War Relief Updates - February 27, 2026

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

1. This past month, we in the home office of BIEM were blessed to have our missionaries Vitaly & Olena Yurchenko visiting and living in our guest quarters. The churches where they spoke paid specially close attention and gave a wonderful response. Because the Yurchenkos’ home is in the suburbs of Kyiv, which has regularly been bombarded by Russian missiles and drones, they often mentioned how strange it seemed to sleep through the night without sirens or explosions waking them. (Pause and think... Have you ever thanked the Lord that you got to sleep through a night without bombs exploding nearby?) This couple departed yesterday on the first leg of their journey home. May God bless and protect them!

2. Following the departure of the Yurchenkos in #1 above, our Director for Ukraine Eugene Buyko and his family are the next guests on BIEM’s schedule to visit American churches and bring updates in person. However, due to wartime restrictions, for a Ukrainian man to exit the country—even temporarily and with official permission—is not necessarily a simple feat. On top of traveling in wintertime conditions, there remains an element of uncertainty and stress. Regardless of official permission to exit, the border guards make the final determination of allowing or not allowing a man to cross out of Ukraine. Once before, Eugene got as far as the border and was denied. He had to return home. Please pray for this family, that the Lord will bless and protect during each stage of their journey as they leave home at 5 a.m. their time on March 3 (which in the U.S. is 10 p.m. on Monday, March 2, Eastern Time).

3. It’s easy to designate a certain time and location for roadside evangelism. It’s more complicated to organize the food preparation, to order tracts and Scriptures, to travel to the chosen spot and set up tents, tables, and chairs, and then to spend long hours standing in the cold and connecting with those who stop in order to talk, share the Gospel, and pray with them. This week’s video gives you a peek into the truth that such ministry requires many people’s contributions - including yours!

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/many-hands

4. In April 2024 we shared a video that we titled “1 + 1 = 70.” In it, our missionary Pavlo Usach shared how God used two senior sisters in a war-battered area near Pokrovsk, Ukraine, to open the doors of their home for church services during the war in Ukraine. They began with just themselves, but in time God multiplied the number of people coming for worship to 70! (The link is https://vimeo.com/user37287229/oneplusone.) Today Pavlo has shared that the sister named Anna (who appears on the left in the video) is experiencing severe health challenges and has become bedridden. He requests that the BIEM family pray for this worthy sister in Christ.

Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM

February 2026 Video Update

Dear Pastors and Friends,

Last summer, the church in Bilogorodka, Ukraine, took their youth group on its first-ever tent camping trip. The location for this camp was Derman, where the church in Zdolbuniv has been developing a campground for various retreats and outings. During that time, several young people were saved!

Fast forward to this winter... After Christmas, the church in Bilogorodka took their young people back to the same location in Derman for the campground’s first-ever winter camp. Obviously, the biting cold of winter made tent camping in January unrealistic for these young ones. But thanks to BIEM supporters who provided the financing, workman from the Zdolbuniv church were able to winterize the buildings. The children and teens still needed to crowd together in the limited number of sleeping rooms available in the campground’s buildings, but that became part of the adventure. They made it work, and all with excellent attitudes!

In this video, youth leaders Misha and Lera provide some glimpses and observations from that successful and refreshing outing, which they would like to share with you. Here’s the link!

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/wintercamp

Blessings to you!

Sam & Amy Slobodian

BIEMs of Light: February 2026

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• In January, 11 students graduated from our Bible institute in Central Asia! Also in Central Asia, last month, several Afghani refugees and one Iranian refugee repented and accepted Christ as Savior!

• For the first time, the summer campground developed in Derman, Ukraine, has now housed a winter camp. Children and teens ages 10 and up got to escape the missiles and drones hitting Kyiv and spent a week in snow-clad beauty, where they participated in winter activities but also grew in their faith! See a video summary here:

  https://vimeo.com/user37287229/wintercamp

• During and following this past Christmas season in Turkey, our workers coordinated several free events that were especially geared toward sharing Christ with unbelieving Turks. We praise God for all those curious Muslims who attended. May the Lord continue to draw those souls to Himself!

