Update December 1, 2023

Photo: Dear brother Kachelman, Greetings in the name of the Lord from Cherkasy, Ukraine! Thank you for your recent e-mail! I have changed my text to where I hope it would better suit your needs. I am still working on it and hope to be able to complete in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I have also realized that I did not provide a picture of our church building in Cherkasy, so I include one in the attachment. We have had some snow this fall already, but not nearly as much as in this picture. Thank you again for your understanding and patience! In Christian love, Slava Savkovsky

A brief aside…

“We received word that our brother Dima Shupishov, who was working to establish the Church in Chernihiv until he was conscripted into the army, has been injured and is in a hospital somewhere in the Donetsk Region. He has a concussion and needs our prayers. He has apparently been in the very thick of the fighting. We learned yesterday that Dima has been released from the hospital and is back at the front. His location is unknown, as he is in a place where he cannot contact his brother, Sergey, who preaches in Irpin, so they really have no late word on his welfare. We are praying that God will watch over him. He had just begun the work in Chernihiv when he was conscripted into the army. Thankfully, another worker has surfaced who is carrying on that work, and we have obtained full support for him and his wife. Still, we are deeply concerned for Dima. Thanks for checking with me about this, and for your prayers for Dima.”
Tommy South

This is PART TWO of Slava Savkovsky’s encouraging report on how the Cherkasy congregation has devoted themselves to the Lord’s work as the War of Russian aggression and occupation continues to destroy Ukraine. They are a congregation numbering in the 20s, but because of their devotion and diligence in reaching out with the Word of God to comfort those suffering, their numbers have significantly increased. Look at the photos below!! It is not uncommon for me to receive reports of congregations throughout Ukraine that are embracing those harmed and displaced. These are teaching God’s Word and seeing fruits of their labors. Such news is a WONDERFUL ENCOURAGEMENT to those of us working hard to continue shipping benevolent assistance where it is most needed. This is in stark contrast to others who sit in a “pity party” crying “Poor, pitiful me–WOE!” Let us not be terrified and cower or desert the field–let us be BOLD and courageous! Read Joshua 1:5-7 and discover the true key to “success”!

Brother Slava’s good report regarding the active work of the brothers and sisters in the Cherkasy Church of Christ (Cherkasy, Ukraine) continues. Over the past years the congregation has been actively involved in evangelism that has resulted in a congregation with an enthusiastic outreach and specific teaching and acceptance of all willing to submit to God. This warm environment and Slava is a true “evangelist” who is willing to teach all interested. Slava has instilled in the congregation a wonderful spirit for sharing God’s Truth!

Slava’s behavior contrasts others who retreat into an isolationist position and are never actively involved in actual teaching opportunities in their local communities—they choose to hide their lights under the basket! The Cherkasy congregation is challenged by Slava’s active and involved leadership. He does not simply assign duties but he is out-front-and leading! Read in this part two how the entire congregation is involved! Slava’s report continues…

As a result (of the shift from transient to long term displaced people), we reconsidered our benevolence policy and started buying more basic groceries that would be suitable for someone who had a place to cook meals, not just living in a temporary shelter. Also, around the end of last year, we made the decision to help only refugees that come from the three following categories: (1) children aged 14 and below (those who are too young to make a living), (2) elderly aged 65 and older (those who are too old to make a living), and (3) handicapped individuals (those who are too weak to make a living). In many cases those who came to get our benevolence would not belong to any of these categories themselves, but they would bring us the official IDs and refugee registration of their family members to get help for them.

It needs to be mentioned that at the very beginning of the project we decided to not help local Cherkasy residents. Our position was that those who own a place to live in Cherkasy are already blessed much more than those whose homes and other possessions in the east and southeast of the country were destroyed by the enemy. Plus, if somebody has lived in Cherkasy for any significant amount of time, they had ample chances to hear about us and come to visit with us before the war. This was not an easy decision, but it was necessary in view of the limited amount of our resources. In some cases, however, we do make exceptions. One notable exception is that we help our own congregational members and other Christians who are in need, in accordance with Galatians 6:10.

We buy most of the groceries in bulk at a wholesale warehouse and hire a truck to deliver them to the church building. The weight is usually within one to two metric tons. At the church building, men from our congregation help to unload the food. Since we pay for the truck by the hour, we like to have as many men as possible for unloading to save on the truck fee. We have learned to unload the cargo in under 10 minutes and like to joke that we could probably beat a NASCAR pit crew!

Some of our ladies also come to participate in packing benevolence bags. We often pack 200-300 bags at a time. Meanwhile one of our men, Igor Mordvanyuk, makes our workers a dinner. Brother Igor really enjoys cooking and does this at church often. We always look at this as a great time that we spend together in good works and fellowship. It does feel like it is more rewarding emotionally and spiritually for us to participate in this project than for the refugees to actually receive bags with food, although the number of visitors who come to worship with us on Sunday and receive benevolence proves that a lot of people find this benevolence quite helpful.

END PART TWO