We had a visit with Sasha this week on Wednesday. He said to tell everyone hi. :) Hopefully this visit will have been our last because a month from now, he'll be getting out. Tomorrow marks his 3 years, and he should've been getting out at that point. His release is dependent on going through a court hearing that approves his official release. That court process happens once a month, and he missed the March process because it started 2 days before his 3 years were official. :( We were sad to hear that it'll be another month, but hopefully this last month will go quickly. The next court process will start next month any time on or after the 3rd Monday in April. And then 1-2 weeks after that, he should be released.
We were able to meet, by a nerve-invoking happenstance, the head "prosecutor" of the Lviv region. He basically has control to deny or allow Sasha's release next month. He was nice and seemed to like hearing about what we do and that we want to help Sasha's transition out. We talked for a few minutes and he actually guaranteed us that SP would be out next month! We're taking that as a good sign and praying that all goes through without any problems!
Please continue to keep Sasha in your prayers as the days drag on for him. He is so ready to be out. Pray that all the court and paperwork process at the prison will go smoothly and quickly next month. Pray for us as we continue to prepare for Sasha's homecoming and transition. Pray that God will use this extra month to teach Sasha total dependance on and surrender to Him.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Operation Free SP
Over the course of the past 3 years, we have had the amazing privilege of traveling across the country of Ukraine once a month to visit a young man named Sasha Pevniv. He has been serving his sentence in the Sambir Juvenile Colony in western Ukraine for most of that time. He is the reason that we began our prison ministry there, and now it's hard to imagine life in Ukraine without it. Once a month we take a 20 hour trip, a train-bus-taxi combo, from Sumy to Sambir to spend about 3 or 4 hours with this kid, just to turn around and go back from Sambir to Sumy. Those 40+ hours of travel are what bring our team to our favorite time of each month - our visit with SP.
We often skip using his full name and just call him SP. He liked the initials thing and started calling us MS, the initials for "moya simya," Ukrainian for "my family." We are truly privileged to be Sasha's family and to have watched him grow in these last 3 years. No one would deny the fact that he made bad choices that lead to his time in a juvenile prison, but this now 20-year-old young man is not the same kid that we knew back then. Sasha reads his Bible and regularly asks questions about God and shares with us the things that God is teaching him. He has a passion for life that is unlike anyone else we know and it's clear that God is doing great things in his heart. In our visits with him, Sasha often talks about the things he wants to change when he's out, how he wants to be better, what he'll do differently.
In the next couple of weeks we will have our last visit with our Sasha, because in about a month he will be free. Dates are a little uncertain because of the way the Ukrainian system works, but on March 26th he will have served 3 years and pending his court hearing to officially allow his release, he will be out within the first couple weeks of April!! At some point, we started calling this whole process "Operation Free SP." A this is a day we've been waiting years for. There really aren't words to describe our excitement.
Please be in prayer with us as we count down these last days till SP is out and home with us again in Sumy. There are some legal documents that need to be filled out, and a court date somewhere around March 26th to officially approve his release. Pray that things go smoothly with the paperwork and in our dealings with the prison officials. Once he's back in Sumy, we will be working to help him transition back to "normal" life and continuing to process everything he's been learning the past 3 years. Pray that God continues to work in Sasha's heart and gives him the strength he needs to make changes and keep becoming a better man. Pray that God would give us the wisdom we need to help Sasha transition and that we'll be able to support him in the best way we can.
There will be hard days without a doubt, but we are so excited to see what God is going to continue doing in Sasha's life and in the lives of those around him! As much as we've challenged and taught him, he has equally challenged and taught us as well. We know that there will be more mistakes in the future, but we are so excited to walk along side him through whatever ups and downs the future holds. We are thankful to be family and can't wait to have our brother home.
We often skip using his full name and just call him SP. He liked the initials thing and started calling us MS, the initials for "moya simya," Ukrainian for "my family." We are truly privileged to be Sasha's family and to have watched him grow in these last 3 years. No one would deny the fact that he made bad choices that lead to his time in a juvenile prison, but this now 20-year-old young man is not the same kid that we knew back then. Sasha reads his Bible and regularly asks questions about God and shares with us the things that God is teaching him. He has a passion for life that is unlike anyone else we know and it's clear that God is doing great things in his heart. In our visits with him, Sasha often talks about the things he wants to change when he's out, how he wants to be better, what he'll do differently.
In the next couple of weeks we will have our last visit with our Sasha, because in about a month he will be free. Dates are a little uncertain because of the way the Ukrainian system works, but on March 26th he will have served 3 years and pending his court hearing to officially allow his release, he will be out within the first couple weeks of April!! At some point, we started calling this whole process "Operation Free SP." A this is a day we've been waiting years for. There really aren't words to describe our excitement.
Please be in prayer with us as we count down these last days till SP is out and home with us again in Sumy. There are some legal documents that need to be filled out, and a court date somewhere around March 26th to officially approve his release. Pray that things go smoothly with the paperwork and in our dealings with the prison officials. Once he's back in Sumy, we will be working to help him transition back to "normal" life and continuing to process everything he's been learning the past 3 years. Pray that God continues to work in Sasha's heart and gives him the strength he needs to make changes and keep becoming a better man. Pray that God would give us the wisdom we need to help Sasha transition and that we'll be able to support him in the best way we can.
There will be hard days without a doubt, but we are so excited to see what God is going to continue doing in Sasha's life and in the lives of those around him! As much as we've challenged and taught him, he has equally challenged and taught us as well. We know that there will be more mistakes in the future, but we are so excited to walk along side him through whatever ups and downs the future holds. We are thankful to be family and can't wait to have our brother home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)