Photo: Two-year-old Maxim, Kherson, Ukraine 15 April 2023
The shocking reality of real evil is portrayed in the photo that I received early this morning. This photo is from Kherson, Ukraine. It was take last Saturday following a Russian missile strike. The lifeless body of an innocent two-year-old boy is pulled from the rubble that was living quarters. The frantic actions of the first responders hurriedly digging through the ruin, could not help Maxim.
This took place with Putin was saying the Orthodox Easter Holiday would be observed!
We have sent multiple containers into Kherson prior to the 2022 invasion. We have a working network and eagerness for the Lord’s Church to be present. We are in constant communication with assets in Kherson. Receiving daily reports from Kherson and seeing its cruel destruction is heart-breaking.
Take this shocking tragedy and multiply it by millions and you only begin to frame the situation in Ukraine. Multiply it even more and you have the situation in surrounding nations where millions of Ukrainians have fled.
Perry and I visited a rehabilitation center and spoke with a young man who was recovering from his wounds. He had head wounds that had physically healed but he will wrestle with consequent issues the rest of his life.
Our shipments have targeted those most vulnerable victims in this unprovoked war. What we see and the daily briefings and reports we receive, describe only a small proportion of the evil. At times it seems our efforts are feeble, but when you visit the distribution locations you are reminded of the impact of the Lord’s Church. When you see the eyes and feel the tears of those who have been helped, you know you have made an impact by being a channel through which God’s mercy and message is heralded.
Those reading these reports have invested time, energy and finances to help the Lord and His Church become the means by which many will glorify God! (Matthew 5:16)
Continue praying for our efforts! “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it.” (Colossians 4:2-4)
John L. Kachelman, Jr. Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
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