The crisis in Ukraine has taken a turn for the worse as Russia has cast aside any façade and is overtly showing support for the invasion and oppression of Ukraine. The heightened conflict has resulted in greater displacement of the women and children and greater death and damage to the eastern oblasts of Lugansk and Donetsk.
The daily briefing from 26 August had this note: “As of August 26, a total of 132,593 people had left the flash points in country’s east and Crimea and are temporarily accommodated in other regions of Ukraine, the government’s Web site has reported. Ukrainian Social Policy Minister Liudmyla Denysova said that there are 44,000 children among the total number of displaced.” This assessment was two days before Russia began its open invasion and war in Donetsk. Consequently the situation has greatly worsened!
The deteriorating conditions in Ukraine are noted in a recent email post by our brother Michael Lawson (Lenoir City, TN) who has been working in Dzerzhinisk, Donetsk Oblast for a number of years. Here is a portion on Mike’s report that he emailed to those in his Ukraine Missions contact list…
The last few days have been very dark in Eastern Ukraine. In the City of Dzerzhinsk local citizens are trying to prepare schools for the upcoming school year. Schools 3 and 13 sustained heavy damage when occupied by the Separatist. Many families have left the area and some 90 students from School 3 will not return this year. School number 10 is apparently undamaged, but I have not heard if it has been inspected and approved for the New Year. The city was without water for a period of two weeks recently. Most stores remain open, but shelves are poorly stocked.The Church in Dzerzhinsk continues to function, but its minister, Victor, may have to leave to seek employment elsewhere as the hospital where he works has been closed. On the local political scene, the Mayor of Dzerzhinsk has disappeared once again as the situation there continues to deteriorate.
Our brother Vitaliy has finally left Donetsk after a bomb exploded in a nearby sixth floor flat. He went to Maruipol to retrieve his family, who previously left Donetsk, before traveling up to Artyomovsk north of Donetsk. His mother on the other hand remains in Donetsk to “protect” her property.
On a larger scale, impacting the entire country, Russia has cut off gas supplies to Ukraine so it will be a very cold winter for our friends. From their meager resources, people all over Ukraine are struggling to feed and support the refugees and the Ukraine Military as the government has been unable to effectively do so. If you would like to support Ukraine Missions and the people of Ukraine please contact either me or John. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to everyone who share of themselves with the people of Ukraine through mission efforts.
Here at home, my friend and brother, John Kachelman, and I plan to leave for Ukraine 29 September to work with the Church in Ukraine. We are hopeful that new locations to receive container shipments can be identified during this journey. John is transitioning his reporting to a blog format at https://www.kachelman.com/ukraine/blog. Please go to the site and register to receive and read of the latest efforts to provide support for Ukraine and read the latest from his contacts there.
Please pray for a growing and active churches of Christ in Ukraine, for the safety of the people of Ukraine, its political leaders, please pray for democracies all over the world to come to the aid of Ukraine, please pray for Vladimir Putin that he will stop the genocide he has created with his Slavic brothers in Ukraine, but most of all please pray that God’s Will be done which surpasses our understanding.
In His Service,
Mike Lawson (russian.ukraineministry@charter.net)
The last two weeks have been very busy and that is the reason for no updates even though each day the briefings and communication exchanges highlight a situation that is spiraling further and further into anarchy’s chaos and resulting in documented horrors in persons and property but even greater are the unobservable traumas to ones emotions and spirit that are forever etched into the psyche and which control decisions. One point to remember…we are so designed that in times of the greatest emotional peaks and valleys we will respond and remember forever the kindnesses that are shown to us (deaths, personal traumas, moments of exhilaration, etc). At these emotional peaks we will never forget those who show kindness. Such is the reason for the Lord’s benevolence—those assisted will forever recall how the demonstration of the Lord’s love impacted their lives. It is an unforgettable moment; an opportunity that exists for only the briefest of time but if seized it writes that kindness into the mind’s memory.
How easy it is to “pass by on the other side” when an opportunity for alleviating the suffering that has fallen upon another—especially if it far away.
He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor… He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty (Proverbs 22:9, 16).
Validated Efforts Thus Far
We have been constantly working on both sides of the Atlantic to secure assistance for those who are struggling with Russia’s evil. This is an all-consuming effort. I am happy to report that we have set all things in order and are positioned to begin efforts that will bring relief assistance to hundreds of thousands. Thanks to the generosity and efforts of many we were able to ship two containers on Tuesday 26 August. The total weight shipped is impressive. The actual cost to us in sending these is unbelievable. The ration of 1:25 indicates how the Lord blesses the donations so that much good can be accomplished!
We knew we had access to these commodities but we needed donations to pay the shipping costs. So the past weeks have been spent soliciting funds for the commodities to ship into Ukraine to offer relief to those displaced, wounded, and suffering because of Russia’s war. Our requests have been received and we have received donations from a number of individuals and congregation. We continue to need money to secure funding. We assure you that the contributions cannot be spent any better to get relief into Ukraine to help the orphans, widows, disabled, displaced, and wounded!
