{"id":953,"date":"2022-03-30T10:15:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T14:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/cedarville-stories\/?p=953"},"modified":"2022-04-01T15:24:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T19:24:46","slug":"s6e13-abigail-rist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/cedarville-stories\/2022\/s6e13-abigail-rist\/","title":{"rendered":"S6:E13 | Abigail Rist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daughter of the Ukraine: Don\u2019t Stop Praying<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of Abigail Rist\u2019s closest friends and loved ones are in the middle of a war zone. And she\u2019s begging you: Don\u2019t stop praying.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rist, a junior international studies major at Cedarville, grew up in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, when her parents moved there to serve as missionaries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stayed in Kyiv, regularly broadcasting from there to the world, including a virtual meeting with the U.S. Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n

The capital has been under siege by Russian military forces almost from the beginning of the conflict, with bombs striking Abigail\u2019s neighborhood, including a train station just down the street from where she grew up. Debris from a downed Russian airplane damaged an apartment building across the street, and her elementary school, a childhood park, and a store where she and her brother got ice cream were damaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou never expect to see home blown up or on fire,\u201d she shares during the podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSurreal\u201d is a word perhaps overused to describe what\u2019s happening but is understandable for someone like Abigail who was just in Kyiv over Christmas break visiting friends and giving a stuffed animal to one friend\u2019s baby daughter. That toy was one of the few items the family took with them when they evacuated.<\/span><\/p>\n

What can you do when you see a country you love so brutally and mercilessly attacked?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI keep telling people, \u2018Pray!\u2019 Because when you pray, you are praying a soldier through the battle. You\u2019re praying for a mother comforting a child through a difficult night. You\u2019re praying for a whole nation, and your prayers are an iron dome over that nation. So just don\u2019t stop praying; keep praying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n