Drones Overhead!

September  2025

Dear friends,

I am writing this on Labor Day and if you have been following the Ukraine war, much has happened, since my last prayer letter. President Trump met with president Putin in Alaska and president Trump met with president Zalensky and a few other heads of state in Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter. I was hopeful that a breakthough would happen and this war would soon end, but that doesn’t seem the case.  

Many people believe that Putin was just appeasing Trump and wants to continue his aggression. And according to the BBC, Zelensky has vowed to continue to fight because their calls for peace are not being heard. Zelensky remarked, “We need a just peace, a peace where our future will be decided only by us; Ukraine is not a victim, but a fighter…Ukraine is not yet won, but it certainly has not lost.”

Around the same time that Zelenksy vowed to continue the fight, reports are circulating that Ukraine damaged a nuclear power plant in Russia, which is a very dangerous escalation, if true. Here is the article about Zelensky’s comments: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxy2v9dzgxo.

Ukraine is now allowing volunteers to serve in their military that are 60 years old and older, and I read recently that Ukraine is considering lowering the draft age from 21 to a lower age. To me this messages desperation and due to over one million Ukrainians killed or injured, the next generation has been decimated. Unfortunately, it looks like the war will continue and many more people will be killed or injured. My city of Kharkiv continues to get pummelled by rockets, missiles and drones, but it rarely makes the news - everyone I know is safe.

We sent more money to pastor Zhenya who is putting on a children’s camp right now, but he said that drones were flying above his area, just outside of Kharkiv, which caused much concern, since bombs are attached to many drones. Thankfully, these drones did not attack the children.

Here is an update from pastor Vitali from Good News Church in Kharkiv:  

“Dear friends in America, thank you for remembering us in prayer and helping our church in so many ways through the war and past years. You have been a huge blessing to us since the beginning of the war and you have helped us serve thousands upon thousands of people since the beginning of the war. In recent times, you have really blessed us with the food kitchen and we thank you so much!

Our church continues to serve thousands of people, not only in our main church in Kharkiv, but many other locations too. We have seen expotential church growth in the following locations:

Good News Church in the city of Pervomaysky; Good News Church in the village of Mirnoye; Good News Church in the village of Sharovka; Good News Church in the village of Novaya Vodolaga; Good News Church in the city of Valki; Good News Church in the village of Kovyagi; Good News Church in the city of Zmiev; Good News Church in the village of Kachalovka; Good News Church in the village of Kolomak; Good News Church in the village of Alekseevka and other locations too.

Throughout the year, we are engaged in many different ministries and outreaches. A few that we do include trips, camps, children's center, and work with individual children who need help and are suffering. Many of the children that we serve have lost a parent or live in a foster care family, due to no longer having a living parent. It is a tragic situation. We also conduct ministries for children that have been displaced by this horrific war. We have outreaches for the children that include games, crafts, Bible stories, etc. We are always trying to put smiles on their faces and give them hope in Jesus. In our own church in Kharkiv, we are opening a children’s center in one of the bomb shelters near our church.

Throughout this war, many people have moved from larger cities, like Kharkiv to villages to escape the bombs, missiles and drones, but in many of these locations, there is no electricity and many people cook on open fires and old brick ovens. Some people settle in homes with up to 15-20 people in one house with a relative or friend, because there is no place to accommodate everyone. People stock up on firewood so they can heat and feed their families.

Within Kharkiv, there are electrical blackouts at times. If this happens during our church service, we use generators for power. Many businesses have left Kharkiv, due to the proximity with the Russian border, which allows many shells and bombs to hit us. There isn’t a lot of work and many of the young people have left our city to work in other regions of Ukraine. Life is trying to get back to normal, but some children cannot go to school and don’t have access to online teaching, so this is problematic too.

The good news is that many people are still coming to Christ for savlation and we are seeing a spiritual awakening among middle aged people and senior citizens. Please continue to pray for our church, our city, our country, and of course, all of the families deeply affected by this war. Thank you very much for everything!”

-        Pastor Vitali Faliy

Friends, I thank you for supporting many churches in the Kharkiv region, including Good News Church. We have been able to help many churches over the years, and with God’s mercy, we will continue to do so for years to come. You are helping us serve children all over the war zone, so thank you very much! I have sent pastor Zhenya an additional donation last week and I will be sending Good News Church a donation this week. Thank you for blessing Ukraine in so many ways and helping our ministry too!  

In Jesus’ love,

 Ron