• God continues to give our missionaries in Armenia, the Kellers, opportunities to evangelize both Armenians and other nationalities. Through street evangelism, they introduced 2 Iranian men to Christ!

Prayer – Pray with us!

• Evangelist Matthew (supported through BIEM’s Central Asia work) ministers in Iran. He states 3 of his disciples have been killed. He himself was beaten. Matthew says government forces are going to homes of known Christians and beating them. Believers are scattering. He urges prayers for believers in Iran.

• This winter BIEM is conducting a special project. Ukraine’s power grid has been taking a beating from Russian missiles and drones, leaving millions of citizens struggling to keep warm. Countless citizens are without electricity for many hours each day. We have received many requests from partnering churches for help with heat—funds for wood as well as fuel for generators. So far, we have sent $1,000 dollars each to 60 churches seeking to provide warm havens for desperate people in need. Because we have dozens more such requests, please pray for funds for this vital cause.

• One of our church plants in the Republic of Georgia has lost 2 workers: one left the country to get married, and the other relocated to work in 2 village ministries. The church requests prayer for suitable helpers, specifically “a full-time driver who is very capable in all things tech and children’s workers.”

• There are no updates regarding Vitaly Bilyak’s court case to have his conscription reversed. Nevertheless, Vitaly continues to share Christ. Since the commander assigns Vitaly to transport soldiers and officers in his vehicle, this duty provides excellent opportunities to share the Gospel. Please pray that, despite the lack of progress with the legal proceedings, Vitaly will remain encouraged in the fact that God is with him and using him.

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November Video Update

Dear Pastors and Friends,

Greetings to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ! The link below will connect you to our video update for the month of November. BIEM’s director for Ukraine, Eugene Buyko, just completed six weeks in the United States with his family. They spoke in churches and schools in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and the state of Washington. See the link below for a few final words of appreciation from the Buykos at the end of their visit:

https://vimeo.com/765053627

By the way, as the time for the Buykos to leave the U.S. drew near, the question Eugene received most often was “Are you going back to Ukraine?” His answer was “Certainly I am going back. That is where I am needed.” We are grateful to the Lord for giving our ministry such dependable and dedicated coworkers.

In Christ,

Sam & Amy Slobodian

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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Celebrating 40 Years

Celebrating 40 Years of Ministry

We praise God for 40 years of God's blessings upon this ministry. Countless souls have been saved, over 100 churches have been planted, and over 50 church buildings have been built for the glory of God along with many other outreaches. Follow this link for a historical overview: Challenger: BIEM’s 40th Anniversary

Prayer Request

Every summer, BIEM supports many camps in Ukraine, Russia, and other countries.

Please pray with us for many children to attend camps as well as much fruit to arise from God's Word going forth! The seeds planted during these camps continue to bear fruit for months and years to come. Read some stories about the continuing effect of summer camps in our most recent Challenger. 

If you are interested in supporting BIEM's work with summer camps, you can donate online, by phone at 317-718-1633, or by mail at P.O. Box 707 Danville IN, 46219. 

Urgent Prayer Request

In Central Asia, Pastor Righteous requests prayer. He has led a number of Muslims to Christ in recent days. The local mosque responded by stirring up a group of angry men to come and pelt the house with stones four days in a row. He and his seven-year-old son were nearly hit. He's concerned for the safety of his family.
 

Challenger Update

Here is an excerpt from our most recent Challenger publication.

BIEM’s shipments of 40-ft. containers of humanitarian aid and church equipment are especially effective evangelistic tools. They open hearts to the Gospel, help new churches, and they lift up churches’ testimonies in their communities. Learn the encouraging details, in the words of Ukrainians themselves...

It’s such a blessing to see BIEM meeting not only spiritual needs in Ukraine, but also material needs. Because the economic crisis in Ukraine has dragged on for decades, people have seen humanitarian aid more than once. They distinguish good aid from a pile of rags. People who receive assistance from us are always grateful, because BIEM sends quality items.

