Here are two recent reports from brethren in Ukraine. First is the most recent news from Gif regarding the Lord’s work in Ivano-Frankivsk. We rejoice in the good news that continues to be reported and the progress of the gospel in that Region. The second report comes from Slava Savkovsky in Cherkassy. This is in response to a shipment that Kathy Cadden coordinated. The Lord’s Church in Cherkassy is a work supported by the Chase Park Church of Christ in Huntsville, AL. We have previously coordinated a number of operations with Slava and have loaded multiple containers from the Chase Park location (our beloved Will Tucker was the load coordinator!). Read these reports and rejoice in the great good that in being done and the outreach of Christians to others.
It is always encouraging to me to see how brethren practice the “outward look” commanded by the Lord. “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest” (John 4:35). Tragically many look only “inward” and focus only on providing for themselves. Christ expects His followers to be active “servants” rather than being idly “served.” The Church must be up and going; be lights shining bright and not hid under a basket; must exemplify sacrifice for others as their Lord did. The Church is not to hold up in a meeting place glutting while others around them are in great need.
Two texts highlight this expectation:
- 2 Kings 7:9 in a situation of famine and great needs, four men find critical supplies. They make a timeless confession, “We are not doing the right thing. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent about it; if we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us.”
- Acts 4:35; 5:14 records a situation where the Christians had supplies and demonstrated the outward look. Consequently, the lost were saved and the Lord’s Church increased. “With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them…and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need… and increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number.”
Those who focus only on the “inward” are blind to the potentials of the “outward.” I rejoice that in the two reports below our brethren are following the Lord’s example and obeying the Lord’s command!
Gif’s Report Ivano-Frankivsk Church of Christ Update – January 2026
Hello there! We are currently in the middle of the coldest and snowiest winter in 5 years, as I have been told. Somewhere around the beginning of January, the snow began, and it did not stop until we hit nearly 15 inches. Nighttime temperatures dropped to below 0 Fahrenheit and daytime temperatures rose just a bit above it. Now, during the final week of January, we finally got slightly above freezing— somewhere around 33–36 degrees. However, as I am writing this, the snow is starting again, and we are being told to prepare for below 0 again this weekend. Unfortunately, this is not ideal weather for Hawaiian shirts and Converse.
I think this is a good time to highlight the realities of the war here. Next month will be four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and even though the day-to-day fighting is on the opposite side of the country from Ivano-Frankivsk, we feel the effects of it quite regularly.
While the temperature has been decreasing, the attacks on the energy sector throughout the country have been increasing. This has led to many cities being entirely without electricity or heating and relying on any diesel generators they can find just to supply a little warmth for a few hours. In our city, we are a little better than others, but we still experience some days with up to 15–16 hours of blackouts in the cold.
Schools have moved to mostly online classes for the time being because they cannot keep the kids warm enough, and they are worried about illnesses that might come as well. It seems that there will not be any reprieve from these attacks during the winter, so the Ukrainians are holding out and hoping that the spring season will arrive much quicker than usual.
Even with all of that, there is still a sense of positivity and patriotism that pervades the population. I write these things not so that you readers will feel sympathy, but so that you will understand this war has been constant for four years, and even though it is not on the front and center news in the USA anymore, it is still very real and hurting the citizens of an entire country on a daily basis.
For the Church in Ivano-Frankivsk, the harsh winter and blackouts have changed some things for us as well. After the first two days of snow, I drove out to the church building, intending to shovel the driveways so that no one would slip and fall on Sunday. However, the road to the building was barely clear enough for two vehicles to pass, and all the snow had been shoveled onto the shoulders, blocking all entrances to the building and leaving no place to park!
So, we found an alternate plan: in the building where most of the Church members live, there is a small office where two of the Church members have been working. They offered it to us, and we have been meeting there on Sundays and Wednesdays ever since.
We also have had to adjust our times due to the blackouts so that we have lights and at least a little heat. Each meeting is announced based on the schedules we receive the day prior, and fortunately, everyone has been happy to be so flexible. It seems that we will plan to meet in this office for the foreseeable future, as it is a very convenient location, and hopefully it should be easier to invite friends as well.
