Photo: Lighted sign in Ukrainian saying “I Love Ukraine”
Perry, Gif, Jared and Whitney arrived sometime after midnight. Their trek was slow and stalled and not near the 8-hour mark anticipated!
Here are two more lingering reports I want to share. One is from Ivan and summarizes the appreciation of the Ivano-Frankivsk Church for the visits. The other is from Whitney and also summarizes her perspectives on the trip. If all goes well with tomorrow’s return, we should be back in Montgomery, AL around 8:00 pm!
From Ivan
Good day to all of you, our dear brothers and sisters. We are all very tired, but despite this we are satisfied with the work of those who came from Dalraida. These are simply wonderful children of God who truly strive to do everything for God’s Kingdom. Their smiles and kindness won the hearts of many people here.
They presented many good Bible lessons, spiritual communication, and together we helped the needy with humanitarian aid.
The Lord blesses the work of the Church and opened doors in many places of Ivano Frankivsk for the preaching of the Gospel. I know that the brothers and sisters constantly wrote their impressions to you in their reports. Therefore, I do not want to repeat myself.
We are very satisfied with joint work and your spiritual support. Thank you for your financial support that makes it possible to do the work for our Lord. Thank you for the wonderful team you sent to us. Thank you for brother John’s arrangement and directions of clear cooperation. Thank God for the blessings and opportunities He gives us.
With great respect and love, in Christ,
Ivan and Svitlana
From Whitney
The last two days have been such a blur. We had our last day at the school. We sat in on Oleg’s class as he taught front lines first aid. He said that he hates that he has to teach this to school children and that it shouldn’t be this way. He worries for the future of these kids and this war. Already, the windows in the school are covered with sandbags to protect from explosions. I worry about them too.
The last full day in Ukraine, we met two Americans at breakfast. One’s name was Jerry Fox from Texas. He said he knew of Dalraida and what our congregation has been doing in Ukraine and around the world and how incredible it was.
We also met George Spurlock from Mobile who has been visiting Ukraine and helping the Church for many years.
We were then showed around the town of Lysets and Starry-Lysets. The hospitals there use a great amount humanitarian aid that we have shipped there. The beds, tables, equipment and supplies almost all came from Montgomery, AL on containers we have shipped over. The villagers are very grateful to the Church.
We also visited some refugees living in a house funded by Dalraida and the Church there. They were from Kharkov and have been living in the house since the war broke out.
We then drove up a mountain, saw the city, then headed back for worship.
At worship we were gifted traditional Ukrainian shirts and took a group picture with the Church. On our last morning in Ukraine, I ate all of my new favorite breakfast foods for the last time, and many members of the Church came to see us off: Bogdana, a refugee living in the city who works with humanitarian aid, Svetlana, the preacher’s wife, Our wonderful translators Inna and Marizza, Andrew, our faithful driver, and Ivan the preacher. I will miss them all so much.
As I ride in this van at breakneck speeds through the Ukrainian countryside going to Warsaw, I reflect on these last two weeks. We have done a lot of good here. So many kids at the school have expressed interest in the Church and all of the refugees we have visited have been so happy to have visitors. But I think most importantly, everyone we met was so encouraged by us being there in their time of need and by us showing that we love them and God loves them, not only by meeting their physical needs with aid, but by being there with them physically and by listening to them and comforting them in person.
The people here still have many physical needs as well that need to be shipped to them, such as: Diapers of all sizes, warm clothes sizes XS-XL, warm children’s clothes, nitrile exam gloves, and toys for the children. Please continue to pray for these people and this country.
Before we came they felt like the world didn’t care about them and their struggles in this wartime, but let us continue to encourage them and lift them up in prayer, work fervently to meet their needs, and do our best to end this war.
Thank you for all of those who supported these efforts and supported my journey to this country -with love-Whitney
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.
Warsaw, Poland (Dalraida Church of Christ, Ukraine Missions, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109)
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