Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. Praise God! Vitaly Bilyak was able to get all necessary documents and was able to successfully cross the Ukrainian border and get to the Polish airport for a flight to the USA. This was not without problems. Getting from the Ukrainian border to the airport in Poland involved a long train ride, then buses the rest of the way to the airport. Because the buses were running late, Vitaly ended up having to hire a taxi for $250 to get himself to the airport in time. Nevertheless, he has made it to his destination for which we thank God. He did share a need for which we would like to request your prayers. He asks, “Could the mission buy me a new iPhone? My iPhone is already very tired. The battery is not holding up well. And my entire ministry is tied to the phone.”
2. This week BIEM’s war-relief program has been especially blessed. Earlier, a retired pastor and his wife had contacted us from Wisconsin. They wondered if they could drive to Indiana and spend several days sorting, folding, and packing donated clothing for our next container shipment to Ukraine. Of course, we said Yes! So, they have been with us for three days, and they are just now sorting and boxing the last of the unprocessed clothing donations currently on hand. This is a tremendous blessing! We thank and praise the Lord for our volunteers!
3. In Lviv, Ukraine, Yura and Violetta Levtseniuk testify that the warm winter clothing BIEM supplied for frontline soldiers continues to spark gratitude reaps spiritual results among soldiers who received them. Here’s the story of one soldier who found his way to the church and from there found his way to the Lord. Here’s the link:
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/moreresults
4. Our War Relief Fund sponsored several trips that Sofia Buyko took to Denmark to share the Gospel and distribute aid among the many Ukrainian women refugees who have settled there. On each trip, she would take one or two of her daughters (Angelica, Solomia & Ivanko) with her. After Angelica was engaged to a young Ukrainian Christian man in Germany (he grew up in the same church as Angelica), it became apparent that—due to issues related to obtaining a legal marriage certificate since the groom was not a citizen of Germany and could not return to Ukraine—it was determined that a wedding in Denmark would satisfy legal requirements for registering the marriage. Because Sophia had established relationships with a considerable number of Ukrainian women in Denmark through war relief distribution, these local ladies rendered valuable assistance in organizing the wedding. When Sam and Amy attended the wedding last Saturday, some of those refugees who have received aid from BIEM blessed them personally with words of thanks.
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM