Photo: We loaded 384 Family Buckets on a container Thursday, 26 March!!
I will leave for Ukraine in TEN DAYS!! “Fast & Furious” aptly describes the pace of actions needing completion in that brief time!
Container Loading
We loaded a container for Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine on Thursday 26 March. This is the container that carries the Family Buckets that so many have joined with us to collect and pack. The total of Family Buckets was 384! THANK YOU to all who assisted in this project. The list of those involved is too lengthy to include, but our Good Lord knows each one involved!
Here is a summary of the container’s contents (photos are below):
- Total items loaded: 1,382
- Toal Weight loaded: 19,740 lbs
- Total Value Shipped: $1,476,109.00!!
Among the items loaded are boxes of personal hygiene supplies (marked with a blue sticker that you can see in the above photo). We sent these and the zip lock bags so the Church in Ivano-Frankivsk will have opportunity to put these personal hygiene bags together and distribute them to those in need. This outreach effort will join the objective of the mission of Avery, Jared and Whitney who are travelling into Ivano-Frankivsk in a few weeks. The designed of supplying the commodities for the hygiene bags was to give the congregation a practical way of outreach.
The purpose of these lessons and the provision of the supplies is stated by Inspiration, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). The purpose is to assist the Church so that each member is involved in “ministry” and in “building the body of Christ.” This is our mission objective! Our objective is not “inward” but “outward.” (Sidebar…I recall talking with a brother from a large Texas congregation who sadly confessed, “Our problem is that we have turned inward and lost the outward focus. We are too concerned with making members satisfied instead of making them servants.”) We do not go to entertain members but to join with them in outreach. God never designed His Church to be inwardly focused and cater to members. God designed His Church to be populated with those serving in the Name of the Lord. Our focus is to go and provide the means by which our brethren can dispersed the gospel into their communities!
Our planning in Montgomery for this shipment was joined by the planning of Gif, and neither of us knew what the other had planned!
Along with the Family Buckets and hygiene supplies for the personal bags, we loaded 504 boxes of urgently needed medical supplies. The evil war continues and so does the causalities. The Church in Ivano-Frankivsk continues to be recognized as a vital help to those displaced, wounded, disabled and orphaned.
Gif’s Note—evangelism focus!
“Hello there! Well, for the upcoming trip the topic of evangelism and specifically how to evangelize your friends and neighbors is the emphasis. Avery, Jared and Whitney will be coming to help encourage the congregation in this aspect of the Church work. Avery will be focusing on the topic in his night’s classes. Avery will have more off a “lecture” then we will break for discussions led by Jared and Whitney (splitting men and women if we have Sasha, if not then it will just be a group discussion). This has been designed for their main goal for this trip and we’ve been planning it already. It should be well received because lately we have been discussing specifically how we can use our new location, so I think everyone will enjoy it.
“Speaking of Wednesday classes, last night was very interesting. The class led somehow to Allah asking a question: is there an amount of time someone should wait before being baptized? She said she read that some Orthodox Churches make you wait three years, and in some ways she thinks that’s appropriate because you should have some knowledge and not just do it flippantly. I told her I agree with the latter part of that statement, but there’s no set amount of time—in Acts, most people were baptized as soon as they understood about Jesus and what he had done and how they could be saved. But also, I told her that Paul describes Christianity as a marriage and you don’t just commit to marrying someone unless you are sure you understand that commitment and are ready. We agreed that you don’t have to know everything about the Bible because you can’t know everything, but she said she feels like she needs to study more for now. I said that’s a great attitude and good to make sure you know what you are doing and ready to commit, but also important not to wait too long. She agreed and said we must talk about it more. I think that’s a very good sign that they might be even closer than I realized! -Gif”
The 5th Sunday at Dalraida
This coming Lord’s Day is a fifth Sunday and the Dalraida congregation has a special focus planned. The lessons will focus on the challenges the Lord’s Church has faced in the past, the challenges currently warring against the Church in the present, and the challenges the Lord’s Church faces as the future is contemplated. The theme is: “The Past, Present and Future of the Lord’s Church.” These lessons will be available on Dalraida’s YouTube channel. If you are in the Montgomery, AL area please join us in person!
John L. Kachelman, Jr., Ukraine Missions, Dalraida Church of Christ, P.O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109
