Bits and pieces from the last few days…
Mike’s comment to me somewhere along the six hour bus ride to/from Uman…”I had read your past reports and all the activity that goes on but I never realized it was this busy…two 25 hour days in a week is pretty exhausting.” Understand that this was made on a Monday…
I have had a number of meetings in Kyiv since arriving. Here is a comment that summarizes the overall outcomes of these meetings…
Hi John! It was really great meeting you. You cannot even imagine how much it means to us in Ukraine to know that someone cares about our troubles and is willing to help us. Currently I am gathering information from our volunteers on their medical needs. I hope it will be finalized tomorrow. I will send it to you as soon as it is ready. But we will be grateful for anything you can give us. Thank you again for your involvement and help from churches of Christ. Best wishes, Alexandra
A sobering note on a congregation in the Donetsk Region…yesterday Mike told me that he had received word that a congregation located in the Donetsk Oblast had decided to cease assembling. In a congregational meeting it was decided to split up the treasury among the members who are still there and “close the doors.” Mike said a man went to preach on Sunday and learned of this situation as only two elderly sisters came for the assembly. All the others had left.
The trip to Uman, Cherkassy Oblast, Ukraine
In the last two trips I have reported on the efforts in Uman, Ukraine. We were asked to ship in benevolent aid and responded by shipping four containers. Those containers arrived and have been distributed. The reception of these containers has been very encouraging.
At all levels there is a great appreciation for the efforts of the Lord’s Church. An open door of great opportunity is before us! WHO will hear and heed?
On the trip to Uman I was scheduled to visit four hospitals and a clothing distribution site. When we put the shipments together it was suggested that we did not need to send many clothes. Usually the clothing is distributed by the congregations but since there is no congregation in Uman we were told that at this time there was not a great need for clothing. So the packing of the four containers had limited clothing. We used bags of clothing to pack around the items shipped and so there was a good amount of clothing sent. The first thing that was said to me was that they thought they would never be able to distribute all of the clothing but with the war from Russia and the influx of so many refugees they had been very happy that the clothing had been sent. They said that they were almost out of clothing. We were taken to the main distribution point of the clothing and saw a roomful of people searching for any possible clothing they could wear. We had a great conversation about the distribution and how it was handled. In addition to the clothing I was told that local merchants had donated basic kitchen cooking goods (oil, etc) at the wholesale price and these are made available to those refugees who cannot afford in-store prices.
I was also told that the villages surrounding Uman have brought into the city large quantities of potatoes and cabbages out of their gardens that they want to share with the refugees. Even among the city residents you are able to see a wonderful attitude as the citizens are bringing clothing items to share—one brought a coat saying she had two but only needed one. Another group is taking old sweaters and unraveling them to use the yarn to knit gloves and socks for those who have none. The atmosphere and attitude that I saw in Uman was wonderful.
The visits to the hospitals went very well. Mike and I were shown a number of items shipped and placed into use. Mike’s technical expertise was especially helpful as he looked at the electrical equipment and discussed with the hospital staff what needed to be done and whether the equipment needed a “converter” or a “transformer.”
Among the hospital visits we were taken to a maternity hospital where we had shipped labor and delivery equipment. The hospital staff too us to the L&D bed that we had shipped and said that the birth rate in Uman would increase once the women saw what a wonderful L&D bed they could use. We were then taken to see the “old” L&D bed and there was an amazing contrast. The infant warmers we shipped were highly prized.
In the maternity hospital we saw two newborn babies that had been abandoned. One was only 12 days old. Her mother had given birth and the next day just got up and left the hospital and her baby. The staff told me that abandoned babies are a real problem because they are not “registered.” When one is registered then they have access to the care of the hospital. But an abandoned baby is not registered so it has “no right” to the hospital’s care. In fact, the way Ukraine law is written, it is illegal for the hospital to do anything to help the abandoned baby. Now like the midwives in Exodus these babies are cared for by the hospital. But the hospital cannot use its funds for formula, diapers, or any meds. So these babies are cared for by the love and compassion and personal expense of those in the hospital.
