![\"Valentina](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Valentina-the-dentist-from-Lugansk.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Valentina and her husband are dentists. They were trained professionals. Their work was known for its integrity. They were successful and owned their own dental clinic in Lugansk. Valentina says with her voice quivering, \u201cWe did everything right. We went to a church. We gave to that church to help it do benevolence works\u2014WE were the ones giving to others. Our business was very good. And then the war started. On the first day when Russia sent shelling a bomb hit a store next to our clinic. Our clinic was not hit but the results of that bomb blew away everything in a wide diameter\u2026nothing was left\u2026one minute we were doing very well and the next everything was gone\u2026we have nothing\u2026in just one minute\u2026\u201d Her voice cracked and she began sobbing. Olya was translating for me and she went over to hold Valentina.<\/p>\n
When composure was regained Valentina continued. \u201cNow we are the ones who have to trust on the benevolence of others. We are the ones that USED to give to those in need and now we are the ones in need. We came to Ivano-Frankivsk. We had nothing. We were told to contact Ivan Skoleba and church of Christ. Thanks to church here we have been helped. We want to work. My husband found a dentist job after 3 months looking but it is in village far away and does not pay well. My children are working and I am working and we still need help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Very few can appreciate the emotions behind Valentina\u2019s words\u2026 \u201cnothing was left\u2026one minute we were doing very well and the next everything was gone\u2026we have nothing\u2026in just one minute\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Let me confess some honest thoughts here\u2026I would be lying to you if I said that each story does not affect me. I would rather not know about such circumstances because they make me uncomfortable and who wants to be uncomfortable (entire industries market their products so we will not be uncomfortable!). I wish I could think that the reality of 5,000 miles away does not affect me. I wish I could have the numbed sensitivity that some have when they shrug off the situation thinking that somehow the USA is different than the rest of the world and such traumas will never be seen in our nation. I wish I could salve my conscience\u2019s prick and think that I have no accountability when I stand before the Almighty God.<\/p>\n
The work is exhausting. The urgency of the needs seem to magnify daily. The lists of requests are inexhaustible. But it is NOT hopeless. This is the context that the Lord addressed in John 4. The answer there was simple\u2014lift up your eyes and look at situations other than where you are and pray that laborers arise. In the meantime, until laborers arrive, do what you can!<\/p>\n
And now a more positive note\u2026<\/p>\n
In the photos you have seen Marie & Volodya. Volodya became a Christian a number of years ago and graduated from Bear Valley last May. He is working in Starry Lisets and Ivano-Frankivsk. Marie met Volodya and the two became interested in one another. Volodya has been studying with Marie.<\/p>\n
This visit was the first time that I have been able to meet Marie and she is delightful. She wrote this note and asked me to send it to you:<\/p>\n
\u201cGreetings from Ivano-Frankvisk, Ukraine. My name is Marie. I\u2019m, 21 year old. Even though I haven\u2019t been attending the church of Christ for a long time, I was brought to it by the love my boyfriend and thanks to this love I opened my heart to God. Now I will obey and intend to live in accordance with the Law of God. Volodya sends this message to you:<\/p>\n \u201cGreetings dear brothers and sisters! Please continue praying for us!<\/p>\n John L. Kachelman, Jr. Greetings from Kyiv, Ukraine where I arrived early this morning. I was met by Victor and Lena and taken to the place where I will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,3,7,17,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-benevolence","category-ivano-frankivsk","category-shipments","category-trip-reports","category-ukraine-conflict"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Volodya-and-Marie-e1443469624362.jpg?fit=774%2C501&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8C1ar-bC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cPlease accept my sincere thanks for your prayers as well as your help to the needy people here in Ukraine.
\n\u201cThank you very much.
\n\u201cWith most sincere wishes to all Christians from churches of Christ!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n\u201cThank you for prayers and support which we sense all the time.
\n\u201cWe always keep you in our thanksgiving prayers to the Father. May God bless you with love,,
\n\u201cVolodya Diduk your brother in Christ\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIvano-Frankivsk, Ukraine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"