I am sure you have been shaken, along with the rest of the world, by the haunting images of war coming from Georgia and Southern Ossetia, broadcast right into our living rooms. My heart breaks for the precious people of the region I love so dearly: grandmothers covered in blood lying dazed in the ruins of their smouldering homes, the mothers with their weeping children fleeing the fighting.

A number of people have contacted me asking how this conflict is affecting us at "Living Waters". Friends in Russia assure us that the war is over and that everyone that we know there is okay. Our centre is about 7 hours away by car from the border of Southern Ossetia, and the church we have planted in Beslan is an hour or so away.

Thousands of refugees have been flooding into the Northern Caucasus region of Russia in the last week, including to Beslan and to Armavir. It is estimated that it will be at least a year before most of these refugees can return to their homes. Our missionaries and friends have been collecting clothes, blankets and food to share with those in need.

One of our mission's school graduates, Nina is now a missionary in Beslan and the pastor of our small church there. Two of our team are going to help her in the next few days. They will be distributing food, clothing and blankets they have collected, as well as listening to the stories of those in need and sharing God's love and comfort with them. We will do whatever we can in the next few months and years to help those devastated in this conflict to receive God's healing and to rebuild their lives.

The Caucasus region has been volatile for centuries, and this particular conflict in Southern Ossetia has been going on since the early 1990s. We have been involved with the people of Ossetia for a long time, most recently in helping victims of the Beslan school tragedy. Some of the families that we are helping there are refugees from Southern Ossetia.

One of the first ladies we ministered to from Beslan had lost her husband, son and daughter-in-law in the conflict in Southern Ossetia in the 1990s. She fled with her only remaining relative, her infant grand-daughter to the relative peace of Beslan. Just over 10 years later however, in 2004, she was to lose her precious grand-daughter in the school tragedy. She unfortunately is not the only one with such a tragic story, and we are doing all we can to bring Jesus' message of hope and restoration to people like her.

Please join with us in praying that these dear ones would meet Jesus in the midst of their pain and find true peace and comfort. We pray for the fires of revival to sweep the land instead of the fires of war and destruction.

As always any donation that you are able to make at this time will go a long way in helping us to help these precious people.

Thanks once again for your support and concern for the peoples of the Northern Caucasus. We really appreciate you and pray that God will bless you one hundred fold for your love and generosity.

Love in Jesus,

Paula O'Keefe