{"id":4394,"date":"2014-09-17T00:09:51","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T21:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=4394"},"modified":"2014-09-17T07:57:13","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T04:57:13","slug":"this-man-just-left-his-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/this-man-just-left-his-family\/","title":{"rendered":"This Man Just Left His Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

This man’s name is Dima. He’s my friend, my student and my brother in Christ! Last year he got married, last month he had his first child and last week he left his family!<\/p>\n

\"Desktop\"<\/p>\n

He left his family because of all the fighting!<\/p>\n

No, there’s no fighting in his family, the fighting I’m talking about is in Eastern Ukraine. He left his family because he was drafted into the army. He left his family because his willing to risk his life to protect his country and the lives of his dear little family!<\/p>\n

Things here happen pretty quickly. He received his draft notice in the mail on Monday and by Wednesday he was gone!<\/p>\n

I called him up as soon as I found out that he had been drafted to see how he was doing and to let him know that we were praying for him.<\/p>\n

This is what he told me:<\/p>\n

“Caleb, don’t worry about me, there are lots of possibilities for ministry here!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He’s got his spirit in the right place and I’m trying not to worry about him! Isn’t it ironic that I should even say that after writing a book<\/a> about how to stop worrying with one entire chapter about how to stop worrying over the safety of loved ones?<\/p>\n

God seems to have a way of testing your faith and making sure your heart and your words match up!<\/p>\n

The contrast<\/h4>\n

In world where all too often the only fighting young men do is with their wife, Dima’s example of faithfulness and sacrifice is inspiring.<\/p>\n

We need more young men who understand the marriage isn’t about getting their needs met but rather about meeting the needs of your spouse.<\/p>\n

We need more young men who act on principle despite the fact that it means traveling the road of hardship and discomfort.<\/p>\n

We need more men who are willing to fight for their wives instead of with their wives!<\/p>\n

A lesson in sacrifice<\/h4>\n

War has helped me to understand a lot of things in a way I never saw them before. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons that war teaches is the lesson of sacrifice!<\/p>\n

When life is good sacrifice is about letting your spouse watch the movie she picked out instead of the one you wanted or maybe it’s taking an hour or two to fix that leaky toilet valve or doing the dishes after dinner. That’s all well and good but more and more that type of sacrifice seems to lose its glory when compared to the sacrifices of wartime.<\/p>\n

The sacrifice\u00a0in war is\u00a0two sided, there’s also the side of the wife and children who are left behind. Sometimes their sacrifice is the greater one! Our family experienced that in 2006 when my sister’s husband<\/a> was killed by a sniper in Iraq. These are painful sacrifices that will never completely heal in this lifetime.<\/p>\n

One thing is for sure<\/h4>\n

It’s wartime that forces us back to those truths that we can know for sure no matter the situation, no matter the condition, no matter the loss, no matter our emotions!<\/p>\n

All hope outside of Jesus is temporary!<\/p>\n

All hope in Jesus is eternal and can never be taken away!<\/p>\n

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
\n(Rom 5:3-5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Question: Will you please pray for my friend Dima and his family?<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This man’s name is Dima. He’s my friend, my student and my brother in Christ! Last year he got married,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[340,206,338],"class_list":["post-4394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry","tag-hope","tag-sacrifice","tag-ukraine-war"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Desktop.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-18S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5015,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/left-with-nothing-residences-flee-debaltseve-ukraine-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":4394,"position":0},"title":"Left with Nothing Residences Flee Debaltseve Ukraine -Video","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Left with no power, no water and almost no way out, residence of Debaltseve, Ukraine are desperately trying to flee the encroaching fighting. This video helps give a little understanding to the horrific reality of those who live near the fighting in Eastern, Ukraine. Some are able to leave and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/2B272048-4EE2-4D76-A04A-8AE18C1352FE_mw1024_s_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/2B272048-4EE2-4D76-A04A-8AE18C1352FE_mw1024_s_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/2B272048-4EE2-4D76-A04A-8AE18C1352FE_mw1024_s_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7471,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/heaviest-fighting-since-2015-in-eastern-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4394,"position":1},"title":"Heaviest Fighting Since 2015 in Eastern Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 3, 2017","format":"video","excerpt":"War has returned with a vengeance to Eastern Ukraine! Not that it ever really left but only quieted down for a time. Russian back separatists have been pounding the city of Avdeevka for nearly a week now. The death toll of both soldiers and civilians is climbing at an alarming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/obstrel_001_650x410.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/obstrel_001_650x410.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/obstrel_001_650x410.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4907,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/brutal-attack-kills-young-christian-girl-and-12-others-in-eastern-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4394,"position":2},"title":"Brutal Attack Kills Young Christian Girl and 12 Others in Eastern Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday a grad rocket landed near a civilian bus killing 13 people and injuring another 16 at a Ukrainian army checkpoint in the town of Volnovakha. One of those killed in th attack was a young girl named Nastya who attended Word of Life Church and sang in the choir\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bloody-bus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bloody-bus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bloody-bus.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4381,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/fighting-kills-elderly-church-member-during-ceasefire-in-donetsk-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4394,"position":3},"title":"Fighting Kills Elderly Church Member During Ceasefire in Donetsk Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I received heart wrenching news from a friend whose church is in Donetsk. A piece of shrapnel killed one of their church members right in her own yard! This is the brutal truth of the supposed ceasefire in Ukraine. People are still dying! Officially the war has killed around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/donetsk-dead.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/donetsk-dead.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/donetsk-dead.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6980,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/refugees-have-left-live-ministry-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":4394,"position":4},"title":"Refugees have left -Live Ministry Update","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"October 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night we chatted with a bunch of you about life and ministry here in Odessa Ukraine. Just in case you missed the live video, I've posted it below. A number of people commented that they enjoyed the format, so I think we'll try to do this again. It's a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-14-at-9.46.58-AM-e1476427719350.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-14-at-9.46.58-AM-e1476427719350.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-14-at-9.46.58-AM-e1476427719350.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4332,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/36-a-dark-cloud-is-rolling-over-ukraine-9-ways-you-can-pray\/","url_meta":{"origin":4394,"position":5},"title":"#36 A Dark Cloud is Rolling Over Ukraine -9 Ways You Can Pray!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night we had a refugee family from Eastern Ukraine over to our place for dinner. 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