Many Were Killed and Families Were Torn Apart, but our Lord Saves Us

March 2026

Dear friends, There are so many updates this month, but let me begin on a positive note: on March 1 our ministry had our 25^th anniversary. Time has passed so quickly and I thank God that he has allowed us to partner with him through the years. Through our various outreaches to orphans, kids, theology courses, medical missions, English evangelism, drug rehab, refugee assistance and more, we have served over 16,000 people and seen around 1,300 people make first time confessions of faith. And during the war, we have touched 100,000+ lives with some sort of spiritual or physical help. This could never have happened without your gracious heart, so thank you for doing so much for Christ and his kingdom!

On a more difficult news front, we are all focused on the war between the US/Israel and Iran. We are truly living in perilous times and I am hoping this war will not be a drawn out war, like the one in Ukraine, where we just passed the four year anniversary (with 2.7 million+ people having been killed or injured). What you may not know is that Russia threaned western European countries this week. The headline in the newspaper named “The Mirror” reported that, “Putin threatens horror strikes on Europe in response to Iran leader’s death.” The article ends with a Russian representative stating that the only thing that Europe understands is force. We need to keep praying that this war in Ukraine will end soon and not expand to other parts of Europe. We also need the war to end so the Ukrainian people can mourn, heal and rebuild their country and lives.

In this update I want to highlight pastor Sasha (I am leaving his last name out on purpose). For those of you who have followed us for many years, pastor Sasha has been my friend and ministry partner for 25 years, and we have done much ministry together. As you may recall, pastor Sasha was taken captive and brutally beaten to an inch of his life by the Russian military for serving Christ, loving people, and caring for the displaced and hurting. You can go to our website’s war blog and scroll down to May 2022 to refresh yourself on his story. Many people in the Christian community prayed for his survival, including many of us, and thank goodness, he survived, is now physically healed, and continues to faithfully serve Christ and his church in Ukraine. Here is his update:  

“I greet you Ron and everyone in America, in the name of Jesus Christ. I thank God that for the many years your ministry has helped us! We continue to live in very difficult times and with everything we have had to endure, this war has truly taken its toll on us; and honestly, it is hard to put into words all the horrors we have experienced, but God has shown us his mercy. At one point, our town, region, and our church building were invaded by the Russian military, but now the Russians are gone and we have resumed worshipping God and engaging in ministry again. Over the past four years, we have evacuated many families—both from our church and others who were in deperate need - and there were countless amount of people needing help. There was one family where a mother and daughter came to my wife because her family of five (which included a small child) were begging for food and asking if there was anything we could spare to help her youngest child, who was starving.  We asked the mother if she had any food for the rest of her family? Her response was, “No, we have nothing for any of us, but we just want our youngest child to survive, can you help us?”

We had compassion on them and gave them as much as we had the ability to do, so they could survive – this is what we always try to do as Christ’s ambassadors! This is a common story in our area. Nevertheless, this family left us with joyful tears knowing that they made it a bit longer. As I have learned firsthand, providing aid to people in need puts us under great risk because the Russian’s are targeting us. Some of my friends who helped those in need are still missing and presumed dead. I am one of the blessed one’s where God showed me mercy by allowing me to survive after my torture.

At one point our church building was hit by a missle and the windows, roof, and sancturary were damaged. When our building was seized, the Russians stole many things and said, “Your Bible is anti-Soviet propaganda and your church will no longer exist and everything in this building is ours.” Well, they are gone, we are back in our church building, and God is glorified once again through our weekly worship! God is so much bigger than our circumstances and I thank God for his guidance and protection! It is still painful to look at all the damage caused by this war with so many destroyed homes and so many broken lives. I have known many people who had to endure beatings and were taken captive - many were killed and families were torn apart, but our Lord saves us. We ask God daily for his mercy and to keep us safe.  

We continue sharing Christ and proclaim the good news in our town and 15 surrounding villages. We are doing our best to serve Jesus in a difficult situation. Any help you can send us is a blessing, so thank you in advance!

When the war began, many families fled from our area and there were only three children that remained in our church. The children could not endure all that horror, and the parents feared for their lives. I still remember those frightened little eyes—both of the children and of their mothers. As I prayed, I kept saying the same words over and over: “Lord Jesus, please protect these families and find them a safe place to live.” We continue to minister to families and we are seeing many more children in our church again. While we don’t want any child to experience war, we are thankful to serve and love them. Please pray for these children and families salvation. Thank you for remembering us.”  

- Pastor Sasha 

Friends, I have purposely not shared pastor Sasha’s photo and location for everyone’s safety, but thank you for praying. If you want to bless pastor Sasha and his church, our ministry will be sending him a financial gift in April. Thank you for not becoming numb to the realities of this war and always being a blessing to war-torn Ukraine, our ministry partners, and everyone they serve for our Lord Jesus. They are true heroes, living out their faith every single day under extreme conditions. You are a blessing too - thank you so much for being my friend and partner!

In Jesus’ love,

Ron Putnam