When I consider the whole humanitarian-aid process — from receiving donated garments in Indiana all the way to distribution in churches, orphanages, and rehabilitation centers in Ukraine — I see the church of Jesus Christ united in fulfilling the Great Commission. Every carton of clothing, every chair, each blanket, is a token of God’s love, sent to Ukraine by brothers and sisters in America. This isn’t just a mountain of stuff. It’s carefully packed boxes of love in the form of folded blouses, sweaters, and pants.

When Eugene Buyko and I visited BIEM in America last spring, we helped to load a container. The process of shipping and receiving such aid is laborious. First, most of the clothing received at BIEM’s warehouse gets hand-sorted by volunteers. Sorting and packing requires much more than a few days. When the warehouse is full, it’s time to order a sea container. Once again, loading requires volunteers.

When loading, volunteers fill the container compactly. No empty space is left. The top is reserved for bulky or fragile things: bicycles, wheelchairs, cribs, strollers, etc. During loading, someone counts and logs each item. When full, the container undergoes fumigation. At last, a truck hauls the container to a port, where it’s loaded onto a ship. Transit takes two months.

Our Ternopil church enjoys good collaboration with Social Services in our city. They know people who truly need help and accompany them to our church on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We offer everyone Christian literature, plus a children’s Bible if they have kids.

Employees of Social Services feel at home in the church. I was talking to one, and he referred to it as “our church.” I smiled. I like this trend. We pray that people, “seeing your good deeds, glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).

Friends, once more I want to express to you great thanks for your ministry to Ukraine through humanitarian aid.

— Vitaly Bilyak, Ternopil

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for your prayers and for the material aid, which is so vital. In the economic collapse in our land, there’s much poverty. The brothers and sisters of various churches are grateful for the clothing you provide. This clothing is vital for us, since not many people can buy new things. Our churches receive small offerings, so we’re unable to buy church furniture. So chairs, tables, and other things from the container are really useful.

Here, not many can buy a car, especially in villages. When one brother received a bicycle as a gift, he was ecstatic. Now he gets around much more quickly.

Surrounding our church is a chain-link fence. Where did we get the fencing? From a container, of course! You can’t imagine how much you help us. Without your aid, our missionaries couldn’t have established a single church. Not one church building has been built without your help, because we are “labourers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9).

Over and over, I want to express appreciation to you for your invaluable support. May the Lord bless you!

— Vitaly Yurchenko

Please consider giving towards the costs of shipping containers so that we can continue to further the Gospel through humanitarian aid. For more stories of how humanitarian aid has blessed people in Ukraine and surrounding areas, click here. 

December Video Update

Watch this video on Vimeo by either clicking on the following link or by copying and pasting it in your browser:

 

https://vimeo.com/247346680

 

Dear Pastor's and Friends,

Warm Christmas greetings from the Slobodians and all at BIEM! This month’s video update is a special treat as you will hear the choir from the Rock of Salvation Baptist Church in Kyiv, Ukraine while you view ministry pictures from this past year. This church is Ukraine's largest independent Baptist church and houses our seminary, which is a partnership between BIEM and the Brotherhood of Independent Baptist Churches of Ukraine.

This particular choir has been a special blessing to all of us at BIEM over the years. They have often traveled with us all over Ukraine to provide music for evangelistic meetings, dedication services, ordinations and other special events. One time they traveled with us all the way to Belarus.  Please take the time to listen to this choir directed by Vitaly Grigor as they sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

May God bless each of you with a joyous Christmas and wonderful New Year!

In Christ, 

Sam & Amy Slobodian

Urgent Prayer Request

Our container bound for Ukraine is due to arrive in the port city of Odessa on December 7. Please pray that it can be successfully dispatched to Kiev and that our brethren there can succeed in the huge task of clearing it through customs.

BIEMs of Light December 2017

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• We praise the Lord for yet another successful Bible Quest in Ukraine. In October, 20 different teams of young people studied all the parables of Jesus and joined in friendly competition against each other. Ultimately, everyone who participates benefits from godly fellowship and increased knowledge of God’s Word.

• Although summer camps are long over, we rejoice for continuing fruit of both children and adults who have begun to attend local churches because of the camps!

• In St. Petersburg, Russia, a born-again man from Kyrgyzstan has been using mp3 players (BIEM’s Hear It Now program) to witness to others who immigrated there from Central Asia!

