Mar 5, 2019 | Vietnam, Yevstratenko Ministries
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”-Exodus 20:3
Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ! On one of the evenings, for about an hour our group went through the streets of our city and prayed for the people of Vietnam. We prayed for everyone we saw; people in different coffee shops, stores, parks, etc. To tell you the sad truth, I personally had little faith in the usefulness of what we were doing because we prayed for these people every time at home anyways.
Yet, God started opening to me the spiritual situation here in Vietnam even more than before. Throughout a couple of weeks, we heard many bitter news; on the beach right by our house, two gentlemen drowned even though lifeguards tried to save them. Then, not far from us, two young ladies got into a motorcycle accident where one lady died. And there was more of these kind of fatal events around us and all we could do is pray for their families. Until we personally saw a fatal accident, where a huge semi-truck cab (without the attached load) drove over a young girl on a motorcycle. Instantly the people nearby found something to cover her body and in her cracked helmet stuck incense sticks and lit them. We stopped and Pastor Alexander started to pray but they forced us to leave. I was shocked at how much they cared for their rituals and how much Satan did not want us even near this occurred situation.
After all these horrible events, I remembered the huge mountain we went on, where there stands a big temple and many gardens full of countless idol statues. Yet the ones that got my attention most were the 3 women idols, about 6 meters tall, standing above our city and showing some kind of signs to the city. This made me realize on how much the lives of these people are under the control of their idols and how deceived these people really are by the one who stands behind all their idols. Then, I found out that statistically, in Vietnam, every hour someone dies not by their own death but by some unfortunate accident. I chose the word “Perishment” in my tittle because perish means: “to die or be destroyed, especially in a violent or untimely manner.” (“…neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?” -Ecclesiastes 7:17) Here, Satan has the people lined up on the death row and “executes” them every hour because they blindly serve him and don’t know that the only One true God would take care of them (“…for You alone, O LORD, make me dwellin safety.“ -Psalms 4:8).
This is how God opened to me that going through the city and praying for these people is not just useful, it’s critical! So please, join us in prayer for the lives of these people, so that God helps free them from Satan’s lies and they accept the Truth!
Ministry in Vietnam – Tatyana Yevstratenko
Jan 14, 2019 | Featured, Vietnam, Yevstratenko Ministries
The first time when I first through the streets in Vietnam leaving the airport, I was not surprised to see how poverty-stricken the city is since I saw something similar in Mexico when I went there with our youth. But what surprised me, was that later on when I visited these poor homes, I noticed that, no matter the financial status, they had an altar for their gods to whom they sacrificed food, money, and incense daily. Some homes had just one tiny altar in a corner, while others had a whole room dedicated to their gods with different flashing colored lights 24h a day, so their gods would feel happy. After I met Alexander and Irina, I found out that there is only a very small percentage of Christians in this country, most of which are Catholics. I asked them how are they able to evangelize to them since they don’t know the Vietnamese language, and they answered, “In the language of love – God’s Love.”
I was blessed to be part of a few mission trips with Alexander, Irina, and Evgenia out of the many that are serving in. We visited the girls in the boarding school with children from different ethnic groups whose parents aren’t able to provide for their education. We told them about how God loves us that He gave the best to us – His Son. We sang to them and made crafts with them, each girl made a paper vase and a special flower where they wrote on the petals John 3:16. It brought so much joy to me seeing how these girls were happy with the interaction and the attention we gave them.
Another ministry I had a chance to be part of is helping those who live in the city on the cemetery. Heavy rain started when we were about to leave and Alexander said that we should just go now, so we went in the rain to visit one family. When we arrived, I was a bit sad to see how four children are being raised by their grandparents amidst all the graves in a broken-down hut. But when we gave them food and candies, I was surprised by how a small handful of candies brought some joy to the little ones. We also prepared some clothes we wanted to give them, but we forgot them at home. The next day the rain was still pouring and many streets and homes were flooded, including the home of the family we visited. The day after, we went to visit them again and brought the clothes that we forgot, and saw it as God’s hand that He planned for us to provide them with dry clothes after the flood. Praise be to our Lord!
In those two weeks, I saw how devoted Alexander, Irina, and Evgenia are to the Lord by serving the Vietnamese people, and I understood that the work there is something that can’t be done by coming – doing – and leaving. In order to be the light of Jesus and to witness His love one needs to live among the people of Vietnam, and it would be a great blessing for me if I am part of that!
Ministry in Vietnam – Tatyana Yevstratenko
