Featured Photo: The Church of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine April 2025!
Johns Note:
This update gives insights from Gif and Perry on the Lord’s work in Ivano-Frankivsk. The above photo shows the congregation that had assembled for worship, Bible study and fellowship on the Lord’s Day. I leave for Ukraine following this Sunday’s morning worshipping assembly. I will meet with John Durham in Warsaw and then we travel into Ukraine.
This Friday (11 APR) we are scheduled to load a container with critically needed medical supplies. Pleas to brethren to help fund these containers have been made and we are confident that, as Abraham told Isaac when there seemed to be no provision, “God will provide.” Distribution will be to the most critical areas of operations where Russia’s evil has brought death, devastation, and horrors. We will be distributing food, clothing and other needed items to those who have been traumatized by the war. If your congregation would like to help in these shipments, any amount will be used by the Lord to accomplish amazing results!
Today (Tuesday 08 APR), CURE (WestArk Church of Christ, Ft. Smith, AR) is bringing two 26-foot box trucks with supplies to be shipped in the Lord’s Name.
Read the below and rejoice in the great good that the Lord is accomplishing!
Gif’s Note:
Hello there! As Perry’s time has come and gone, I thought I would also him to write the majority of this month’s report. Personally, I had a couple of weeks in March to go to a friend’s wedding, and Perry did a great job running everything in my absence. Since he did the lion’s share of the work, he gets the privilege of telling you about it this month. –Gif
Perry’s Note:
(Perry has returned to the USA after a fruitful 3-month ministry!)
Sadly, my three months in Ukraine has come to an end. God has opened many doors so his seed can be planted and Lord willing hearts will be pricked as on the day of Pentecost. The three months were very busy and exciting especially having visitors each Lord’s Day and wonderful bible discussions following service in the kitchen. The Wednesday night Bible classes were full of participation that could have gone longer but due to the time factor had to be cut short.
We continued our regular weekly meetings with the university and high school students along with adults at Sergii Tvmliv’s office who want to improve their English. We also continued our weekly online class with students ranging from 7 to 14 years old that Ola introduced Gif and I to. Our Bible study at the rehab center is wonderful yet sad at the same time because they are only there for three weeks and new patients arrive. The positive side is the precious word of God is planted.
A highlight of this trip was having the opportunity to go to Zelena with Inna to visit Bogdan, Galena, Tanya and her sons who have become my dear Christian brothers and sisters. Our Bible study together is always the great and wonderful joy we have together.
During the month the church helped giving humanitarian needs to the community, military, and orphans around Ivano Frankivsk and in the city of Tlumach 15 miles away. We are grateful for the work of Nicholi, Sergii from Smart Solutions, Mariana and Ivana who work with 6 orphanages in and around Ivano Frankivsk.
I cannot end without once again thanking the Elders at Dalraida and each congregation, individuals who made this wonderful mission trip possible but may our Great Heavenly Father receive the praise. Lord willing He will give me the blessing to work with Gif a tireless, energetic worker for the Lord and His church. He has planted multiple seeds that Lord willing will grow into saved souls. Thanks, Gif, for your encouraging example! Perry Baker
A dear sister in the Lord has finished her course
2 Corinthians 5:8 expresses the heart’s desire of every faithful Christian, “(W)e are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
When Russia seized Crimea and invaded portions of Luhansk and Donetsk in 2014, a number of Ukrainians from the east fled westward. One of these coming to Ivano-Frankivsk was our sister Valentina. Valentina was always present when the Church assembled. She always had her Bible open, notepad in ap and pencil busily taking notes. Some from Dalraida will recall that on their visit Valentina would escort them to the breakfast café making sure they arrived on time. Valentina was “faithful to the end.” When she failed to show up at the Church bus pickup and was not in the Sunday assembly, Inna and Sasha went to check on her. Sadly, they found her deceased in her apartment. Having left Ukraine to avoid the war, her son is in the USA. The Ivano-Frankivsk Church is in the process of trying to arrange burial but they are told they have no legal rights to make arrangements! At this point all is still in limbo. Perry added this note at the end of his report: “We are sad to report that our friend, Ms. Valentina, died on Sunday, March 30 at the age of 93. She had been dealing with severe pain for the last several months, and we know that the Lord has relieved her from that. Even with her age and ailments, she rarely ever missed an assembly! She will be missed here, but we will see her again!”
Inserted here is the PDF of Gif’s Report
March-ReportI am scheduled for departure from the USA to Ukraine Sunday April 13 following the morning’s worshipping assembly. As plans are now (but always subject to change) I will meet John Durham, Tanya and others in Warsaw and then begin travels and appointments!
I ask you to act on my behalf with Paul’s plea, “(P)raying 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” (Colossians 4:3)!
Updates on this trip will be posted as permitted! Understand that in compliance with protocols photos will be limited.
John L. Kachelman, Jr., UKRAINE MISSIONS, Dalraida Church of Christ, P. O. Box 3085, Montgomery, AL 36109 https://www.kachelman.com/ukraine/blog/
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