Featured Photo: “I’ve found some good speaking clubs in the city, most recently one hosted by our friend Sergiy, who is helping us with humanitarian aid distribution. He has been a valuable connection since my arrival and he’s very interested in the Church’s work.”
A brief update!
Below is Gif’s May 2025 report. More of his fruitful activities in May were reported by me and John Durham as we were in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Our efforts continue to be constant! One of the exciting developments is that Freed-Hardeman University’s “HORIZONS” is planning to load a container with Family Buckets as a service project the final days of the session. This will be an amazing help in our efforts in Ukraine. The proposed target is 2,200 Family Buckets! The activity of the HORIZONS attendees packing, sealing, and loading that many Family Buckets will be great. We will highlight this activity in a future post.
Violence and devastation continue to increase deaths in Ukraine as Russia presses more evil into the nation. We have received a special request to assist the children traumatized by the war with special programs for the Summer. The donations that many of you have sent allows us to send funds to help these children. THANK YOU for making it possible for me to respond with help when these special pleas are received. I will post more information on this project when it is permissible.
In Montgomery we continue efforts as we load containers and receive various products to ship. the brethren from C.U.R.E. (ministry of the WestArk Church of Christ in Ft. Smith, AR) are a great partner in supplying materials for shipping! They are waiting on authorization to load and ship a container of hospital beds/mattresses to Kazakhstan. The Judsonia, AR (Searcy) warehouse is scheduled, this coming Wednesday, to load a container of clothes and shoes for the Republic of Georgia! In Holly Springs, MS, Jerry Max Morgan and Jerry Moore are also prepping a container for the Republic of Georgia for the end of June or the first of July.
Gif’s May 2025 report
Hello there! Here’s a short update from the past month. It’s a little light because Inna has been gone the whole month to take care of her mother. That hampered me a bit, but I did get to do a lot with the University and English clubs, but I didn’t think people would want to read full rundowns of those things since they’re mostly about relationship building. Hoping Inna will be back in the next week or so. -Gif
Ivano-Frankivsk Church of Christ Update – May 2025
Another month has come and gone and we have finally seen off the last of our American visitors. The first few months of 2025 have basically been a revolving door of supporters coming to check in and see how the work is doing here. We are always happy to have them come! It is not an easy trip between flying, driving, walking, and all the other modes of travel it takes to get here. Plus, there’s the added difficulty of the constant war that is raging here. Even though it isn’t headlining the news in the US as much as it was 3 years ago, it is still very much a daily reality here. Therefore, the risk that our friends have taken to visit has not gone unnoticed.
This month has been a little different than most. Our usual church interpreter, Inna, had to leave the city early in May to take care of her ailing mother. Fortunately, as of today, her mother is out of the hospital and doing better, but still needs your prayers. Inna’s absence has given me the opportunity during the weekdays to focus on those who speak English—because that’s all I can do. I was offered some very special opportunities to go and speak at conferences at King Daniel University on several different topics. Specifically, they wanted me to talk in one conference about my methodology for interpreting New Testament Greek, and at another conference to tell some stories about mission trips I’ve taken over the years.
So, there are easy spiritual connections to be made through these outlets! On other days, I’ve found some good speaking clubs in the city, most recently one hosted by our friend Sergiy, who is helping us with humanitarian aid distribution. He has been a valuable connection since my arrival and he’s very interested in the church work.
Additionally, I have had some wonderful conversations over coffee and dinner with the man who has been cutting my hair. He is very religious, and very interested in the differences in the church of Christ and what he has experienced. There are great open doors everywhere and we look forward to exploring more of them in the future! -Gif
Here is Gif’s report with photos.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support! It is amazing what donations are available and we quickly seize them as funds for shipping are donated. This last week we received a donation from brother Ernie Clifton’s estate and an additional check from the College Church in Searcy, AR. These funds made it possible for us to schedule the shipping of another container! Ernie was a faithful brother in the Lord and always supportive and encouraging in my efforts.
John L. Kachelman, Jr. UKRAINE MISSIONS Dalraida Church of Christ, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109.
