Compassionate Journey
by David Wright
Compassion is “to suffer together.” It is a feeling that swells within one when confronted with the suffering of another accompanied with a desire to help. It is no surprise that the best examples of compassion in action come from our God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 illustrates this:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Scripture teaches that it was a very dark world when Jesus came into it. But His arrival was due to a loving and compassionate Father with a mission to enlist normal hardworking people in the fulfillment of His mission. Throughout his earthly ministry time and again Jesus illustrated compassion, providing His disciples one lesson after another. We are called to do likewise.
The news today is filled with daily reports of Russia and Ukraine.
These reports remind me of a young family that I first met in 2014. The lives of citizens of Donetsk, Ukraine changed dramatically in the summer of 2014, when pro-Russian rebels took control of the city and much of the surrounding region. Overnight, thousands of people became refugees; businesses, schools, and churches closed.
Andrey was the Vice President of a Christian college in Donetsk. The college campus was occupied by the rebels. Andrey and Oksana had three young sons. Forced to flee, this young family loaded what they could into their car and began a journey with no destination other than safety. Though they had family in Russia, that was not an option. Israel was a possibility; they were not allowed to enter. Exhausted but still filled with hope they called a friend in Austria.
The friend was working at TCM’s Haus Edelweiss. With no students on campus during most of August, the couple was invited to rest at Haus Edelweiss. They were welcomed with open arms, invited to stay in one of the campus apartments. They were ministered to, prayed over, and invited to simply embrace the peace of the Vienna Woods and the compassion of the staff and volunteers that were on the campus.
Over the course of rest of the summer Tony Twist, TCM’s president, who was at the Haus the entire time of this family’s stay, learned that Andrey was a gifted minister, teacher, and administrator. Oksana, a loving mother, was also educated in matters of academic information services and library sciences.
Space here does not allow for all the details to be shared. But, let me close this with a happy ending, perhaps it’s best to say a compassionate and happy beginning.
Seven-and-one-half years later, Andrey is the Assistant Academic Dean and Professor for TCM International Institute. Oksana serves part time as an assistant librarian. They are loving parents of three wonderful sons who call Haus Edelweiss home. They continue to live in that same apartment they were invited into in the summer of 2014.
They also continue to share the Love of Christ that they have experienced in so many ways. They are founding members and leaders of a Russian speaking church near Vienna. They also lead groups of volunteers that serve refugees from the middle east who arrive at a refugee camp near Haus Edelweiss.
Not only are we called to share one another’s burdens, we are called to rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.
