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

1. Yesterday Pasha Usach, our church planter in Western Ukraine, arrived safely at BIEM’s offices in the USA. In light of the issue of Pasha somehow ending up on Ukraine’s "Wanted List" of draft dodgers (which we shared about previously), his arrival is a wonderful blessing and answer to prayer. Thank you for praying! During the next month, we will be traveling with Pasha to churches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Minnesota. Pray that God will bless these meetings as these churches hear about the challenges, blessings, and needs our people are facing in Ukraine.

2. Today we begin loading our next container of aid for Ukraine. We plan to ship it out next Tuesday. We have recruited volunteers to help with packing it. It is amazing how much a 40-foot, high-cube container will hold. Loading these containers proves the adage “Many hands make light work,” so we are thankful for all the hands the Lord sends to help us. God has already blessed us with ideal weather with temperatures in the 70’s and cloud cover to keep the day cooler for loading. Until today, local weather has been sunny, humid, and temperatures in the mid 90’s. (The inside of a steel container that has been sitting in the sun is much hotter.) We praise God for the blessing of cooler weather for loading this next shipment!

3. This week, the Brotherhood of Independent Churches and Mission in Ukraine held a women’s conference for sisters who minister to people in war-affected areas and beyond. In this video, chief administrator Iryna Sovenko tell us more about the conference. Here’s the link:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/refreshment

4. We are thankful for the labors of 2 men from Ladysmith, Wisconsin, who hauled a trailer to us containing 150 auditorium chairs and other items for Ukraine. They left at 3 a.m., drove nearly 600 miles, unloaded quickly, and then headed back after a meal we enjoyed together. They completed this project in less than 24 hours! The chairs are going to the Forest Baptist Church on the outskirts of Kyiv. (You may remember a couple videos about this church, which is literally on the edge of a large forest.)

Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM