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Dear Friends and Partners,
Thank you for your continual prayers. You have seen the atrocities in the news about how the Russian military murdered civilians, created mass graves, and engaged in extreme evil acts in places like Bucha and Irpen, which are suburbs of Kyiv. It is just horrible to see the imagery on the news.
We asked you on April 4th for intensive prayer because the government said there will be extreme shelling of Kharkiv over the next few days. Your prayers are working – a military official told one of our partners that on April 8th alone, the Russians launched 700 missiles upon Kharkiv, but only 20 got through. The rest were shot down by the Ukrainian military or failed in their flight. How sad to be rejoicing that “only” 20 missiles got through!
On April 6th, I updated our prayer partners that there would be fierce fighting in the Eastern regions of Donetsk, Lugansk and parts of our city of Kharkiv in the days and weeks to come, since the Russian army is redeploying with full force in the eastern part of the country. On April 8th, during this intermittent period, the Russian army tragically fired a missile with cluster bombs and hit innocent women and children, who were trying to evacuate from a train station in Kramatorsk, a town 2 hours south of Kharkiv. It killed at least 50 people and injuring many more. Painted on the side of the bomb was “For the children.” Friends, Satan knows no bounds and I am scared to say, that according to the reports we are reading, it is only going to get worse in the days and weeks ahead (in our region of Ukraine). It will be the epicenter of fighting soon, it sounds like.
Recently, the mayor of Kharkiv said that our city of Kharkiv has already had over 1,500+ buildings, 53 kindergartners, 69 schools, and 15 hospitals destroyed in the city. He also said on 3/30, “It is not just a war; it’s a massacre.” A headline from PBS Newshour stated, “Civilians endure intense suffering as Russian shelling reduces Kharkiv to a smoky ruin.”
Of the six ministries we partner with in Kharkiv, this week, two of our ministries are working feverishly to evacuate as many people as possible to western Ukraine. The others are continually delivering bread, other food products and many supplies that have come from UN and other large NGO’s. There has been some relief with these supplies that have been delivered from Poland. The question now is “how long until the Russians attempt to cut off the supply lines?”
I mentioned earlier that the government was in the process of moving all of the existing orphans out of Kharkiv. But I am sad to report that there is a location set up for “new orphans” that have recently lost their parents due to the bombing in Ukraine. Our partners at Good News Church are now helping these orphans by having a volunteer stay with the children and also feeding them. There are 70 children at this location as of a week or so ago. I don’t know the new number.
All of our ministry partners are working around the clock. They look weary, but they don’t complain. Here are a few highlights since our last update:
· Good News Church of Kharkiv: Continues to feed thousands of people, including orphans (including 70 new orphans from the shelling in Kharkiv that killed their parents). They are also feeding military troops that are protecting Kharkiv;
· Holy Trinity Church of Kharkiv: Providing medicine and humanitarian supplies for hundreds of people in the Kharkiv suburb of Saltavka and in villages around Kharkiv;
· New Life Church of Kharkiv: They continue to help feed and help transport hundreds of people out of Kharkiv, Chuguev, and other nearby villages more than ever, with the new warning from the Ukrainian government that everyone needs to evacuate;
· Living Hope Baptist Church of Kharkiv: They continue to help feeding people, but they are also now stepping up their efforts to evacuate as many people as possible with the escalation of the war. I am unsure how many people they fed this week, but last few weeks, they delivered over 28,000 packages of food and supplies with an average weight of about 9-10 pounds per package;
· Pentecostal Union: They continue to make bread, hand out Christian literature and give a small sermon to the people before they pass out bread and supplies. They are not only delivering food to Kharkiv, but many villages in our region;
· Baptist Rehab Facility: The rehab facility where we have been working for years continues to function. They are not only taking care of some of their patients, but have opened up their facility to refugee families. They are taking care of many people, as well as, feeding 450 people+ in their location and nearby villages. They need more supplies in making bread and our board members for our Kyiv region have a contact in Poland who may be able to get them a large shipment of ingredients to our Baptist and our Pentecostal partners;
· Romanian Partners: I am happy to report that we are helping support refugees through this ministry that includes 25 Ukrainian orphans that were transported to our ministry partners in Romania. We are hoping to send them Ukrainian and Russian Bibles and literature in the near future, Lord willing (remember people from our region speak Ru
ssian, not Ukrainian, so we need in both languages);
· Individual Donations: We have already distributed over $17,000 to many families fleeing to the border and to various countries from Kyiv and Kharkiv regions. We will be giving a testimony from one family in May;
· Federal & Colorado Government: I met with a wonderful brother, who works with Congressman Lamborn for Colorado. He has been a blessing and is trying to help us connect with others willing to help. Please pray pastor’s and individuals will be open to partnering with us;
· Medi-Share, a Christian medical bill sharing ministry is going to help us with volunteers help with administration needs, as well as, advocate for us to their membership base and pastor network across the country. Please pray for God’s favor on their kindness;
· Fundraising & Awareness: I have now transitioned to asking pastor’s if they will meet with me individually and also allow me to speak at their churches. Several have already agreed. Please keep praying that I can continue to share the needs in Ukraine.
How Can you help?
Please continue to pray, as well as, help us save the Ukrainian people by becoming a regular/recurring donor. If you are willing to become a regular or recurring donor, please go to our website below. And please, advocate to your church on our behalf. See if you can set up a meeting for me to speak to your pastor or mission leader. I would love to connect with your church and see how your church may be partner with our ministry.
Thank you for all of your prayers and donations. You are making a difference and we thank God for you!
In Jesus love,
Ron Putnam
