Featured Photo: Olena gives us a “thumbs up!” as she unloads a container loaded on 11 April and shipped to Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. MEEST AMERICA/MEEST LVOV were fantastic in this move!
Actions at the End of May 2025
The first part of May was spent in-country and various reports during that visit have been posted. I returned with a slammed-crammed schedule. The end-of-the-school-year events of the grands and the activities of the warehouse were added to numerous other events.
We concluded the month with a container loading on Friday, 30 May! This container is going to Ivano-Frankivsk and included commodities critically needed by six orphanages that Gif is assisting. There were crippled children’s wheelchairs and equipment; diapers; school desks, cabinets, and chairs and hundreds of boxes of miscellaneous medical supplies. Thankfully we had a great loading crew but because of the bulky desks and handicapped wheelchairs it took us longer than usual to complete the loading.
Here are the totals from Friday’s load and the items that are “on the water” going to Ivano-Frankivsk:
- Total items loaded: 813
- Toal Weight: 15,000 lbs
- Total Value: $341,133.00
Feedback from our partners in Ukraine
In the spring we visited a hospital overflowing with the wounded. We took various supplies and food. As I was talking with the Director, I asked what they needed. He said they needed bedside tables/cabinets for the patients. The only storage patients have is in the bedside cabinets. I quickly calculated that we could buy the bedside cabinets in-country much cheaper than pay shipping in a container plus the cabinets would be available much quicker. So, I left some money with Nickolay and he was working on that project. Here is his latest report:
“Good Saturday afternoon, dear friend John. We make 20 bedside tables a week. By the end of May, we will transport and deliver all of them to the hospital. We will send you photos from the wards with the bedside tables separately.
“Today I received a message from you for a container of rice, thank you very much. We will distribute it together with Church from Ivano-Frankivsk to orphans and those families with many children. (NOTE: This container was sent by JERRY MAX MORGAN and JERRY MOORE from Holly Springs, MS).
“I am also sending you photos of buckets. These are the buckets we picked up in Cherkasy and delivered to the areas of Kharkiv Oblast where there is heavy shelling. People are very grateful for the help and are happy to see the buckets because they contain everything they need. We are also sincerely grateful for your help to Ukraine and our people.
“We are heavily bombed at night, but we are holding on. There are 386 dollars left from food and bedside tables. I gave 300 for the funeral and 86 for gasoline.
“Thank you for your open heart for Ukraine. I am sending you some photos. Blessings to you and your family.
A note from Gif… “Sergiy forwarded some pictures from taking buckets to the front that I am attaching here. Not sure the exact locations—it’s either Zaporozhe or Donetsk. These photos are approved for report usage. I have talked with Sergiy about the container you will load for the orphanages we visited when you were here.”
A note from Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
“John, warm greetings to you! Thank you! 😊 My family also sends their regards. This is Olena. We have received the shipment and just finished unloading. We are endlessly grateful to you. These medical supplies are very needed. I will send photo reports of all deliveries to the hospitals. Thank you immensely. Sunday was quite difficult — we received a large number of wounded. The Russian bombs have increased and no one is safe. I will start making posts on Monday of distribution.
“Starting Monday, I will be delivering cargo, as many of our guys have brought in the wounded, so for now we are distributing them among hospitals and providing everything necessary. “I am endlessly grateful to Church of Christ and to you as its ambassador for help and blessings — for your prayers and your kind heart. You are truly a person with a capital letter! Yours, Olena”
And June 2025 begins…
We are scheduling another container of medical supplies to be loaded and shipped asap. The horrific devastation of the nation is only eclipsed by the crushing devastation of humanity!
Thank you for your support and assistance so the Lord’s Church will be recognized and God will receive the glory!
John L. Kachelman, Jr. UKRAINE MISSIONS Dalraida Church of Christ, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109.
