Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. In the area of Derman, Ukraine, where BIEM has assisted in constructing a Christian camping center, our missionary Pasha Usach was participating in an evangelistic outreach. Believers were distributing sacks of groceries and New Testaments to homes of disadvantaged ones. When Pasha knocked on the door of one house, it turned out to be a home where there is no father, only a mother trying to raise her daughter with the help of another relative. When Pasha offered a sack that included cereals, porridge, sausages, and other items, the mother broke into tears. She explained that she didn’t really believe in God, but they were very poor and had nothing in the house to eat. In desperation, she had prayed to God, begging Him to send them some food. Before long, Pasha showed up! He used that opportunity to agree that God had answered her prayer. He also testified of Jesus Christ and gave her a New Testament. This woman and her relative listened attentively and promised to come to church. May God be praised for working through needs!
2. There’s another exciting update concerning the most recent container of war relief that went to the church in Fastiv, Ukraine. That container carried a lot of medical supplies. Last week we shared that a hospital near the church needed many of the medical supplies on that container and how delivering them to the hospital resulted in hospital employees visiting the church to express their thankfulness. Some of those staff members have attended church services. A bit more challenging to distribute, this container included 44 boxes of kidney dialysis supplies with expiration dates of June and July. When our personnel began to contact hospitals where they had distributed before, they were directed to a hospital in Bucha, which has a dialysis center. That center said they would be happy to accept all 44 boxes! As it turns out, our newest prospective church planter, Sergiy, is in the first month of a new church being planted in Bucha. Involving him in delivering these items to the hospital is certain to develop new contacts for evangelism. Praise God!
3. During Russia’s April 24 hours-long missile attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine, one missile exploded into the residential district where BIEM’s own director for Ukraine lives with his family. In the community, adults and children were injured with at least 13 killed in the attack. Many are missing under the rubble. In the following video, Eugene Buyko’s son Michael pauses his aid work to provide an on-the-spot report.
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/missing
4. Even during this time of war, BIEM is conducting church-building programs in 4 locations. One of the effects of the war is a shortage of laborers. Even though dedicated church members do much of the construction themselves, many phases of a typical church-building program depend on hiring professional construction crews. In this case, roofing is an example. In discussing with one of our church planters the delay in roofing their building because of the difficulty in securing a roofing crew, we heard this statistic: On a typical work crew these days, 25% of the crew has been conscripted and is in active combat; 25% are in hiding to avoid conscription; and 25% have fled to the West, leaving only 25% doing the work since they have enough young children to be exempt from conscription. Nevertheless, the church construction aspect of BIEM’s church planting continues, albeit at a slower pace.
In Christ,
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM