This past month has been quite hot, both literally and in terms of events. As the cold season approaches, the survival of people in and around the occupied territories becomes more and more urgent.
In most of those places, there is no electricity, gas or even water supply due to the destruction and damage of communication lines. The supply of food and other necessities is a big problem. But despite all these shortages and constant shelling, there are still people in such places who, for various reasons, have not left their homes. However, it will be impossible to survive the coming winter without any communications.
That is why we are already seeing a new wave of refugees looking for shelters in safer areas. This, in turn, poses a new challenge for local ministers and churches. More resources are needed to provide food, basic necessities and places to stay for the new arrivals.
This is exactly what our local partners, in particular Vadim Gulenko and Vitaly Yevtushenko, are working on right now. The Source of Life Church in Cherkasy is already serving many refugees in their city and is looking for opportunities to provide shelter for even more people.
About a week ago we attended one of their meetings, where new refugees came to their church office for the first time. Pastor Vadim and pastor Alexander gathered them in a room they rent for their church services, welcomed them, gave them a word of encouragement, shared their own testimonies (remember, they are refugees themselves), preached the Salvation through Jesus to them and invited them to receive His Life to be totally restored to a blessed future. All people (there were about 40 of them there that day) prayed a prayer of accepting Jesus. After that the church team gave each of them a food parcel.
One lady stayed longer and told us her impressive story of life and survival in Nickolaev (the city by the Black sea which borders the occupied Kherson and is being ruthlessly shelled every day).
Our desire is to support these ministers and help their efforts as much as we can. This coming month we plan to visit several more refugee camps to see what we can do to meet their most urgent needs, especially in light of the approaching winter.
We thank Master“s International Ministry for being faithful in providing these churches with food products to distribute on a regular basis, as well as Undaunted Love Ministries for helping to deliver this aid to the most needy and dangerous areas of our country.
By the way, MIM buys the food from local farmers, which by itself is a good support to the country’s economy.
One of the most exciting events of this past month was working on filming for the documentary. Loyd Jenkins, an American producer, along with his friend and presenter, Cody Terry came all the way from the States to get materials for the movie series about the Church“s response to the war in Ukraine. It is about how the Body of Christ reaches out to suffering people in time of crisis to meet their needs.
During this wonderful week of blessed cooperation between our crew and the filmmakers we visited Irpen and Bucha, where hundreds of people had been brutally murdered by Russian invaders, interviewed eyewitnesses to the terrible events that happened there, walked through destroyed buildings and people“s homes, visited churches that are actively involved in the ministry of helping Ukrainians and met with some amazing ministers who spare no effort in serving their people.
The purpose of this documentary is to honor the Church and raise funds for its effective ministry. Now we are looking forward to its release!
Another big event that is to take place this month is the Ukraine Relief Sale. Our American team is working hard on making this happen! The funds we are hoping to raise are very much needed to meet the needs of many Ukrainians who lost or had to leave their homes, who don’t have enough food or clothes, who are in a state of despair, unable to take care of themselves. The funds are needed to fill tanks with fuel and maintain the vehicles that take humanitarian aid to people in the most distressed parts of the country. We need funds to continue our ministry. And since we do what the Lord wants us to, what He puts in our hearts, we believe that He will also provide for us.
We invite you to participate in this fundraising. Tell your friends and churched about it. We need your help and we want you to experience the joy of giving and contributing to the life of someone who really needs it. May the Lord bless you abundantly according to the riches of His grace.
Please pray for:
– open hearts of Ukrainians to receive the life of Jesus
– our safety
– ways to increase the resources for our ministry
– wisdom and guidance in our work
