Update–12/15/2022

Earlier this year Charita called saying we had been offered five containers of “Wet Ones.” This offer was from the Ukraine Trust Chain. They had heard of our involvement and was impressed that all work was voluntary and there were no administration charges! We scheduled the loads out of South Carolina. Here is a photo of distribution by the Church of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk! More photos are below.

FAST & FURIOUS…

The regular updates have been tardy because of the overload of actions! This week has continued constant…no down time, all action! In addition to a number of other activities there are three that are highlighted…

C.U.R.E. (WestArk Church of Christ, Ft. Smith, AR) delivered two truckloads of items and most were already shipped out!
A container loading in Florence, AL coordinated by the Sherrod Avenue Church of Christ sent 19,480 lbs and a value exceeding $130,000.00!
A container loading in Montgomery, AL coordinated by the Dalraida Church of Christ sent 23,440 lbs with a value of $341,759.00!

Be awed by the totals: A total weight of: 42,920 POUNDS shipped to be distributed in the Name of the Lord and His Church! A total value of: $471,759.00

The Ivano-Frankivsk Church building…

This is an amazing factor to consider…when the building was planned some thought it was too large and would never be utilized (and this sounded reasonable at times) but persistence continued and the structure is completed enough to provide shelter, especially the first floor. We finished the heating system in October and the boiler was fired up in early November. This provided heat for the first floor. IDPs began migrating from east to west because of the war and the livable sections of the church building were used for housing. Now the size of the structure allows many IDPs to find lodging and our boiler provides heat in the brutal cold. The current blessings and benefits are the result of years of work…we could not offer lodging and heat had we not persevered. What we are now is only possible because of what we did then. We are still working on the building and a priority focus is to make the kitchen accessible and useable.

Wonderful cooperation of East and West!

When Russia invaded a number of brethren from the east were displaced in the west. From the city of Kramatorsk a number of brethren came into Ivano-Frankivsk Region. Among these was the Vlad Paziy family. On my last visit Vlad told me of a State Rehabilitation Center that had moved from Kramatorsk to Ivano-Frankivsk city. Years ago, we had worked with Vlad to deliver aid commodities to the Kramatorsk center. Through Vlad’s contacts, Ivan, I and Tanya visited the Ivano-Frankivsk center and assessed their needs. Vlad and Ivan were eager to join together and work with the relocated Center. We scheduled CURE (Ft. Smith, AR) to bring PT equipment and supplies and loaded the container on 24 October (6 days after my full knee replacement).

**The loading crew of the Physical Therapy container going to Ivano-Frankivsk.**

The container arrived in Port Gdynia, Poland and was transported to the Ivano-Frankivsk building where it was unloaded. Ivan and Vlad have been working diligently to make sure these items get to the rehab clinic asap because of the dire need. Their reports are summarized below…

Greetings to everybody! We have unloaded a container for the Rehabilitation Center. THANKS to all American Christians for their help to Ukrainians…

Good morning, everything went well. We talked with Ivan about the rehabilitation center container. I had asked Svetlana if any from the Center could help us unload, and two men from the Center came and assisted. We are planning to meet with the Director on Monday and go through items. We did not take many photos but will take more when we take it to the Center…

We took part of the equipment to the Center but the Director was leaving for a seminar till the weekend and would be able to take pics on next Monday.

Today, Volodya Paziy and I packed beds and things for the rehabilitation center for Svetlana. She is very grateful for the help. Thank you, brother for your help…

News from Ivan Skoleba

Greetings to our American brothers and sisters. on Sunday we had Valentina Vasylievna leaving Ivano-Frankivsk and is now with son-in-law Terry Harmon. She had lived in Lyman before Russia destroyed it and then she moved into the Church building. All was well. Food, winter clothes and lamps were also handed over to the children in the boarding school yesterday. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, the children sat in the dark before your shipments arrived. They were very happy with the gifts and the flashlights that brethren have sent. We now have frequent and long-term power outages. Thank you, brother for your faith and deeds.

We thank God for the strength and patience He gives us at this trying time we are living through now. Especially do we thank you for your prayers and support. Big thanks on behalf of hundreds and thousands of Ukrainians from all over the country, from the military and their families to all who is involved in this work. You help us stand for truth and hold onto the hope of victory. The Church in Ivano-Frankivsk continues night and day without stopping to help those displaced by war, children who are unable to survive unless they are in children’s home and orphans.

We go on with our Christian ministry. We assemble three times a week for worship and Bible study. On Sunday we worship God, on Wednesday we have our Bible class, and on Friday – there is a joint prayer.

We have new people attending the congregation now. Four of them have not been immersed yet. Please, pray for the Lord to help them know the Bible and be baptized for forgiveness of sins. These are displaced from the East. Besides we have two Andrews who are local. They take part in the humanitarian ministry of the Church here.

Sveta teaches children and works with women. Anya teaches Bible classes to the teens. All men are involved in Sunday’s worship. True, some still cannot get over their fear of speaking in public. But we show patience and encourage them, for we know time will come and they will be involved.

Men of the congregation get together twice a month to have classes on leadership and ministry for men at Church. With God’s help and your support both physical and spiritual we are able to mature in faith. May the Lord protect you and your families. Please, pass our love onto all churches of Christ
Ivan & Svitlana

News sent from Ruslan

Dear brothers and sisters! I greet you on behalf of the Church of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk. With God’s help, your prayers and our military, our region is more or less quiet, which allows us to continue our work in God’s Kingdom. There are a lot of power outages, the Internet and mobile connections are often disrupted as well. But we realize that our situation is not the worst and there are people who find themselves in a much worse predicament. We thank the Lord for allowing us to continue with our ministry in spite of all these things. He just permits evil to bring the tribulations that we have to face but He gives us strength and hope to endure.

I need to let you know that there are several new expense lines in our financial report: purchase of wood for the boiler. The amount given is just a half of what is needed. Then there is electric power. The amount given can change depending on how much heating is used.

I want you to know that in spite of the circumstances, we continue assembling to study the word of God and fellowship. We continue working in all areas we have worked and we thank God for that.

May God protect you and your country from the trials that this country is going through now. We keep you, the Church there and your nation in our prayers. PS Our family has some good news to share. Maria’s brother is back from the front line. He was gone for eight months.
Ruslan Skoleba

“Food, winter clothes and lamps were also handed over to the children in the boarding school yesterday. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, the children sat in the dark before your shipments arrived. They were very happy with the gifts and the flashlights that brethren have sent.”

Providential happenings…

Several years ago we were on track to plant a congregation in Synatin (Doug Schofield and David Fletcher spent a day assessing the situation). We delivered commodities from several containers helping the local schools and an institution for special needs adult men. Ivan had developed good relations with the local administration. However, things did not work out as planned and our desires were postponed. BUT now…A group of brethren relocated from the east and are now living in Synatin (about two hours from Ivano-Frankivsk). They are assembling and working. Ivan was asked to help pass on some of the relief commodities shipped. Here is his immediate reply: