As I approached the hospital receptionist in Kiev, Ukraine- in late July of 2022, she started to angrily yell at me: “I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF HERE! YOU CANNOT GO INSIDE!…” She then threatened to call security if I did not exit immediately.
Trying to keep back the tears, I went back to the church across the street where I was lodging at with my friends.
Earlier that day, I strongly felt like I needed to go to that hospital and pray for patients. I was also led to read Revelation 3:7-8 NKJV:
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “HE WHO HAS THE KEY OF DAVID, HE WHO OPENS AND NO ONE SHUTS, AND SHUTS AND NO ONE OPENS”:
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name”
“See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it”- those words seemed to jump out of my Bible. I simply knew, God will open a door for me to go to a hospital, if not this hospital, then another one. But this attempt was a complete disappointment.
Ministries in Ukraine
I had the privilege of being part of many different non-medical ministry opportunities in Ukraine. But one of the my biggest desires in Ukraine was to go to hospitals and pray for patients and share about God’s love for them. Hospitals was one of my passions- after all, I had worked as a Critical Care Nurse for almost 10 years.
But getting into hospitals in Ukraine proved to be more difficult than I imagined. “War time hospital security” makes it difficult even for volunteers to go in.
But the doors that God opens- nobody can close!!! And I experienced such blessing!
Another Attempt to Visit that Hospital
Few weeks after that negative experience, I was again with the House of Hope organization. I was with the House of Hope team the majority of my time in Ukraine and if you would like to check this organization out or donate to them, please visit https://houseofhope.ngo/en/donate. This is a German based, very trustworthy organization, that has been helping in Ukraine since the beginning of war in Ukraine.
At first, I was hesitant to go to that hospital again. This time there was another nurse and a paramedic who where also part of the House of Hope team, and we decided to try to go there to minister.
After the morning prayer with the team, I received peace about going there again.
When the three of us went to that hospital, just like before, the answer was at first “No”. But there was a different receptionist this time, and when I asked again if I can see a nursing administrator in that hospital, that nursing administrator quickly led us to the director of the hospital!
God Opened the Door
There we were, sitting in the office of the director of the hospital! I was amazed how quickly we ended up in his office! The director was very deeply touched that foreigner volunteers came and was very open to us coming and talking to and praying for the patients.
Actually, he wanted us to go to a unit where “end-stage cancer patients were” and patients undergoing palliative care. He told us, “Since people in that unit will leave this side of life soon, you should go to that unit and pray and share with them…”
After leaving some cookies and candies for the nurses and other staff in that unit, we went to see the patients. The staff quickly went to each patient room and told them we were in the unit and asked them for permission for us to visit. Almost every patient agreed. There were only few rooms in that unit where we were not allowed to go and did not go.
I was amazed how God opened the door for us to go into a unit were most patients were given a “death sentence” and was very thankful for the opportunity to minister to them.
The Patients Were Very Appreciative of us Coming
So many patients were so thankful that we came and prayed for them. But more importantly, many heard the good news of the Gospel and how to be reconciled with God.
One elderly patient was so eager to receive forgiveness from God that she told me, “I want this, I want to be reconciled with God, but don’t know how to”. I shared with her… and after she prayed with me, the look of her face changed! Her face was filled with joy, and she smiled as she held her hand over her heart and told us that she feels so much better, and that she is at ease now! She sincerely thanked us for coming.
As we walked from room to room, I could feel and see the tension on the faces of some of the staff. I could tell that many of the staff where not that thrilled about us coming. Judging from the looks some of the staff gave us, and the comments made by them, I am certain that we could have been told to leave the unit before seeing all the patients there. But no one could tell us to leave because the director of the hospital let us in!
Well… the staff lady who brought food to the patients in one of the rooms did kick us out from that room. As we were about to pray for them, she sternly told us to “Leave now and come back when they were done eating!” The patients told her they wanted us there, but she didn’t care and insisted that we leave. We came back to that room again later.
We went from room to room in that unit, visiting every room we were allowed to go into, encouraging patients, praying for them, and preaching the Gospel.
The spiritual needs of the patient are always important- even if the staff do not understand this and even if it is obvious that they did not want us there. I was very grateful for this opportunity to be in that unit, to pray for patients, and to see their face light up or eyes fill with tears as we prayed for them. They were truly grateful that we came.
The Lessons Learned
That day, I learned some important spiritual lessons. Sometimes to hinder us and stop us, the Enemy tries to intimidate us. He might use an angry person’s lips to do that and we might get yelled at. It might look like at first that the door is permanently shut.
The Enemy might try to convince us there is no point in trying again. In His time, God will open the door. We must not allow the Enemy to intimidate us to the point of giving up and not ever trying again just because the door was closed initially.
I realized also that even though my first attempt to visit that hospital was not successful, it was still needed. That first time, I went to at least three different buildings before figuring out where exactly the main hospital entrance was. Maybe my limited understanding of the Ukrainian language played a role in difficulty finding the hospital entrance.
We did not have to waste time looking for the entrance to the hospital building when I went there again.
Lastly, the most important lesson that I learned that day was that when God opens the door, NO ONE can shut it!
