BIEMs of Light: June 2026

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• Recently we requested prayer for Sam Slobodian and two pastors traveling to Ukraine. They are now home again and appreciate your prayers for safe traveling—especially since drones attacked near them in two places, and when they were in Kyiv an air-raid siren compelled them to join hundreds of Ukrainians running down into the subway! The Seminary session ended blessedly with 7 graduates.

• Update on Misha, the nephew of a BIEM missionary couple—Praise the Lord, this young man has survived many horrific battles. They write, “We praise God that our nephew Misha, a soldier in the war, is still alive and well. He continues to share Christ as he trains soldiers.”

• One of our families in the Republic of Georgia recently had an Algerian couple come to their church wanting to learn about Christianity. Both accepted Christ after they heard the good news of salvation presented in detail! They now attend church services and discipleship classes faithfully. 

• Our church plant, New Life Baptist Church in Ternopil, Ukraine, recently celebrated their 20th anniversary and is still going strong despite the war. We praise the Lord for blessing this work!

Prayer – Pray with us!

• Our Bible Institute in Central Asia is invaluable in grounding converts from Islam in the Truth of God’s Word. Despite persecution, graduates are winning souls in Afghanistan and other lands. Currently it needs $4,000 to operate through the next session. Please pray for these needed funds.

• In his new location and new role in the Ukrainian military, Vitaly Bilyak gives out New Testaments. He says, “Yesterday, I walked into the main room where we live and heard one of the guys reading aloud from the New Testament he’d received from me, while the others listened intently. I was encouraged. The Lord is working through your prayers.” Please keep praying!

• Our new missionary Dana Keller departs for Ukraine on June 9 to minister to orphaned children. She says, “Kyiv will be the main place where I will be serving orphaned children. But air attacks are happening across the country almost every night. Please pray for my safety and that God would use me effectively in the lives of children who have been left without parents.”

• Even though giving toward camps has reached $59,760, our coworkers overseas are encouraging us to bump up the goal from $65,000 to $77,000 due to escalating prices for gasoline, food, and other camp supplies. Please join us in praying for the remaining $17,240 needed to reach this amount.

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War Relief Updates - June 5, 2026

Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People

1. During Sasha Petrenko’s many war-relief projects, he got acquainted with Mykola, the chief of the local fire department in his area of Smolyn/Goncharovsk. This week Sasha received news that Mykola has been diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer and did not have long to live. Sasha, burdened for Mykola since he was not saved, arranged to visit him. He also asked that all of our Ukrainian brethren pray for Mykola to respond to the Gospel. When Sasha met with Mykola yesterday (Thursday), God answered prayer and Mykola received the Lord. Sasha soon sent out a message to our Ukrainian brethren, thanking them for their prayers and sharing that the angels in heaven are rejoicing as another soul has come to Christ!

2. For this weekend Angelica Buyko (oldest daughter of Eugene Buyko) has organized a special evangelistic concert entitled “A Musical Evening.” On Saturday, June 6, a group of volunteers will be distributing invitations and New Testaments for this special meeting, which will take place at the Temple of Salvation Baptist church in Kyiv on Sunday evening. Recipients of invitations include many contacts in the area whom our people have become acquainted with through our war-relief distribution efforts. Please pray that God would bless this special event. You can see one of the invitations being distributed here:

3. Last month, with financial aid from BIEM, Ukrainian believers organized a special camp for mothers, widows, and children of Ukrainian men and women who died fighting to defend Ukraine from invaders. The speakers emphasized that hope is not gone, for our true hope is in the Lord. It’s just another of the many ways this campground is being used to help, uplift, and evangelize for the glory of the Lord. In this video, missionary Pasha Usach shares briefly about this moving camp.

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/ourhope

4. Yesterday we received the following video clip of a low-flying, Russian Shahed drone passing over the Petrenko’s area in Smolyn. Because it was flying so low, Ukrainian radars did not catch it, so there were no attempts to shoot it down. Thankfully, it went on its way to some other target, but as you can imagine from the video, such a sound and sight strike a lot of fear into hearts. Please continue to pray for the safety of our missionaries and workers in Ukraine.

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/smolyn-drone

Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM

June 2026 Video Update

Dear Pastors and Friends,

While visiting Derman, Ukraine, we asked our camp director Pasha Usach to give an update on the development of the Christian campground. We also asked Pasha to share their vision for further development of the property for future Christian ministries. Since those comments were filmed, we offer you a chance to listen in and be a part of that conversation...

Here’s the link:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/progress

Blessings to you!

Sam & Amy Slobodian

March Video Update

Dear Pastors and Friends,

Although the war in Eastern and Southeastern Ukraine continues to wipe out businesses, homes, and lives, for the March video we want to turn your attention elsewhere, to something more uplifting. Years ago, the mayor of a town in Ukraine visited the church where BIEM’s Anatoly Kosyanchuk preaches. At the conclusion of the service, that mayor approached Anatoly with an unexpected proposal: “If you start another Baptist church on the opposite side of town, I’ll give you the land to build on!” 

In the years following that surprise offer, God has taken the Second Baptist Church in Bilogorodka from a mere idea, to an empty plot of ground, to a construction project, to a thriving congregation. Now the Lord has blessed that growing group of believers with an ordination service—one assistant pastor and four deacons! Two of those deacons are neighbors who live within eyesight of the church. Both were unsaved when the church’s construction began. But through this ministry, God has drawn them and other residents of that neighborhood to Himself!

Our latest issue of our Challenger newsletter features an article about this same special ordination service. But for our March video, we decided to let Pastor Buyko and his new assistant pastor, Roman, tell more about God’s blessing that day. You can view that video here:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/morehands

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings to you!

Sam & Amy Slobodian

BIEMs of Light: September 2022

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• Our new missionaries in Ukraine, the Koops, operated a 3-day children’s camp in Druzhba, which they have targeted for a new church. The first day, 65 attended; the 2nd day up to 85, and the third day over 100 participated, including about 20 mothers who were asking, “Where is the church?” When those moms heard that church services will be starting soon, some replied they will come.

• Praise God, attacks from Russia on Ukraine’s Independence Day were not as bad as some feared. Although Russian rockets and missiles hit 58 cities and communities on that day, the next day there was only one. Since then, it seems things have died down.

• In Ukraine, the Slobodians report a wonderful baptism at the new church in Bilogorodka. Nine adults were baptized. Praise God for souls being accepting Christ in this time of war. Previously, the Russian army had come within a few miles of Bilogorodka, which is in the Bucha area.

• Praise God for a fruitful trip Vitaly Bilyak took to the military front in Donbas area with a trailer full of aid. He and those with him helped civilians, wounded ones in a hospital, plus soldier friends for whom he brought much-needed supplies and requested items. Vitaly plans two more such trips in September. Pray for safety. His videos from the front include sounds of artillery and explosions.

Prayer - Pray with us!

• Sources predict that the next week will be an especially dangerous time for the military cities of Desna and Goncharovsk, where BIEM missionaries have planted two churches. Both towns have already suffered attacks by missiles, rockets, and planes. More attacks are expected. Please pray for our missionaries, the churches, and the community, that lives would be spared.

• Pasha Usach conducted a special one-day event for mothers and wives who had lost sons and husbands in the war. Over 50 attended. The event was a huge blessing and provided a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel, so much so that Pavel is planning another such an event. Pray that God will use these outreaches to draw souls to Christ, the source of the greatest comfort.

• Plans are underway to bring the Buyko family to the United States, where they will visit churches for one month. Sophia and the three girls have already received visas; now we are working on getting the special permission needed for Eugene to temporarily exit Ukraine during wartime. Please pray that this permission will be granted, just as it was for Vitaly Yurchenko.

• Some of our contacts are witnessing of Christ to Muslims in Afghanistan. Please pray for God to open eyes and illumine hearts with the Gospel.

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BIEMs of Light: August 2022

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• Praise God, our personnel in Ukraine have received another 40-ft. container of humanitarian aid from us here in the United States! This is the 7th container our dedicated Ukrainians are distributing to needy places. This one went to the city administration of a region that contains several settlements that were occupied by Russian forces, so these goods will reach some of the neediest recipients.

• BIEM president Sam Slobodian heads back to Ukraine on August 2. The main focus of this trip will be humanitarian aid, but praise the Lord, he will also participate in a baptism and an ordination!

• Today BIEM personnel drove another 5 tons of food from Poland into Ukraine, this time for the Kharkiv region. We praise God for thoughtful donors and for those driving and distributing.

• So far, we are receiving reports of young people coming to Christ in BIEM-sponsored camps in Estonia, Ukraine, and Russia. Although the Lord touches hearts in a special way through such camps every summer, we never take that blessing for granted. To God be the glory!

Prayer - Pray with us!

• Despite the war in Ukraine, one of our seminary graduates is deeply burdened for a particular district in a large city in Western Ukraine that has been flooded with refugees. Many of them plan to stay. This brother has recruited others to help start a new church, and they are praying and fasting every Friday for God’s direction and provision for that goal. Please join them in praying.

• A pastor named Aleksander emailed us today from the Intensive Care section of a hospital in central Russia. He has a weak heart, and their summer camps and other ministries may have taxed him too much. Let’s uphold this worthy servant of the Lord with our prayers.

• In Central Asia, the manager of our Christian shelter for hurting women is named Julie. She is a big blessing—talented, yet with a servant’s heart and love for Jesus. She devotes herself to running the shelter and ministering to these women and their children. It’s a big job. Please pray for her.

• In another nation of Central Asia, one church recently baptized 9 former Muslims who had put their faith in Christ. Please pray that more hearts in those regions will soften and consider their need of the Savior.

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