We enjoyed a wonderful hospitality in Uman. For lunch we were taken to a kitchen where meals are cooked for invalids and the destitute. The food is delicious and is genuine “Ukrainian country cooking.” Earlier in the day Mike had mentioned that could eat anything but liver. Guess what plateful was set right in front of Mike? Fried chicken livers with onion! But, in front of me was set a plateful of fish! So I swapped Mike’s livers for my fish!
Today I have some more meetings in Kyiv and will then take a late night flight to Ivano-Frankivsk!
Here is a report from Mike and then Denis has sent a report on the preacher training school that has relocated from Gorlovka to Ternopil.
From Mike Lawson…
After 24 hours of travel, I arrived in Sumy, Ukraine. The overall journey to Kyiv was uneventful except misfortune of our brother John Kachelman missing his flight from Atlanta to Kyiv due to a long delay in Atlanta. He and I were to meet in Amsterdam for the last leg of our flight to Kyiv.
Tired from the lack of sleep it was an awakening experience seeing my friend and sister in Christ, Olya, waiting for me just on the other side of Customs. Getting ahead of myself, Olya will serve as my translator for the next few weeks while in Ukraine. Without John and Tanya (John’s right hand person in Ukraine), we boarded the bus for a five hour ride to Sumy. Upon arrival in Sumy, our friends Yaroslav and his wife Dasha were as glad to see us as we were to see them.
Wednesday morning came early and we headed out to the University, Pedagogical School to address two English language classes for the 8 AM class. Spending time with the students affords the opportunity to share with them that we are here as Christians supporting the Church and in-turn others who are in need during this most difficult period. The subtlety is necessary because the University is adverse to promoting religion in the classroom setting. The remainder of our day was filled into the late evening with phone calls and administrative items to make the most of our time while here.
A couple of ancillary observations that I made were: only a few military vehicles were seen on the trek to Sumy as it is some distance from the fighting and the use of the Ukrainian language on posters and signs was more prevalent than on past visits indicative of the changes occurring as Ukraine moves further away from Russia and closer to Europe: a primary reason for the former Soviet Union to militarily invade Ukraine.
We, that is Olya and I, had an encouraging conversation and later received a previously written update from our Brother Alexander in Artyomovsk some 400 kilometers to the south of us. It reads in part:
“Dear brother Mike! Thank you for your love and participation in solving our problems. Now in our town just starting businesses and we have the opportunity to fix the damage that was done to our building. For a while this was not possible. The situation in Artyomovsk now: from the south terrorist and Russian troops is about 30 km from the East about 50 km. The situation is tense and anxious.
Artyomovsk became a frontier town, and flow that we have a lot of displaced people, some of them are Christians. We give place to stay for everyone who needs in the Church building and provide financial support. We are pray for soon ceased fire and peace.
Please gave may greetings to all and for Susan. The Lord’s blessings to you! Alexander”
Prayerfully, this congregation will start receiving containers of support to help them in their efforts to strengthen the visibility of God’s love where they serve in the city of Artyomovsk, Donetsk Ukraine. (Note from John: At this point there is nothing going into the Oblasts of Donetsk and Lugansk. Even the “safe” areas are not permitted to receive as the aid has to pass through the pro-Russian forces. As soon as the war in the east ceases and Russia withdraws then we will be able to send relief supplies to the Lord’s Churches located there, if they are still meeting).
Well, it is time to start another day. One more thought before moving on, the temperatures were much colder today. Yesterday, it was windy and heavily overcast. Nighttime temps are in the 30’s and frost is seen on the Marigolds or as they call them in Ukraine “dark eyebrows” because all beautiful Ukrainian girls have dark eyebrows.
Today we will have a pizza outing with students, who have supported the Summer Camp’s in Dzerzhinsk. Perhaps we will have some new volunteers! Teens are the same the world over. Always eager to share a pizza together… a universal calling card of sorts. We will also meet with the Church for their mid-week study and prayerfully make some progress on establishing Sumy as a site for future shipments of relief.
Looks like we will be catching the red-eye train out of Sumy on Sunday evening for the city of Uman, Cherkassy Region well south of Kyiv (leaving Sumy in an open compartment at 11:30 p.m. then arriving in Kyiv at 4:30 a.m. and then leaving for Uman at 7:00 a.m. on a 3 hour bus ride where we will stay all day and then the return to Kyiv on a 3 hour bus ride late Monday night!). More to come…
In His Service, Mike
First steps in the new place…Preacher training in Ternopil
Dear brothers, families and churches.
Situation in Ukraine is still difficult. Military actions are still taking place in Donetsk and Lugansk areas. Many people (both civilians and soldiers) die there daily on both sides due to the military actions. We are praying for peace and stability, and maybe God gives us new lessons on how important it is to appreciate peace, how important it is to build moral Christian society, how important it is to value the time that we have. Studying the history of Jewish nation we see that history of this world repeats itself. Society that departs from God can be punished by even more wicked nation, which is in turn being punished by God. We will rely upon God’s wisdom and hope that Ukrainian nation is ready to learn these lessons.
Church of Christ in Ternopil
The church of Christ in Ternopil is making its first steps now. We have a wonderful place and a good team of missionaries. We continue getting acquainted with the city and our neighbors. For several days we have been evangelizing on streets; we brought out a table with Christian literature and invited people passing by to attend Bible studies.
Some people were interested and talked to us; others were very cautious. Because of the historical background (this territory was under Poland and was influenced by Catholicism), many citizens of Ternopil would seriously consider traditional churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Uniats), and I think it is a problem all around the world.
There are about 20-22 people attending our Sunday services regularly. Mostly these are students, teachers at the institute and several of Ternopil. During this short period of time we were blessed by visits of our American brothers: Howell Ferguson, Denton Landon, Johnny Mack Young, Walter Rayburn, Jim Sherman and Dennis Curd. They were able to really encourage both the institute and the church. These brothers have a huge missionary experience in Ukraine. Despite the military actions on the east of the country, they are still with us. We pray for their work and ministry here.
Also in September, we have started a Bible School for children “Sunflower.” (This is a school in which efforts are made to reach out to the community with Bible classes during the week. It is similar to the VBS in the USA except this is a weekly program.) We had a grand opening of the school, and there were many children who attended it. We have prepared a puppet theatre play, skits, games, quizzes songs and crafts. But we do not have many children in regular classes. I think they have to get used to us. We are just getting know the neighborhood and telling them about us.
Bible institute
The classes have started on September 1. As I have mentioned that in my previous report, we have eight students in both years of study (it is a two year school). We are looking forward to have two more students in the first-year class in November. Due to the fact that we had to move the school, now we are experiencing difficulties with lack of teachers. We have really moved far from the military actions, and it is quiet and peaceful here, but many teachers stayed in Donetsk area. All candidates for teachers are discussed with the coordinator of the institute beforehand.
Bogdan Chigvintsev and Eugene Tebel continue helping the institute and the church in their work. Bogdan has dedicated himself to the work with young people and leading small home groups in Bible studies. Eugene teaches Bible classes at Church during the week and helps with translations. We are trying to recreate that atmosphere of joy that we had in Gorlovka, and I hope that we are successful.
At the moment, we (the Bear Valley School) are the only theological Church of Christ school in Ukraine that continued its work. We continue having the same goal of training ministers who will be ready to spread the Gospel among the people. And God bless us and continue help us in this.
We are grateful to everyone who supports the institute and the Church in Ternopil. All students and teachers send you their greetings and their gratitude for your faithfulness in this ministry.
Your brother and coworker in His work, Dennis Sopelnik
Be sure to tell others they register for automatic updates or can read posted updates on this mission trip at: www.kachelman.com/ukraine/blog
Thank you for your financial support and prayers for the brethren in Ukraine and for the welfare of the Lord’s Church in Ukraine!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Kyiv, Ukraine
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