KIEV, UKRAINE (ANS) -- As panic broke out in parts of Ukraine where some 34 deaths from swine flu have been reported, a group of 400 Christian doctors and medical professionals from 30 different countries who were meeting in the capital city of Kiev, took time out from their conference on Saturday, October 31, 2009, to engage in urgent prayer for the situation.

Ukrainians wearing surgical masks

Organized by the World Christian Doctors Network, this “Spirituality and Medicine” conference attracted doctors and medical professional from countries as diverse as Nigeria, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo to all over the former Soviet Union and even the tiny Faroe Islands, who all believe in praying for their sick patients – with their permission of course.

But as they gathered for the second day of the conference, a grave announcement was made at the start of the morning session about the swine flu situation in the country where many areas are under quarantine and people are wearing surgical masks.

Pastor Sergey Balyuk from Kiev then led the group in prayer and told them, “A panic has set in and we need to use the strong weapon of prayer to stand against this.”

Another pastor, Yuri Bievets from Cherkassy, led a Bible study on Psalm 91 and also asked the medical people at the conference to stand and join him in prayer for the “dire” situation where “people in Western Ukraine are terrified and are wearing masks.”

Dr. Mikhail Morgulis, chairman of Spiritual Diplomacy and a keynote speaker at the conference, told me that as soon as he heard the news about the swine flu outbreak in the land of his birth – he now lives in Florida – he was on the phone to some key medical contacts in the United States.

“As a consequence of this, we have arranged for 15 doctors and dentists to come over to Ukraine as soon as possible to help with the situation here,” he said.

“Several cities are locked down and the people are panic stricken, and so if we, as Christians, can help with this difficult situation, I think that would be a great witness.”

As of Saturday morning, the flu was thought still to be limited in to the country's western provinces, but because of the number of suspected cases, a spread was likely.

Christian doctors praying

“The country must prepare for a wider outbreak,” Health Minister Vasyl Kniazevych told Channel 5 television. “Its direction of movement is towards central Ukraine.”

The Health minister went on to say that more than 80,000 people in the swine flu outbreak area were registered with authorities as displaying possible flu symptoms, but because of the similarity of swine flu symptoms to those of common flu, health workers were struggling to estimate the extent of the swine flu's spread.

“We had a problem with identifying the (swine flu) antibody in flu sufferers,” he said. “There is a mass of work we have to do.”

Trains operated by the national railroad Ukrzhelesnitsiya were running according to schedule, but staff were ordered to wear surgical masks, and instructed to report passengers who appear to have flu symptoms.

Medical personnel aboard “every passenger train” were available to provide first aid to potential flu sufferers, and would report people treated to the Health Ministry, according to statement on the Ukrzhelesnitsiya website.

All schools, kindergartens, and universities were closed for a three-week period on Friday. A ban on massed gatherings - forcing the wholesale cancellation of concerts and political rallies - was also in effect.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko declared on Friday at Government’s session quarantine in 9 western parts of the state in order to take efforts to meet flu, swine flu and other respiratory diseases.

Ukrainian media reports that in some regions the epidemic scale increased and in other regions swine flu cases have been recorded.

Ukraine's national security council on Friday approved the equivalent of 55 million dollars in emergency funding, for swine flu control.

President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday said the country was “in serious need” of foreign assistance.

Well then certainly got it from these Christian doctors who prayed earnestly for the flu outbreak to be halted.

Dan Wooding, 68, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.