• Join us in praising God for two more solid, Bible-believing men in Latin America who have applied to BIEM for aid to plant churches. (We will share more details in a future newsletter.)

Prayer – Pray with us!

• One of our missionary pastors in Russia is doing double-duty as both senior pastor and youth minister. Please pray that God will provide a young man with heart to accept the youth work. 

• One of our leaders in the Central Asian ministry requests prayer for a soon-to-be-released Tajik language version of the film King of Glory. Pray for many speakers of Tajik to be curious enough to view this film and understand the need of their own souls.

• Brother Andrey in another Central Asian country recently wrote us that many of the churches in his country were taking the week to pray and fast for the persecution of believers in Central Asia to subside, and that American churches would experience revival and not need persecution to wake us up. That’s a sobering thought! Let’s rally around those same prayer requests. 

• Our container bound for Ukraine is due to arrive in the port city of Odessa on December 7. Please pray that it can be successfully dispatched to Kiev and that our brethren there can succeed in the huge task of clearing it through customs.

Challenger Update

Here is a story from our most recent Challenger publication.

When a sinner repents, Heaven rejoices. In our church, we too greatly rejoiced. Victor is a man for whom we have prayed a long time. He actively helped in building our church. He became the first person whose heart found peace in Christ after many years of wandering in darkness.

Victor came from the world, from a non-Christian family. All of Victor’s life passed without the Lord; therefore, when he repented that was a special event for us. Tears of joy welled in our eyes. We sang hymns of praise and thankfulness. The whole church got on their knees and gave praise to the Creator for this saved sinner.

However, while the church was rejoicing, the enemy of mankind’s souls was pre- paring a serious trial for Victor to shake his faith. When Victor’s wife learned he had repented, she began pressuring him psychologically. For two weeks she would not talk with her husband. Later she used words to pressure him at any opportunity. On Sunday mornings before worship service she would say, “Don’t forget to give away all the tithe to your church.” (That was as if to say, “Take all our money and give it to your church.”)

Friends and relatives wondered how it was possible he would no longer drink alcohol. They wondered if Victor had fallen into a cult.

It takes courage to openly declare you’ve become a follower of Christ, that you want to change your life, especially when everyone around you is far from God. There’s a risk everyone will turn away and say that you’ve lost your mind. But Victor had thought through his decision with regard to the Gospel and Christ. He openly said: “I am a believer. I no longer drink!” Thank God for his decision and courage. This was the first fruit of his repentance. 

For a long time, Victor has taken medicine for his heart and blood pressure. He has bottles of medicines standing on the windowsill in a certain order, so even with his eyes closed he can take the right one and make no mistake. One evening he came home after a hard day of work, and he took his pills, drank the necessary dose and...felt oddly. He lay down and all his body felt weightless. Victor thought he was dying. It turned out his daughter-in-law had unwittingly shuffled the medicines. As a result, he took ten times the normal dose of one medicine! When Viktor finally began to feel better, his concerned wife said tenderly: “Victor, go to your church. You will sing psalms. It will help you feel better.”

His wife’s new, softened attitude is a huge answer to prayer. Fellow church members in Ukraine were praying, and so were Americans Victor had met when they visited Bilogorodka to help with the church’s construction. People on both sides of the ocean prayed fervently.

There will be more trials in Victor’s future. We are praying, and we ask that you, dear brothers and sisters, please support Victor in prayer, that the Lord be with him in all his paths and give him peace of heart.

Thank you again to each of you who donated to BIEM’s church construction fund, which in turn led to Victor’s repentance. Saving sinners is the heart of ministry!

Challenger Update

Here is a story from our recent Challenger publication.

When it comes to building churches, a major concern in most of the world is justifying the cost of a facility that’s used only a few hours per week. So, there are great advantages to buildings that are usable for more than worship services. Three of BIEM’s current construction projects are examples of buildings that multi-task for their congregations. Since most of you won’t have an opportunity to visit them, let us take you on a brief “tour” via this article.

Bilogorodka, Ukraine

In the early planning stage of this church building, a question arose concerning a basement. Should the building have one? Building from the ground up would be cheaper, but would skipping a basement be shortsighted? Because Bilogorodka is near the capital of Kyiv, discussions led to the realization that, with lodging facilities in a basement level, this location could fill various needs, including:

• Lodging for seminary students.

• Guest quarters for attendees of conferences.

• Pastors’ meetings.

To accommodate such specific goals, the plans were revised to include a full basement with eight bedrooms, restrooms with showers, and a meeting area, plus more rooms and restroom facilities on the second and third levels. The design included a kitchen and eating area. The result was a multi-purpose church building that could house 30–40 people. Long before the building was complete, the downstairs quarters were made available for seminary students, who were thrilled. These new surroundings provided a huge upgrade from the crowded housing situation they had previously endured. Since then, the building has housed mission teams, Christian refugees in transit from the war zone, and pastors who gathered for annual meetings.

Ternopil, Ukraine

Due to the downtown location of this church, the cost of a stand-alone building was far out of reach. The solution, by God’s gracious provision, was to purchase the first floor of an apartment building. (This is an area most typically used for stores, shops, and other businesses in Ukraine.) The first floor that BIEM helped the congregation to buy includes two separate entrances besides the main church entrance. This large downstairs area makes possible multiple uses that dovetail with the church’s outreach to the community.  For instance, church leaders immediately designated basement space to receive and store BIEM’s container shipments of humanitarian aid and ministry equipment. (We’ve already sent one shipment.) BIEM missionary Vitaly Bilyak plans to use another room in the basement as a youth ministry center. A separate entrance from the street leads to two separate rooms, one on the left; another on the right. As the church grows, these will be ideal for developing ministries such as a day-care center, food-pantry, or clinic. Any of these would enhance the ministry of the church and provide opportunities for evangelism.

Shakhovskaya, Russia

Since this community of over 200,000 people has had no Gospel witness (the believers there travel by train to reach the nearest church), this church-building project is the answer to the prayers of pastors and other Christians who have been praying for this city. A second prayer was that God would provide a church planter to shepherd this work. The church-planter God provided brought a big challenge. Brother Andrei, the experienced church-planter called to this work, has a huge family with thirteen children. Where are you going to find a home for so many people? Since blueprints for the building had yet to be created, the solution was to make a good portion of this church building a large parsonage adequate for this family.

Approaching completion

Amazingly, God provided a donor who offered a matching-fund gift large enough to push all three projects to the point of being able to hold services. As these three projects near completion, the last step is to finalize their interiors, including church furnishings and seating. Praise God! And as if that were not blessing enough, BIEM has now received another matching-fund offer of up to $40,000 to match whatever other donors will give toward Church Construction. Thus, if gifts from friends of BIEM add up to $40,000, then those funds will automatically double to $80,000 — enough to furnish these three buildings, plus provide a badly needed roof for the Soroon Women’s Shelter in Central Asia. Dear friend, if you would like to make a special year-end gift for Gospel ministry, this matching-gift offer will maximize your donation’s impact. To finish these jobs, simply designate your gift of any size “Church Construction.” May God bless these constructions, and may He save many souls in their communities!

Slobodian Prayer Letter

Dear Pastors and Friends,

Warm Christmas greetings from the Slobodians! As we celebrate this special time of year in commemoration of God’s great gift of His son, we wish each of you a joyous Christmas and blessed New Year.

As a family we have much to be thankful for.  Looking over the past year we see that God has answered the prayers you have directed towards our family needs.  Amy has fully recovered from her heart surgery one year ago and our grandson Shane Harvey has recovered from the serious concerns connected with the liquid build up around his brain we had mentioned a year ago without needing brain surgery.  

Shane’s older brother Noah who had the heart transplant still needs your prayers.   Though he seems to be fine his doctors at the Children’s hospital have grown increasingly concerned about some of his lab tests that are a regular part of his life.  Though they continue to run tests, as of yet they have not found out why the test results are so troubling.  Please pray that they can find the cause of all this and that it is something that can be treated.   Meanwhile he is not in pain or discomfort and is in fact a happy little boy even though his life is not normal with all the trips to the hospital and the feeding tube he is connected to most of the time.

We are also rejoicing in the recent announcement our daughter Sharon and husband Ashton Brandyberry made that they are expecting their first child the end of March.  This will be our 9th grandchild!

This past year also brought some special ministry blessings. The 2500 children and youth attending our camps this summer was a record and the nearly 500 salvation decisions was rewarding for all those who labored and gave for this ministry.  It was also a blessing to see the return of students this year from the war zone in the East at our training sessions in Kiev.  The seven building projects started last year made significant progress over the past year and each one is complete or close to completion. 

As this year draws to a close there are some needs which need prayer.  Please pray for our brethren in Russia who need wisdom and strength as they deal with the new anti-missionary legislation that has been passed.  Authorities in Eastern Ukraine have also recently made statements against “non-traditional religious organizations“ which generally means anything other than Russian or Ukrainian Orthodox religions.   Pray as well for brother Peter Rumachik as he continues trying to resolve the delay to getting gas to the new church building in Shahovskaya, Russia.  Please pray that they may soon be able to switch from the expensive electric they are now using to the more economical gas.   

Thank-you for the prayers and support you send our way.  We thank the Lord for your heart for His missionary work.  May God bless you all!

The Slobodians

BIEMs of Light December 2016

 

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• Tolik, son of BIEM missionary Nikolai Ryzhuk, underwent back surgery in Moldova in the last week of November. So far, recovery seems to be going well. Tolik was up and walking two days later. Praise the Lord for a Christian surgeon and for this report.
   
• BIEM praises the Lord for the provision of a $40,000 matching-funds program to push several building projects to some final stages of completion, including needed interior furnishings! Please pray with us that the $40,000 needed comes in.
  
  
• Pastor Andy Counterman, who is BIEM’s Field Director for Latin America, reports exciting progress among the young church planters there. Starting new churches is no breeze. Humanly speaking, it involves much time and energy. But God is blessing. One church is up to 55 people. Another up to 60. Another church planter is reaching native tribes in the jungles… May the Lord continue to bless the ministries of young men on fire for God!
   
• In Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, BIEM’s Bruce Tuttle speaks of his 10 Bible students and says he is  “delighted with the developments that are noticeable in their fervor and Christian leadership character.” Such words remind us of the Apostle Paul’s pleasure at Timothy’s eager desire to grow in the Word and ministry. Praise God for such young men!

Prayer – Pray with us!

• Currently Igor Balashov and an evangelistic team are visiting churches in Siberia in places where “there are many fish, but few fishermen.” In all our prayers for buildings, programs, and resources, may we never forget simply to pray for the Holy Spirit to touch hearts and save souls through the preaching of His Word! (Igor sends thanks for prayers, too!)
   
• In the past, we have referred to the puppet ministry of the church in Chervona Sloboda, Ukraine. Vitaly Yurchenko writes, “Please pray about upcoming presentations, as we have many scheduled for different places. Christmas is coming, and various churches and orphanages invite us. Pray for these outreaches.”
   
• In Goncharovsk, Ukraine, missionary Alexander Petrenko has organized a floor hockey club for schoolboys. In addition to the playing their sport, he has Bible lessons with them. He requests prayer for these young men to understand and embrace the Gospel.
   
• In Shahovskaya, Russia, Pastor Rumachik reports a bureaucratic delay that prevents hooking up a natural gas line to the new church building. This situation forces the believers to continue warming the building with electric space heaters, which is expensive. Please pray for a quick resolution to this delay.

Challenger Update

Here is a story from our recent Challenger publication.

Every summer, BIEM sponsors Christian camps in Eastern Europe. This year, your donations helped the Baptist church in Lutsk, Ukraine, to try a first: a camp for kids with disabilities. Due to the unique needs of each child, families wanting to send a special-needs camper also sent one parent. BIEM missionary Valia Yankovska shares her impressions:

I constantly thank God that I can have a role in the lives of young people through ministry in the church. Once again, with the help of the whole BIEM team, we’ve been able to hold an evangelistic

camp, this time for special-needs children and their parents. We prepared diligently, and we were concerned, because this was a first for us.

We held the camp 25 miles from Lutsk. We stayed in a two-story building with rooms for four, six, or eight people. On the first floor we held Bible studies and craft time. We ran the games outside and in the large hall where we had Bible lessons for adults.

We had two puppet shows. One of those presentations was written and performed by mothers of the kids, and that was interesting. At the end, someone needed to summarize the show’s meaning and tie it to the Bible lesson, which Ludmila did. Later she told how hard her heart was beating, but then how “easy it was on her soul” when she’d finished She’s only recently begun to read the Bible. For her, praying before meals was new. She found the Bible to be a wise and interesting book; indeed it holds answers for all her questions. She asked how people can fully obey the Lord and also pursue their own plans and personal life? We spent a lot of time in conversation.

Of course, leaders were busy with the children. To our surprise, all the children were obedient. I’m amazed by their openness, their smiles, and friendliness. Age-wise, some are no longer children, but mentally they are young. Our No. 1 rule is to talk to them normally, without pity, as if to ordinary kids.

These special-needs children were so active in games. They read the Bible aloud, they sang, and they performed all exercises during morning calisthenics. This was exhilarating and instructional for all the children. They tried their hardest, even though it didn’t always work out.

One boy, Victor, always ran to games and calisthenics. Some exercises were hard for him, but he asked his mom to help. His mother, Tanya, was delighted with her son’s camp experience. In camp, he opened up and laughed and was cheerful. At home he was reserved, grumpy, and fearful. How surprised she was when he joined in relay races and even knew how to be a good loser. She cried from joy that you revealed secret sides of her son, and that her boy felt what it’s like to be a needed part of a team, to be like everyone else. When there was a call to repentance, this boy lowered his head and prayed. His mom prayed, too.

Andrei, 15, had a reputation of hurting people. Other kids feared being in the same room with him, even when his mother stood beside him. On the first day, he learned the difference between a winner and a loser, and he tried with all his might to be among the winners. One time he lost at a game. He cried like a little child. But later he realized such things happen and that the first step toward victory is to be victorious over one’s self. He began to obey his mother and leaders. He enjoyed helping and encouraging littler ones. By camp’s end, he was a “kind and gentle bear.”

Some children misbehaved, and they deserved punishment. But Maksim (a leader) volunteered to take the punishment in their place, so he was swatted with stinging nettles. Afterward Maksim explained that Jesus died on the cross for you and for me to take our guilt on Himself so that we can have eternal life with God in Heaven. Andrei absorbed this lesson, and he prayed for forgiveness and salvation. His mother, Elena, works at a school. She has no spare time for training her son. Now, at the end of camp, she seriously wants to fellowship with us. She has seen God at work in her family, and that only He can help her cope with her son.

Luba and her granddaughter Inna, 16, had never been in a camp. (After Luba’s daughter gave birth to a disfigured daughter, the daughter’s husband left them. Luba’s daughter cried for a long while; then she gave Inna to her mother before she, too, departed to start a new life without the disabled daughter.) Luba has raised and schooled her granddaughter at home. Luba told how it hurts that Inna has no friends. When Inna was an infant, it hurt to take her outside. Everyone stared, and children laughed at Inna. Physically, she’s 16, but her mental age is half that, so she has no friends.

Luba said, “When we were invited to church, I was afraid to go. But then I saw and felt the friendliness, understanding, and support. Inna really looks forward to church. At home, she repeats the lessons to her grandfather. And I received Jesus into my heart as my Savior. I’m thankful to those who have given me the chance to be in this camp with my granddaughter. I want to read the Bible, to study it, and wish for my granddaughter to receive salvation, too. It’s sad for me to think about Grandfather and I passing away and Inna having no one to live with. After all, no one needs an ill child, and the retirement home probably wouldn’t accept her. But for now we live in God’s joy, and I ask for the Lord’s mercy concerning the salvation of Grandpa and my granddaughter.”

Inna reads the Bible, and in this way she uplifts herself. It’s a little hard to understand her words, but she reads confidently. In camp she read verses to all of us — and she was happy.

Thank you, friends of BIEM, for caring and for giving to make many, many camps possible. Your love is touching lives for Christ!