DESPITE THE CONSTANT SHELLING, WE CAN STILL WORSHIP GOD!

September  2024

Dear Friends,                          

I hope you are doing well and enjoy this summer; our two oldest girls have transitioned back to college and we already miss them – please pray for God’s blessing and protection over them. On the ministry side of things, there is so much Ukrainian news right now, I want to dive right into the latest updates.

As you know from my urgent prayer request email from last week, there has been a huge concentration/increase of bombs and missiles in Ukraine and our region over the past month. Two pastors have contacted me very concerned and a bit nervous – they mentioned that many people in Kharkiv are really scared right now. One of the missiles came very close to hitting Holy Trinity Church, one of our partnering churches that we are highlighting this month.

One of my Kharkiv friends emailed me today saying, “The bombs and missiles are flying into Kharkiv in a very large volumne and non-stop; The Russians are destroying so much of our city right now. There were another 15 victims just today – please pray!” 

Not only will I be praying, but I am asking for you to please keep

Ukraine, our city of Kharkiv, and these tender souls in your prayers – the people are really suffering and scared. I know this war seems to be never-ending, but they really need your prayers and help! 

In the news, the Russian military has taken over lots of new territory south of our city (in the eastern part of the country). However, the Ukrainian military has successfully destroyed many vital military locations that are deep into Russia via drone attacks. I don’t know the ultimate outcome of all of this, but please pray this war will be over soon! Our ministry is trying to help out, but the needs are vast.

In this prayer letter, we are highlighting Holy Trinity Church in Kharkiv that almost got hit by a missile for the second time yesterday (the first time missile hit was about two years ago). This update was sent to me a few weeks before the most recent escalation/events within the country. Here is Bishop Illya’s testimony from Holy Trinity Church:

DESPITE THE CONSTANT SHELLING, WE CAN STILL WORSHIP GOD!

“Dear friends in America, thank you so much for helping us over the past 2.5 years of this war. We have been trying our best to be the hands, arms and voice of Jesus to so many people who need Jesus. I am the bishop of more than 50 churches in our region.

Since the beginning of the war, we have distributed over 3 million food packages, over 2,500 pot belly stoves to keep people alive in the winter, 5 million loaves of bread, 480,000 liters of water, evacuated more than 30,000 people, and opened 20 new churches, since people are hungry for God, not just food! We have seen many people come to Jesus, but we have counted 400 new baptisms in our church (100 this year alone)  – thank God!!!

In 2024, churches were opened in Zarozhny, Yuzhny, Saventsy, Olshany, Berezovka and Pechenigi. We plan to open churches in Budy, Panyutino, Solonitsovka, Gnilitsy and Martov by the end of the year. This summer, we conducted more than 20 camps and children's programs in Kharkiv and the surrounding areas. But not everything is good news - unfortunately, this war took the lives of many of our brothers and sisters – so, so, so many lives have been lost – so please keep us in your prayers! Here are a few people we helped that encouraged us in the Lord:

·       Sergei and Natalya Kornilov have been displaced in the village of Klenovoe since the beginning of the war. It was during this period that they both gave their lives to Christ. Before accepting Jesus, Sergei was addicted to alcohol and the family was on the verge of divorce - but God saved and freed him once he gave his life over to Jesus. Now both are ministers of a newly opened church in their village. God has made a radical change in their lives!

·       Vladimir Pavlenko is resident of Zarozhnoe, which is in the Kharkov region. With the full-scale invasion, his life was completely altered. He has lived daily without electricity or food and no one came to his rescue, until our church entered his village with food, water, supplies, and the Good News of Jesus. Through our outreach, he felt the love of God and gave his life to Christ, despite his earthly circumstances not changing – he is still in great physical need.

·       Maria Ovcharenko is a mother with children that lives in Zarozhny. They were in desperate need and on the brink of survival. They came to us for humanitarian aid, but God opened their hearts to receive not only food and water, but Jesus as their Savior too. They began attending one of the churches we opened this past January. She was baptized and her children are actively involved in the children’s ministry. The church and this family are now stable and viable. Maria wants to convey to us, “I am infinitely grateful for God’s mercy, for God’s people who help us, and for their mercy and kindness. Despite the constant shelling of the Russians, we can still worship God, learn and grow. Despite this difficult time in our history, we see the hand of God in everything.”

·       Another couple we ministered to in January came to Christ and just two or three days after they repented and were baptized, a missile slammed into their home and destroyed everything! By a miracle of God, they are alive and well. They attribute their life, health, and safety to their accepting Jesus as their Savior a mere few days before the explosion!

 I want to thank you for partnering with us and helping us make an eternal difference in the lives that desperately need your help. God bless you!” – Bishop Illya

Friends, you are helping Holy Trinity Church and and many other churches with your prayers and donations. We are one of several ministries Bishop Illya partners with during this war; we could not do this by ourselves – we are too small; but we are helping them make a difference!

I want to thank you for not getting weary in doing good. I feel so blessed that we are doing our part to help ease the pain, help keep people alive, and provide hope in Jesus. Thank you so much! If you would like to see a few more photos, please go to our Facebook page. If you would like to give to these ongoing efforts, please go to www.slavicchristian.org/donate. No amount is too small or too big.

In Jesus’ love,

Ron