Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. Last week, we requested prayer for Pasha Usach, who had mysteriously appeared on Ukraine’s “Wanted” list of men who were being summoned to serve in that country’s military. Because of his status as a father with young children, Pasha never should have appeared on such a list. Praise God, Pasha was able to get the mistake cleared up. He’s no longer summoned for military duty. Better yet, he is now cleared to visit the U.S. as planned to speak in churches.
2. We have seen an amazing display of God’s loving grace in our church in Lviv, Ukraine, where one of the families that already had 5 kids of their own plus two orphans recently adopted 8 more orphans, all from one family. These 8 children’s parents had been severely addicted to drugs and alcohol, which led to their death. Normally the city administration places such children in orphanages. Tragically, most Ukrainian orphan girls end up in prostitution while the boys become criminals. When a man connected with the city administration learned of these 8 orphaned kids, he contacted a pastor who had been witnessing to him—our Pastor Yura in Lviv. The man explained to Yura that these kids could end up in the hands of the Mafia, who would exploit them in human trafficking, so they needed to be extracted immediately. Yura sprang into action! He recruited his two brothers who lived in the city where the children were from. One of his brothers convinced a local hospital administrator to secretly admit all the children to his hospital, where they could be hidden. Next, Yura shared this situation with the church family that already had 7 children. God moved those parents to adopt all 8 of these children, potentially saving them from a horrible fate! Although this is a great, true story, the situation produced a great need. This family’s old van (which could not hold all 17 anyway) broke down and is unrepairable. Even though the family must use public transportation they don’t miss a church service! They badly need a bus. A decent 20-passenger bus would cost $40,000. Please pray that the Lord would provide for this need.
3. In this video, our brother in Christ Arthur Sovpel, from the church in Dobropillia in the Donetsk region, gives thanks to BIEM for the various forms of war relief that the church has received. He also gives an update about their ministry, why it relocated, and what is now happening in their church, which is located on the edge of the frontlines of the war.
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/we-serve
4. August 2026 became a period of escalating Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian logistics infrastructure. Official reports indicate the loss of approximately 90% of modern warehouse logistics belonging to retail chains — big grocery retailers, hardware stores, appliance shops, and logistics companies. Unofficial estimates confirm the scale of the destruction and point to a long-term impact on product assortment and availability.
People have felt the effects of this destruction: empty shelves have appeared in a number of stores that are important to the population, and the waiting period for certain goods now ranges from 1–2 days to a week. Moreover, due to damage to the distribution centers of Nova Post, a company whose services are used by nearly the entire population of the country, the delivery of parcels within Ukraine has been disrupted. People are afraid to send anything, because they aren’t sure it will arrive at its destination.
Against this backdrop, citizens are expressing anxiety concerning the food supply. Some fear that by winter there might be no food left in the stores. As a result, shoppers are beginning to stock up on goods with a long shelf life. This turn of events underscores that war relief will remain a huge need in coming months.
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM