War Relief Updates - October 3, 2025

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

October Video Update

Dear Pastors and Friends,

As you can probably imagine, as a Christian mission BIEM receives many requests for various kinds of help. Occasionally, local citizens of Indiana stumble across our phone number online and call requesting a place to live. When that happens, it’s clear the callers don’t realize BIEM is a Christian ministry in operation to evangelize and plant churches on the other side of the world. Instead, we refer those callers to one of the shelters or missions better suited to help them.

However, sometimes we receive questions about problems that truly do concern ministry in Eastern Europe, and—although the request is unexpected—we really can help! In our video for October, one of our Seminary students shares about the acoustics in his home church in Odesa. Their building is a good, solid structure, but the acoustics made listening to sermons and their church orchestra both difficult and unpleasant. The congregation wanted to know, “Is there any way BIEM can help?” There was. We invite you to view this story in a video we’re calling “Sound Matters.”

Here’s the link: https://vimeo.com/user37287229/acoustics

Blessings!
Sam & Amy Slobodian

BIEMs of Light: October 2025

Praises – Rejoice with us!

• If all goes as planned, on October 2 we expect to receive the Buyko family at our BIEM headquarters. They will spend a month with us—speaking and singing in churches, helping to process the donated clothing and other goods in our warehouse, then assisting with the paperwork.

• In September, 46 students attended our Seminary session in Ukraine. This good number is encouraging, considering numerous recent aerial attacks. Praise God, although the air-raid sirens blared in nearby Kyiv, our seminary classes in Bilogorodka were undisturbed.

• After almost a year in Armenia, our church planters there rejoice in God’s working: “We host an international Bible study. Some nights you hear Armenian, Russian, Iranian, Filipino, and English flying around all at once. Google Translate gets quite a workout! But it feels like a glimpse of heaven—people from every tribe and tongue worshiping together…. One Armenian woman shared, “I never used to talk with people from other nationalities. But now I’m learning how to love them.”

• BIEM’s calendars for 2026 are now printed and look great! Praise the Lord for friends with expertise in design and printing who make these possible. This month, friends on our mailing list should receive one in the mail. (If you’re not on our mailing list but want to be, please let us know!)

Prayer – Pray with us!

• October 18 is our next container-loading day. Please pray for donations of much-needed items such as lightly used clothes & shoes, walkers, wheelchairs, canes, and household items, plus funds to ship them. Also, pray for volunteers as we load these items to bless Ukrainians in the name of Christ!

• Update on Vitaly Bilyak: We requested prayer for our missionary-church planter Vitaly, who was conscripted into the Ukrainian military. Legal efforts to reverse his conscription have not yet yielded results. Meanwhile, Vitaly has had wonderful opportunities to give spiritual counsel to evangelize and even to conduct services in a tent! Please uphold him in prayer.

• Please pray for BIEM’s new missionary, Dana Keller, who continues to raise support to minister among orphans in Ukraine. (Due to the war, there are a lot!) To contact her write to danakellerru@gmail.com.

• Please pray for Aygerim, a girl in Central Asia who trusted Christ at camp 8 years ago as a 12 year old. She has endured much persecution. Her mother asked her to come visit. When she did, her mom had an imam waiting to force her back into Islam. Details are unclear, but she has not slept for a week, was not eating, and is a wreck. She’s in the hospital now. Pray that she will recover in all ways.

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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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