Material for this update has been gathering all week long. I had intended sending it out Sunday but just did not have time. We continue to operate fast & furious on both sides of the Atlantic. Each day our phones start blowing up around 5:00 a.m. and then we finally get to email communications around noon and then to other pressing needs in the late afternoon.
We continue scheduling container loadings. Currently we are at project #71 since early March. Included in this is the airlift shipping of close to 500 pallets of medical pharms/supplies. All has been funded by the private sector! The compassion and generosity have been overwhelming.
Our greatest obstacle at this point is transportation costs from Poland into Ukraine. Fuel has increased to a painful level. When we locate fuel then we are faced with restricted quantities—many locations will limit the fuel purchase to 10 liters (that is about 2.6 gallons)! We are working around these issues but it is a very fluid situation.
We are doing everything possible and creating options to lessen the cost impact. Our first shipment went in Kyiv at a cost of $400. Now out costs to Lviv (half the distance to Kyiv) are 10+ times higher as this week I authorized payment of one transport at $5,000+. At this point we have 40-50 containers on the water steaming into Poland’s Ports!
Adding to these woes is the fact that our in-coming containers are arriving 3-4 a day. This is pressing Tanya and Charita to respond to issues of Port clearance, arranging loading, securing transport, and clearing all documents. With the difference in time zones this is a 24/7 operation—it never stops.
This week has recorded more container loadings. Out of Montgomery we finally loaded a container that has been stalled and rescheduled for two months. This container was loaded with 20,505 pounds and was valued at $400,000.00+ as it had medical supplies, buckets, hygiene supplies, furnishings for the new Ivano-Frankivsk Church of Christ building, and other needed commodities.
As many of our brethren moved from the east into the western regions and others moved into the neighboring nations, Vladimir & Oksana Paziy (and their children Dima & Rita) moved to Ivano-Frankivsk. They instantly continued their labors for the Lord and have become an active force within the Ivano-Frankivsk congregation. Vlad’s report is reproduced before. The talents and energy of this family are a blessing to the Lord’s work.
Here are a few updates on the work.
From Ruslan Skoleba
Greetings, dear brothers and sisters!
Things are going well with the Lord’s Church in Ivano-Frankivsk. Last week we worshiped in our new building. We are working on all fronts. We thank God who makes our work possible despite the situation in the country. Big thanks to you for financial and spiritual support, for everything you do especially at this horrible time. We keep you in our prayers always. I know John Kachelman is coming at the end of the week. He will be able to eyeball everything and let you know about the progress we have made with our construction.
May God pour all of His blessing onto you.
Sincerely Yours,
Ruslan
From Ivan
Greetings to all of you, dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ. We truly thank you for your prayers and the support of our congregation and all Ukrainians, especially now at this difficult time for us and our country. And once again we are convinced that God’s project, the Church of Christ, is the strongest and most powerful of all human projects throughout human existence. And we are very grateful to God the Father for His Son who through you has reached us Ukrainians with the Holy Gospel that changes our lives and our country. The Gospel leads us to no longer live in the bondage of sin and madness. We believe that the Lord will give victory and the war that took so many lives will soon be over.
The Church of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk continues to actively help people involved in the lives of people of Ivano-Frankivsk and the region. We also help refugees with urgently needed food, family buckets, medical supplies and hygiene bags. We also distribute the Holy Gospel and invite people to the Church.
We continue construction so that now we can offer refugees a dry place to sleep and showers. When we began building we never imagined that we were building a refugee of safety for those fleeing from such evil.
On May 22, we began meetings in the new church building. Also, on May 29, brother John Kachelman came to us and gave us a good Bible lesson. We talked of the work and reported on all things and spent time together. We had several visits to the administration representatives where they explained the needs and asked for help. That day, a container of aid arrived for refugees and hospitals treating wounded soldiers. From this container we were able to provide the necessary assistance that is desperately needed.
THANK YOU, brethren, for your generosity in donating items and paying for shipping in these terrible times.
