Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. The young ladies of the Bilogorodka church decided to do something useful for the military. Together, they bought nuts in honey and other treats. Then, about a hundred girls from various churches in Western Ukraine developed a coordinated plan to do more—they prepared a load of special energy bars. The girls included a brief message and a Bible verse to each one. When evangelists headed to the East, they distributed these bars among grateful soldiers. Seeing the guys receive such personalized gifts was a beautiful and touching sight—a true testimony of love and care from Christians.
2. From the Lutsk church: “Now we are experiencing many diverse trials. Although we are not close to the front, and we do not feel what our brothers and sisters there feel, we have our own trials here. One of these trials is powerful night bombardments. In one such shelling, many people suffered. We immediately help with what we can: we give someone temporary aid in the form of groceries; we help another find housing. But the main thing is that we tell about Christ. At such times, people ask, ‘Where is God?’ ‘Why did He allow this war?’ ‘Why are innocent people and children dying?’ Such moments give opportunities to witness of the Lord. Not everyone listens, but some do. For instance, there are 3 women who lived together in one house. Their house was badly damaged. We as a church came to help them and tell them about Jesus. Of course, they wanted to accept help more than they wanted to hear the Gospel. Still, the Gospel touched them. Now they go and help do different things at the front. They even visit church after church, ask questions, and attend various church events. Therefore, we ask you to pray for sisters Elena Petrovna, Nastya (daughter of Elena Petrovna) and Tatiana. May the Lord continue to work in them.
3. A church deacon from the northeast Ukraine city of Sumy, Andrei Sovenko is also a student in Kyiv Theological Seminary. He sends this message of news and thanks to all friends of BIEM. Please watch!
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/situation-sumy
4. Many of you are praying for Vitaly Bilyak, a BIEM church planter who was spontaneously inducted into the Ukrainian military. He appreciates your prayers and sends this message: “As soon as I realized that I no longer had a choice and that I was a soldier, the Lord showed me confused men whose lives had suddenly and unexpectedly changed. They were full of anxiety, shock, excitement, and hatred for those who inducted them... I think it’s very similar to what Jesus described as ‘sheep without a shepherd.’ So already at the reception point, where they told us, ‘You have no choice—you’re a soldier now’ … I preached my first sermon about Jesus loving the tax collector and the sinner. The introduction to this sermon was the stories of the men around me—how they were grabbed up by the recruiters, how no one was interested in their health, and how in some places there was no medical exam at all. I told them that in the time of Jesus there was an equally hated category of people: tax collectors. From there, I began talking about the love of God revealed through Jesus Christ. When we arrived at our training division, I was assigned to live in the 1st tent. There, for about 20 days, I preached the Gospel to 36 boys and men every day. There was only 1 evening when there was no sermon because of special circumstances. As soon as it was time to go to bed, they would say, ‘Priest Vitaly, you can say a word.’ I never abused that opportunity. I spoke for no more than 20 minutes. In these sermons, I spoke about the value of the Bible and about faith. We examined the Lord’s Prayer, discussed what the Gospel is, talked about why there is suffering, and many other topics. Many spontaneous general and individual conversations sprang up. When those boys were taken away for further training, I received many thanks and regrets: ‘We miss your sermons.’ I believe the Lord will lead each of them further. I think that nearly all of them accepted a New Testament. I gave many of them an audio New Testament as a gift. It was very encouraging to see: I would enter the tent, and here and there various guys had turned on a flashlight and were reading their New Testament or were listening to the New Testament with headphones.”
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM