Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. Igor, a neighbor of some of our friends in Ukraine, is the commander of an elite drone force that has been defending Ukraine. A while ago, a friend of BIEM provided funds to meet a need he had for some specialized equipment. This last week Igor was on leave, which gave our folks a chance to visit with him. He was raising funds for a much-needed vehicle for his unit and was about $2,000 short. When we heard and shared about this, the same friend provided these funds. Best of all, this interaction provided more opportunities to share the Gospel with Igor. Please pray that this man would come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
2. A couple weeks ago, we shared an update about Vitaly Bilyak, how he had an amazing opportunity to accept a position for a chaplaincy role with a strategic division of the military, which will give him broad ministry opportunities. Since legal attempts to reverse his conscription had ended unsuccessfully, Vitaly accepted this invitation as God’s will. (He explained this in a video we shared on May 22.) After two weeks of intense military vetting, he has arrived at his assigned location, which cannot be shared for security reasons. I spoke with him yesterday, and he is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead to share the Gospel. He also shared that his oldest son David, who is in the US, had just gotten engaged. The wedding will be at the end of August. Vitaly’s new commander has given him leave to attend the wedding. Yet, in order to travel to the wedding, Vitaly needs to renew his US visa and prepare other documents. Please pray that he will be able to do this so that he can attend his son’s wedding.
3. For this week’s video update, BIEM church planter Anatoly Kosyanchuk wanted to express his personal appreciation to the mission and also to all of you who make this ministry possible. Thank you for upholding Anatoly and all of our missionaries overseas with your prayers and donations. Here’s the link:
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/kosyanchuk
4. Last week we requested that you pray for an evangelistic concert that was to take place in Kyiv on the evening of June 7. We’re happy to report that the Lord greatly blessed. During the day before, volunteers from the church held a special outreach in the nearest park to meet neighbors, chat, and to pass out invitations with New Testaments. As a result, the next day a large number of locals turned out for the concert, including some people who used to come to church but had not been there in a long time. May God warm these hearts and instill a desire to draw closer to Him!
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM