Feature Photo: The Church of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk
NOTE: The photos shown in this report (and all other communications) are NOT to be forwarded or published in any way! The photos can be mined for location coordinates for military strikes. The environment and censorship requirements mandate that I make this point.
Hello there!
The summer is coming to a swift close here. For the last couple of weeks, we’ve already been experiencing cool fall mornings; unfortunately, that hasn’t translated into cool fall afternoons yet, so it’s difficult to dress correctly when leaving the house for the day. But before we know it, we’ll be preparing our snowshoes.
Several great things occurred during the summer months, which I’ll summarize here.
First, several Church members had the opportunity to attend Camp Amerikrane in Lviv and came back with great reports and feeling refreshed. Second, a very helpful group from the Madison Church of Christ in Madison, Alabama, came to spend a weekend with the Church here, which was a positive experience. Third, John Kachelman Jr. spent several weeks in Ivano-Frankivsk helping the work of the Church while I took a trip back home for a bit. Most of these things are detailed in John’s reports from that time he was here, so I won’t rehash them—you can find his reports from the summer on his website.
I did get the opportunity to return to the USA for a few weeks to visit friends and family and to conduct our week of Bible camp at Backwoods. This is always a positive experience, and we’re happy to report that there were 6 baptisms at camp this year!
While I was gone, the Ivano-Frankivsk Church of Christ continued working in the community, delivering humanitarian items to those in need. Specifically, they were able to help some of their own neighbors as well as a home for widows. All was greatly appreciated. In addition to those activities, we continue to partner with the charity “Smart Solutions” to send some items to soldiers who are fighting so that we can show our support for them.
Below are some photos of humanitarian distribution to the community and the soldiers. Notice the stickers on the buckets!
The Church building project continues as well! Pasha has finished the ceiling in the auditorium and has begun work on the walls. But he decided that we need to get the baptistry finished so that we can start using it! He began work there about two weeks ago, and he thinks he’ll finish it this week. I’ll add some updated photos for now, and then hopefully we’ll have some usage photos soon to follow!
Starting this past week, we turned our Sunday studies toward the “Armor of God” in Ephesians 6, in order to understand how to practically use the tools that God has given us. This passage is especially powerful within the context of a country at war, as many people here can unfortunately understand it on a different level than many in other parts of the world.
The Church members here are asking for more practical lessons like this because they want to make sure they are following God not only in word but in action. Many of them are already making a difference in the lives of the Ivano-Frankivsk population, and I think we will very soon begin to see the results of that in the growth of the Church itself. We hope to put everything we’ve been given to good use, from the funds to the building to the gifts that God has given each of us. —Gif
John L. Kachelman, Jr., UKRAINE MISSIONS, Dalraida Church of Christ, P.O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109.
