
neighbor Georgia, missions organizations stationed in the area are reporting
positive news—no fatalities.
of civilians and soldiers killed as a result of the air raids and ground
invasions that have marked this conflict.
that of the 35 church plants his ministry is responsible for in Georgia, a
handful of churches were destroyed but no missionaries or nationals working with
the missions group were harmed.
the believers have been killed or hurt,” said Graham, who only last week had
been mistakenly told that a Georgian pastor affiliated with the group was
killed.
countries, missions groups are trying to help a nation and its people ravaged by
war.
vandalism in Gori and surrounding villages and people have lost everything,”
said Brian Wolf, a missionary to the Republic of Georgia with IGO for the last
five years. “We have a real opportunity here to win these people in any way that
we can.”
the remaining missionaries such as Wolf and other nationals—many of whom were
not able to leave the country—are banning together to help the hardest-hit
regions.
water and tents or whatever they can get to take it to the affected areas,”
Graham said. “They’re gearing up to do humanitarian aid.”
and help financially, noting that it would be a great witness to those living in
this orthodox Christian nation surrounded mostly by Muslim nations.
difficult to get containers of supplies into the region. Still other mission’s
organizations are reaching evacuees.
were safely evacuated and that some are ministering in Russia to evacuees that
fled Georgia’s capital, South Ossetia.
Dorlon told AG news. “I praise God for our safety and have cried for hours and
days for our precious Georgians. The second we can go back, we will.”
capital city for North Ossetia. “All of the … churches in North Ossetia are
sending people to visit the suffering and injured in the area hospitals,” the
missions group reported. “They are trying to help the refugees with food and
clothing. And you can be sure that they are seizing every opportunity to share
the gospel with them.”
of Georgia to find a real relationship with Christ amidst the suffering.
and hope bringers,” he said in an e-mail. “Pray that they will act as healers
and peacemakers bringing the peace and healing of Jesus. [Pray] that we will not
only wail in despair but we will bear up in our hope and our love for Jesus
Christ and the desperate people of Georgia will see that and come to know Jesus
as Savior, God and friend.” —Felicia Mann