We also are helping orphans and semi-orphans by constantly supporting the orphanages and shelters where these children live. Brother John and I were accompanied by two women partners, Charita (who works hard in shipping humanitarian aid) and Bohdana. They and Svetlana visited an orphanage and brought food and sweets to the children. The children were very happy and did not let go of our guests. It was a wonderful and enjoyable time together. We were all impressed by their love for people and care. Thank God that there are people who can and want to help the needy.
Here is our working schedule for the congregation’s assemblies. In addition to this we are constantly busy in construction and delivering critical items to the needy.
– Our meeting is held from 11.00-13.00
– On Wednesday we hold a Bible lesson from 18.00-19.00
– On Thursday, Volodymyr Paziy will also hold Bible classes on the history of the Church from 4 p.m.
– On Friday we have a common prayer.
All people are very tired and exhausted from the war, many scary stories are told to us by refugees about the atrocities of the Russians. It is a great horror and pain, we pray to God for the end of the war.
I am sending photos of assistance to refugees in Zelena, and construction progress on the church building.
Please continue to pray for all of us, we desperately need your prayers and your spiritual support.
We love you and always thank God for you and your country. May the Lord protect all of you, our dear brothers and sisters. You are always in our hearts.
Ivan and Svetlana
From Vladimir Paziy
Church in Ivano-Frankivsk—The local Church is not large in number but does a lot of humanitarian work. Especially when there is a war, receiving and distributing humanitarian aid preaches Christ. The congregation is very friendly family with warm relationships. We have strong feelings that we are at home. Also, another big project that this congregation is doing is the new building for the Church’s work. This is very big with a huge potential. Now they are still in construction but are also using it for services. It has reminded me of our church building period in Kramatorsk when we did it same. The Kramatorsk Church members are spread all over Europe, but we try to stay in touch with each other. Every evening our men call on phone and have a short meeting with prayers. We used VIBER for this. We still support from our contribution Nazar he is youth minister in our congregation. Every Saturday he is using the Telegram and have a Bible class with youth group. Also, we still send some support to Oleg he was a preacher in Konstantinovka. It is not big money, but we try to care about our Christian. Also, every day we have Bible classes on our page in Facebook. Monday-Friday at 6:00 PM, plus Thursday and Thursday at 10:00. AM.
We still have several Christian from our congregation, who did not want to live the town. Anna is 96 years old, Valentina is 80 years old and plus our brother Kosty. We are in touch with them and help them as they need. Brothers are sending me some money that we use to help Christians to pay for the apartments they rent. Thanks for that.
Now I start new series “He is Risen” on YouTube. This is short video 10 minutes from Bible. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fchannel%2FUClmIK9wGSAksnxSiBbxy8TA . Every Thursday at 4:00 PM, we organize a Bible study with the local congregation, for Christians from other parts of Ukraine who now live here and for interested visitors. I used my Bible school material and try to answer Bible question. In this region Greek-Catholics have a very strong influence, with long history and with rich traditions.
Our Daughter Rita has finished school and is studying to be ready for final exam for institute. We still do not know what kind of institute she will attend (because of the war and many changes now), but we try to be ready for any event. Dima is in school for one more year. We pray war will stop and he will be in much more easy position.
We try not to give up hope and live every day with trusting hope that war will end. Thanks for your support prayers, your letters and calls that we received.
In Christ,
Paziy Family
There are many more actions and events occurring. Some of these are truly amazing and as time passes, we will be able to report on aspects of our efforts that are “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…”
We are still receiving wonderful support from our brotherhood and from sectors of society and geographical locations throughout the world! THANK YOU. Here is communication I received this week:
May 31:
OceanSide Church of Christ (Atlantic Beach, FL)
Enclosed is a check for support of the Ukraine mission work. In 2022 OceanSide has designated a mission to support each month and for may it is the Ukraine Mission work. The amount of the check is based on offerings for the month exceeding the budget. For us this amount is very impressive! May God bless your work!”
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
(Montgomery, AL)
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