We have also been trying to continue to do good works during the Christmas season. Thanks to a donation through John Durham and the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ, we partnered with the Galaxy Center in Ivano-Frankivsk to create Christmas packages for about 120 orphans. We focused mostly on items that would be beneficial to them during the harsh cold: blankets, socks, thermoses, flashlights, and some hygiene products. But, since they were Christmas gifts, we also included some toys and books for each kid so that they would have at least something nice from Santa. These packages were gathered and delivered to Kherson and Kramatorsk, two cities very close to the front lines and full of needy people. Included in this, we also sent small electric generators to each location so that they can have a little light and a way to charge their devices. With that project completed, we were also able to use leftover funds from this donation to give some nice gifts to the Church members here: gift cards to the grocery store, as well as some cookies and chocolate for each person.
Everyone in the Church was very appreciative, and I think the mood has been very positive due to the ability to help others and the love that has been shown during this time of year.
We have many plans we are looking forward to doing once we get out of the snowbanks! Our members are actively trying to find new places we can donate our current humanitarian aid, and we are hoping for a new shipment of family buckets within the next few months. John Kachelman Jr. is heading this project and hopes to send the container by the end of February. These buckets have been a big hit among the Church, the community, and especially the soldiers, as they have many items that are necessary during the winter. Anytime people hear that the Church of Christ has sent something, they get excited because they know the good that the buckets are doing, and they are thankful for the work of the Church here. So, if you are reading this and have not yet participated, I strongly encourage you to reach out to John and see how you can help within the next month, because this project helps the Church grow in both numbers and reputation in Ukraine.
We always appreciate your interest and partnership in the work of the Church here, and we look forward to more in the future! -Gif
SLAVA’S report from Cherkassy, Ukraine
Greetings in the name of Christ from Cherkasy! It is nice to hear from you! We have electrical power now for 6 hours every 24 hours, which is an hour and a half of power supply followed by 4 and a half hours of no power. Half of the time it’s either late at night or very early in the morning. So, we only have 3 hours of power total in the daytime. We have to plan our activities very carefully now. I can barely charge my phone and laptop computer.
You asked if we had a generator at the church building. In late 2022, when the war just started, our congregation received three very nice high-quality diesel generators made in Germany. They were donated by a Romanian volunteer who found about us via an American friend with whom he was playing computer games on the Internet. Back then, we did not have these really bad blackouts. We had some, but it was usually after a big missile strike. Then things would get better gradually—till the next big strike. So, we put in the wiring into our church building to use with a generator, but later decided to donate all three of them to people who needed them more than we. The first one went to the Cancer Center at the Cherkasy Regional Hospital. They have a water well that they use in emergencies, and it has a pump that needed a generator. This was to supply water to their surgery department. We are happy to know that our contribution has saved lives and gave cancer patients a second chance. The second generator went to an assault brigade in the National Guard of Ukraine. The third generator went to a drone battalion in a mechanized brigade originally from Cherkasy. This one is used in their vehicle repair shop in eastern Ukraine. This was donated through their supply sergeant who is a nephew of our congregation member. Their battalion flag with the signatures of their service members is in the Church building. So, we handed out our “riches” to those who needed them more than us and kept following Jesus by preaching the Gospel. Now we are looking for solutions to our own generator problem.
Last Sunday, we had over 90 people in our Sunday assembly, around 60 of them were refugees, many were with us for the first time. I plan to send pictures of the aid distribution. May God bless you and keep you safe and warm in the bad weather! In Christian love, Slava
CRITICAL FAMILY BUCKET COLLECTION!
We have urgent pleas for Family Buckets for Ivano-Frankivsk and Zaporozhe. We have empty buckets available for you to get at the Dalraida Church of Christ building. PLEASE come get a bucket, stuff it full and bring it back so we can load it into a container going to Gif at the end of February!
You can download the bucket list at this link: Download Bucket List
Gifs-January-ReportJohn L. Kachelman, Jr. Dalraida Church of Christ, UKRAINE MISSIONS, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109.
