Featured Photo: Once again I have visited the home of Eugene & Lada. They are parents to twenty-one children who have been displaced, orphaned, or abandoned by parents whose location is unknown. It is not uncommon in the war zones for families to get separated and some never find each other again. Eugene & Lada keep a home for the sole purpose of providing a home for these children.
In last year’s visit it was stated that the home’s purpose is to train these children to be responsible, to get a job and the be active Believers in god. Once again this was stated. When the children reach the age of adulthood, secure a job and a proper living quarters they move out and more children move into the empty place. Over the year several of older children have succeeded in this process. They have married and are living on the next street. Lada says thus far she has three grandbabies and the fourth is expected in September-October. Can you imagine the number of grandbabies she will have as all of the children progress on schedule? It will be a huge gathering for sure! When asked about this, Lada just smiles and says that will be for God’s glory. I am not sure if I have ever heard a grandparent verbalize their role, legacy and lineage in this way, BUT is it not a wonderful concept and objective? If this family continues on its ambitious purpose they will have a powerful impact! And it is all because the husband/father and wife/mother have the singular objective of using their family to glorify God!
During this trip I learned that the large house in which they now live, was built by Eugene. They previously lived in a three-room house that is adjacent to the large house. In that three-room house they were caring for seventeen children. Eugene finished the large house and moved the clan into it. The three-room house remains but is now occupied by IDPs from Zaporozhe.
Below you see a slideshow with some of those living here. You will not see the entire group because of security issues. I have been given permission to show only those below. In the photos you will see us unloading three bags of flour (50-60 lbs each); fifteen bags of groceries (40 lbs each), and one Family Bucket. Thus about 750 lbs of food and supplies were given to this family. Helping us was “Victor.” You have seen his photo previously. At first, he said we were to take ten bags of groceries but Nicholi said, “No! No! They have 21 children here and they need 15.” So, we took 15 bags. If you would like to review last year’s report on this family, and others that I had visited then, here is the link: https://www.kachelman.com/ukraine/blog/2023/04/20/trip-report-8-april-19-2023/
A sermon…
As I leave these places, I leave with the same thought each time: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”! At this point, Gif is overwhelmed with opportunities in Ivano-Frankivsk—the opening for teaching classes at the rehabilitation center is HUGE, he has numerous English-speaking groups that he has opportunities, he has a urgent opening in the schools, and then there are opportunities that are beginning to be nurtured from the benevolent work. But, we have groups like Eugene & Lada that are scattered all around and such are eager for encouragement, study and fellowship—and their purpose is to glorify God! The Lord’s chastening to His Disciples applies today, “Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white for harvest.” Too many are imbalanced and focused “inwardly” and fail to “observe the fields.” To observe the fields is often inconvenient because we enjoy comfort among those we know and we like the routine into which we have settled. A failure to “raise your eyes and observe the fields” brings a harsh penalty. History shows that congregations that are only inwardly focused soon devolve into bickering and bitterness and eventually die. Or, they become so comfortable they become blind to the cries of those in the “fields.” A comfortable religion is not a convicted religion. A convenient Christianity is consumed with selfishness.
Continue praying for our efforts. Opportunities continue to present themselves in amazing ways! Such reminds me of the “parable of the lighthouse.” It is copied below for those wishing to read it.
John L. Kachelman, Jr., Dalraida Church of Christ, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109
The Uncomfortable Parable of a Lighthouse
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was a once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost.
Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little life-saving station grew.
Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.
So, they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they re-decorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of club. It was the focal point for entertainment only for themselves.
Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired life boat crews to do this work.
The mission of life-saving was still given lip-service but most were too busy or lacked the necessary commitment to take part in the life-saving activities personally. They enjoyed the activities of their group and did not want to think of the station’s purpose.
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people.
They were dirty and sick and the beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So, the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life pattern of the club. “We must focus on OURSELVES” was the main argument. But some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the life of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. They evolved into a club and so another life-saving station was founded.
If you visit the seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, only now most of the people drown.
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