Photo: “Tonight’s class was probably the most people I’ve seen on a Wednesday night in the Church here, and Ivan even said there were visitors that he had never met before.”
AMAZING IMPACT—ASTONISHING NETWORK!
There are so many working parts of any mission that the visible actions eclipse the invisible actions. This is certainly true with mission actions where I am deployed. Just to give you a hint on the scope of this current mission—here are the nations in which multiple POCs have contacted us through our website posts the last two weeks: Australia, Canada, Columbia, Ghana, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Uganda, Ukraine, and USA! Note: I salute Australia as some days it made more contacts than even the USA!
“Ivan mentioned that he has been getting phone calls all week from people talking about the work we have been doing in the school, so it has clearly made an impact.”
Gif
From Ivan
Hi Brother John, we’ve had a wonderful day today. We gave the military tourniquets and wipes to the soldiers. I asked the military guys to give Perry a military coat when we arrive. Perry was overwhelmed. Of course, Perry could only be promoted to the rank of captain. 😜 We said that every year we would add a rank if Perry came to us. So, everything was fine, everyone was happy.
Andriy, the military officer told us about his service, and they showed us around the unity and introduced us to the soldiers. Now we can see very well the changes for better in our country. Previously, we would never have been allowed on the territory of the military unit. Thank God! Major Andriy asked to pass on a special thank you for your help. Perry will describe his feelings about the visit in more detail.
Also, today, Volodya and Yulia were with Gif, Jared and Whitney and showed the work in the Lysets Church.
Tonight, we will all meet and talk together, share our thoughts, and plan for the next trip to be just as successful as this one was. Thank you for a good team! Now we are going to a Bible lesson and we will all wear Ukrainian embroidered shirts.
Please pass our love and big thanks for prayers on to all brothers and sisters in America. With love, in Christ Ivan.
Note…at posting I’ve not heard from Perry or Whitney so will post their reports later. Gif sent this note: “Whitney fell asleep as soon as she got to her room before writing but I’ll have her send you one in the morning.” This succinctly summarizes the exhaustion that overcomes one at the end of the day here!
From Jared
Wednesday was our last day in Ukraine, it’s been a bittersweet day saying goodbye to all of our new friends from Ukraine. We drove around with Vova today and he showed us around to some of the surrounding villages in the countryside outside of Ivano-Frankivsk. We visited one home and met some refugees who are staying at the future site of a church of Christ for the community of Lysets. The brothers and sisters in Ukraine give you their love and want to thank you for all of your support!
From Gif
Our last couple of days have been a whirlwind of having plans one minute and then changing them five times in the next, but all was positive!
We got to spend a little more time at the school with the kids, as well as visit the village of Lysets where Volodya and Julia have been working for the last few years. We toured the house that they bought for the Church to meet in, which is currently housing seven refugees from the east. Whenever they return though, the house will be equipped for about 30 people to meet for worship, and there is land to build more.
Volodya explained their method of evangelizing this community, which has been mainly through humanitarian aid and getting to know the people through helping them. As they establish a reputation, they are hopeful that they can soon use the house to invite people to worship with them.
Tonight, Perry taught the Wednesday night Bible class on Christian supplements and related to the members very well; it was probably the most people I’ve seen on a Wednesday night in the Church here, and Ivan even said there were visitors that he had never met before.
Ivan also mentioned that he has been getting phone calls all week from people talking about the work we have been doing in the school, so it has clearly made an impact. While it’s always nice to be home, I think everyone in our group would be glad to stay a few more days (weeks?) and enjoy the fellowship. And certainly, we are dreading the 8-hour car ride we’re about to embark upon in the morning. (Note from John: The transport is 8-hours BUT there will be an unknown time spent at the UA/PL border crossing. So add 8-hours plus 4-8 more hours! But I’ll not mention this to them.)
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one more thing: we have had two new translators on this trip, Polina and Sasha, both of whom came as recommendations from others who had translated for us in the past. A translator can make or break a trip here, and these two absolutely made this trip as excellent as it could be. They took great care of us and got just as involved in the work as we did. We were more than happy to have them along the last two weeks!
Thank you!
Our trip is ending and so I want to thank you again for the AMAZING support and encouragement that you send! Should all facets of the mission be revealed you would be astonished at the scope and success.
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.
Wrocław, Poland but soon to be in Warsaw (Dalraida Church of Christ, Ukraine Missions, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109)
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