The week of August 24 scheduled two loadings and shipments of containers into Ukraine. One container was loaded out of Eagle Lake, TX and had 42,500 pounds of rice. This container is going to Korosten, Zhitomir Oblast. A second container was loaded in Memphis, TN and was filled with 27,563 pounds of shampoo, soap, baby wash, personal hygiene supplies, and surgical supplies. It is destined for Zaporozhye, Ukraine.
To show you the impact of these two containers please look at the totals:
- Total value of the containers: $350,011.00 (all donated to us)
- Total cost of shipping: $13,925.00 (the amount we paid)
This means that the ration of dollar spent to dollar provided is 1:25—for every dollar donated we were able to turn it into $25 of deliverable relief items!
Summary of the two containers shipped
A week ago I received a call from Larry Jackson asking if I wanted three trailer loads of Johnson & Johnson children’s hygiene products (shampoos, body washes, etc). We later were told that if we wanted these we need to get a 40 foot high cube container dropped at a warehouse in Memphis, TN. We arranged for that container to be dropped Tuesday 26 August. We were to discover that this was not Johnson & Johnson but a recycle warehouse that had come into possession of the product. 
They also had a number of items to be recycled from various manufacturers like Kimberly Clark. When we arrived Derald showed us all that was available and we found surgical masks, surgical gowns, disposable razors, miscellaneous medical/surgical supplies that were in date, etc. Derald and Bill helped us load the container with a number of items that will be so valuable to those displaced in Ukraine. 
With their assistance hundreds of thousands suffering because of Russia’s evil war in Ukraine will find relief and cherish memories of kindness demonstrated by Christians from far away! After learning of our work and where the loaded products will go, Derald said we were welcome to come back and get more!
The second container was loaded with 42,500 pounds of rice from the Colorado County Rice Mill in Eagle Lake, Texas. This contact was provided by Kathy Cadden while she was in Haiti!
The rice was donated by a worldwide physical fitness organization. Kathy secured a donation for the shipping costs from a scrap metal dealer with whom she works in Columbus, MS.
The rice will be distributed to a number of refugee locations and will supply a critical need at this time in Ukraine’s crisis.
Please Continue Coming…
Each day I receive countless email messages and phone calls about the situation in Ukraine. Earlier this week I was returning from a trip to pick up shipment commodities from Pine Bluff, AR. A call came from Rhode Island. It was a medical doctor who said he had been referred to me by the US Department of State. He said that his nephew had been wounded by Russian weapons and that there was no medical supplies available. He wanted to help. Below is an email message I received asking for help with the children whose parents have sent them out of the war zones. Many Ukrainians had thought the disruption would only be temporary but now the realization is that this is not going to be over quickly because Russian aggression will not be stopped. So now the “temporary” shelters are becoming “semi-permanent.” The conditions are not good and thw winter will be harsh.
Hello again dear Mr. Kachelman, Thank you for positive and prompt reply.
We are looking forward for necessary documents for applying for permission from Ministry of Social Policy from Tatyana.
We provide help for marginalized categories of people, orphanages, homeless people, aged people, patients in different medical spheres, and others. The last project we have organized is a summer camp for children from Eastern Ukraine “Forrest Camping,” for those kids who are escaping war conflict.
As you know—armed confrontation that is happening for already almost six months in Eastern Regions of Ukraine took enormous number of lifes, including civilians. We have organized “Forrest Camp” in order to create possibility for families who have no chance to leave the war zone at least to send children out of the territory of danger. Volunteers—professional pedagogs and psychologists work with children in order to create atmosphere of safety and help children to cope with the stress of last months.
SO, how can you help? We invite you to donate clothes, shoes and toys for the children in the camp. Things that are the most needed right now to fully equip the camp are: sleeping bags, tents, mattresses, and dishes. Also, since much more families expressed desire to send children to the camp away from the zone of military actions then we expected, we decided to continue to host children in the camp during the autumn and even possibly in the winter time. We also need all kind of repair materials and decorations. Another first-need thing are the furniture to fill the territory of the health camp. We host the third group of 30 children aging from 6 up to 17 years. We will be very grateful if church of Christ would provide humanitarian help, which mainly will be used for the needs of childrens camp.
Have a wonderful day!
With kind regards and warmest wishes since knowing you,
Anastasiya Kyryllova
Our Efforts Are Continuing…
At this point we have donations of…
- 2-3 containers of food (some with water purifier that is critically needed)
- 3 containers of winter clothing that will soon be necessary
- 4 containers of Family Buckets that have been collected by Christians for Ukraine’s displaced people
We are currently waiting on the approval by the government of Ukraine to ship these commodities. BUT even if we had the approvals in hand we would only be able to ship 1-2 containers because we only have the transportation funds for that many containers. So, the urgent request is for donations to help us pay for shipping containers of relief commodities into Ukraine where our brothers and sisters can distribute the commodities.
We need help to help those in Ukraine. Please send a donation to:
College Church of Christ/UKRAINE MISSIONS
2934 East Moore Street
Searcy, Arkansas 72143
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