Greetings from Zaporozhye, Ukraine! I left Kyiv in the early evening Wednesday and arrived here at 7:10 Thursday morning. I travelled in a “retro” carriage. It was old, really old—the springs were gone, the wheels were loud, the lighting was waaay too dim, the toilets were indescribably awful. You could not stand up and walk a straight line. There was no circulating air. The temps were hot to begin and then cold at the end. The man next to me had LOUD snoring perfected—if the train had not been swerving and creaking and clanging, this guy’s snoring would have rattled the inoperable windows. And it never stopped…nothing ever stopped. Not the swerving, not the loud clacking, not the stifling, suffocating, sweaty air. You could not get up and walk without stumbling into someone else. And it never stopped…The old carriages have toilets that flush directly onto the tracks—the bowl has a trap door that when you flush the door opens and you see the tracks below. Because of this the conductors lock the doors of the toilets prior to stopping and immediately after the train resumes its travel. Nothing can get that door unlocked. At some point in the night (around 3:00 a.m. there was almost a 62 year old bladder explosion). It was the kind of night where you sit there and realize just how slowly the seconds turn into minutes; and in those circumstance I absolutely know for a fact that there are many more than 60 seconds to a minute and 60 minutes to an hour.
Upon arriving at the Zaporozhye train depot I was met by Alexander and taken to a hotel and told that we had 4-5 various meetings scheduled today and someone wanted to treat me to an excursion on the Dnieper River. During the course of the meetings I had another meeting to be scheduled for after supper.
The meetings went well and I was taken to inspect several locations of distribution of the benevolent commodities we have shipped into Zaporozhye.
The first meeting was at a military base where artillery training occurs. This location has been involved in assisting the displaced people and making sure they are provided for and helping them find any possible comfort. Among those assisted are widows whose husbands were killed and children whose parents have been killed. I was impressed with the ways the displaced children are helped. On one wall hung many drawings by the children. They were asked to draw what they saw in the war. I wish I could have put all of the drawings in this report but I chose only one—a drawing of a soldier of Ukraine with a child in his arms and taking the child to safety.
Throughout the course of today I continued to hear words of deepest gratitude for the Lord’s Church in providing basic items. I often saw the label that we affix to buckets and other items which identify them as gifts from God’s Church.
I have received our dear brother Andrew’s April report and here is a portion discussing the brethren in Gorlovka:
“Situation in Gorlovka is still unstable and dangerous. After short periods of calm, military actions keep on resuming. At night of April 28, there was the most serious shooting of the town. More than ten building were destroyed, and some people were killed. The water supply system was damaged and the most of the town is left without electricity. Words cannot describe all the pain and desperation that pro-Russian insurgents brought to Eastern Ukraine.
“Eight Christians in Gorlovka, who decided to stay in their hometown, are in these horrible conditions. Even though DNR insurgents do not allow Christians to gather for worship, our Christians have a great desire to worship the Lord on Sunday. Some of them live in the downtown. Three people live in the neutral area, which is even more dangerous, because that is the frontline under continuous fire, so they can’t leave their homes to come to town. I conduct worship service with them via cell phone. Also I teach Bible classes on Wednesdays for them.“Christians in Gorlovka are in a great need of spiritual encouragement and are always looking forward to the next service.
“Financial situation in Gorlovka becomes more difficult, so financial help was needed for survival of Christians in Gorlovka. The money was safely transported to Gorlovka, and our brothers and sisters now can buy the needed food and medication. We are grateful for all people who contributed money for this and who organized that collection and sending them to us.
Christians from Gorlovka sent you their letter that they wrote personally.
‘Hello dear brothers and sisters. Peace be to you and your families. We thank God for the good deeds that you do. Right now we are in a very miserable position. We thank you for your kind and loving hearts and for your support in this difficult time for us. We ask you to pray for us, and we are praying for you as well. Your brothers and sisters from Gorlovka.’
Andrew Zhuravlyov
Thank you for your prayers and support in these efforts!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Zaporozhye, Ukraine
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