday.

[00:09:54] And so I invited her to go from the basement where she was living. To go upstairs to the service hall. And she visited this first liturgy or the... Oh, so the service hall like just for our English speaking listeners, we would probably call that our church sanctuary.

[00:10:13] Yes, the... And so she attended a church service. She attended the church service for the first time in her life. And it was in the traditional orthodox church service, which is traditional of where you crane. But I completely knew, you know, even Jellical setting for her,

[00:10:28] but she never encountered before in her life. And something I don't remember what this teaching was about. I probably might as well know it's better because he was teaching. But she impressed her so much that I think it was, you know,

[00:10:45] the Holy Spirit that touched her heart and that her spirit. That she... She started crying. And so Ben talked to her after the service. And she prayed to receive Jesus into her heart. So she became... And you believe her. And those the short way of coming from...

[00:11:04] And I got to completely, you know, receiving the love of God into her heart. And her daughter also prayed to receive Jesus in Jesus. Teachings on his go now, teaching other refugee kids and helping a lot.

[00:11:17] And Natasha is one of the most active volunteers in the church now. And she is even on the board at church. And she is our... I content also because she has this education. Wow. So that's amazing. Somebody who is anti-church anti-God encounters the church that welcomes her in.

[00:11:38] Tell us about Jesus loves her. And as a result, she becomes a Christian. Now she's serving. This isn't credible. Yes. And she said to me, she said, If I knew that church was this, I would have come earlier. I wish I knew that this is the church.

[00:11:57] So I'm glad, I think the happiest thing for me is that people are coming to realize The church is not a formality but it's a family. And it's a place of comfort and it's a shelter.

[00:12:12] You know, in the time of trouble, this rejoices my heart most of all. And this is the joy, you know? These circumstances are terrible, but in a way, this also brings out both for the church and for outsiders. You know, what?

[00:12:28] The gospel is what the body of Christ really is, right? These are the times when it can be truly seen. And I think that that's wonderful. You guys are doing great things and you have a strong witness. How's the dog doing? The dog is everybody. Everybody loves garlic.

[00:12:46] His name is Gotic. And all the pictures from the war, from that year is Ben in the church building. And Gotic is sitting on his lap. And I think they found comforting each other's arms and like, you know,

[00:12:58] Like Gotic was comforting Ben and Ben was comforting the Gotic. So they're best friends. Oh, that's wonderful. Well, Linda, thank you for sharing that story with us. We'll have other stories on this podcast as well. Now, currently, maybe you could just tell people where we're at,

[00:13:15] Like, where are we recording this? This is the border of Ukraine and Hungary. And it's a beautiful place in the woods. And mountains, Cloradians will probably not. Call this mountains, but hills. But for us in Ukraine, this is mountains. And it's a beautiful place.

[00:13:31] And we have a privilege and a blessing of coming here and to restore our strength and energy. And we're very grateful for whoever organized this and had this idea in mind to bless us because we never could have imagined or expected it to happen during war in Ukraine.

[00:13:49] Yeah, this conference that we're at is a collaboration between really three organizations. And so these were C.G.N. Cover Global Network, as well as Cover Chapel Ukraine and cross culture missions, Which is led by Rod Thompson.

[00:14:04] And we're all together in the coverage Apple family, but together these three entities. And generous folks from the United States mostly, but also from other places, don't need money to be able. So that Ukrainian aid workers, people who've been providing aid over the last year,

[00:14:20] would be able to come and have a retreat with their families. And we brought a team of counselors to be able to talk to them. We also to spend time with their children and minister to them. And so it's been a very good and encouraging week.

[00:14:34] And it was just something as we were at this week thinking, hearing all your stories over meals and catching up and just thinking, you know, people outside of this conference center need to hear these stories.

[00:14:49] They need to hear about what God is doing to give him glory and praise, but they also need to know how they can be praying for you. So then what would you say? How can people best pray for you and your minister there?

[00:15:01] Well, first of all, I think we're very grateful that God has us here. And he wants to do something you know through us maybe a little bit and, you know, for all the work that we have seen he has done in saving so many people, you know,

[00:15:17] in these horrible circumstances, he's being horrified and his name is being horrified. So we are thankful for that. And we would like to be if he wants to continue doing anything through us to be filled with his spirit and his strengths,

[00:15:32] so continue because people are pretty tired, you know, volunteers and people who have been working here. I mean, we do have hope, you know, that the end of the close we hope and more hope and the more strength to continue.

[00:15:46] And if people want to support what you're doing financially, because obviously you're making food, you're providing, you know, you have utility costs. You have needs for all of these things, probably helping people even materially as well.

[00:15:58] And so people want to donate to you. They're really two ways to do it. If they want to donate directly to what you're doing in sweet love notes, you can do that through this link, www.lyslaschgiv2.ukrain.

[00:16:12] Now the two there is the number two, so it's bit.ly slash give to Ukraine. But that link will also be in the show notes and you can also give through Calvary Global Network at CalvaryGlobalNetwork.com slash give

[00:16:26] and just on the drop down menu, you can choose really fun. So then thank you so much for sharing your story. You're welcome, Nick.