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

1. When Oksana Dikan’s husband went off to war to defend Ukraine along the front lines, she devoted much of her time and energy to providing war relief by helping wounded soldiers and assisting those suffering from the war. She established a charity that works together with the church in Bilogorodka. BIEM’s war relief funds have contributed to several relief projects they have done together. For example, several families from Kupiansk in the Donetsk region received aid that arrived on the BIEM container that arrived at the Bilogorodka church. Michael Buyko of that church writes, “Oksana Dikan finds the neediest individuals and shares what they need immediately, and we, the church, try to help as much as we can. We are glad that our church and mission can serve in this.”

2. Our church plant in Lutsk (in western Ukraine) held a special Mother’s Day event earlier this month. Geared especially for mothers and grandmothers who moved to Lutsk from dangerous regions, this event included a special presentation of the Gospel plus a distribution of packages of aid. Such people are called IDPs (internally displaced persons). These refugees have lost everything they had. Many have sons and husbands fighting in the war, and some of those have been wounded or killed. A report received from this event stated that everyone was grateful to BIEM for the support and treats they received.

3. While temporarily in the U.S. to assist BIEM, missionary Vitaly Bilyak spoke in churches and provided invaluable help with our next container of war relief for Ukraine. In this video, Sam Slobodian interprets as Vitaly shares about this shipment and about how vital your material donations are at this time:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/more

4. Earlier, we requested prayer for a couple of our Ukrainian pastors who were hoping to exit Ukraine and travel to the U.S., where BIEM schedules them to speak in supporting churches. Such visits are always a blessing as the men share how God is using our war relief efforts to open hearts to the Gospel. Praise God, one of these men—Vitaly Bilyak—has made it to our Indiana headquarters and was a huge help in assisting to load the war relief container that will be shipped out today. We are still attempting to get the second church planter here in the near future.

Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM