A Message From Moe!

November 11, 2024

Hi Church Family!

 

We arrived safely in Ukraine Friday afternoon after a long flight and an even longer train ride!

 

Saturday was a day for us to adjust to the time zone change and get rest from traveling straight for 2 1/2 days.

 

Yesterday we enjoyed the morning and evening services and seeing the familiar faces of our Ukrainian church family. They are such a warm and inviting people and genuinely love the Lord.

 

The services were filled with music, individual testimonies, children reciting memory verses, and good sermons.

 

During the evening service they had a video presentation of a pastor who had been delivering Bibles to the front lines. He told of how he recently delivered Bibles to a front line unit who he learned were all killed the following week. His prayer was that they all came to know the Lord before they perished.

 

I so admire these military chaplains who share God’s word to these men and women soldiers even in the most dangerous of situations.

 

Please ask our church family to pray for the staff here at this church. So far, the Pastor, Asst. Pastor, Church Secretary and another staff member have all come down with a stomach virus. Please also pray that Darren and I don’t get it!

 

It is early winter here now so the daily high temperatures are in the upper 30’s. It was 70 degrees when we left home so we’re also having to adjust to the sudden change in the temperature!

 

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

 

Moe

November 13, 2024

Hi Church Family!

 

Things are going well here in Ukraine. The pastor and all of his staff are all feeling better and back at work!

 

After a long discussion with Pastor Dima, we decided that the better option to generators would be a power center. Power centers are packs of high capacity lithium batteries, encased in a single shell, that can run things like refrigerators, lights, microwave ovens, etc. for hours and they are maintenance free. They charge up when the power is on and slowly discharge  when the power goes out and something is plugged in.

 

I learned that gas is so expensive here that many could not afford to keep fuel in the generator. Also, there is lots of maintenance with generators that some just can’t do. The power centers were a little more expensive than a generator but definitely more practical.

 

We decided to give the power centers to church families with small children. They could benefit most by keeping their lights on, phones charged and refrigerators running.

 

I’ve attached a few pics of the families that received a power center today. They were so very grateful. They would never be able to afford something like that  themselves.

I've also included the typical apartment photo for Kyiv

 

I am so proud of our church for being a big part of the huge blessing these power centers are to these families, and I thank you on their behalf!

November 17, 2024

Hi Church Family

Things are still going well here and God has been showering His blessings on us every day.

 

This week we visited “Aunt Nadya”, who we spent time this past May, helping make repairs and improvements on her bomb damaged home.

 

She greeted us with big tears and even bigger hugs.

 

We were pleased to see that the water system that we installed from her well to her house was still working perfectly. You may recall that she never had running water inside her home until we did that job for her during our last trip.

 

We found that her front porch, porch roof, front door, and porch steps had been professionally repaired with help from the Ukrainian federal government. They have a program in place to help make repairs to bomb-damaged homes. It looked great!

 

She was excited to show us the brick work she had done herself, along the sides of the steps leading down to her root cellar. We were impressed!

 

We also visited three shut-ins this week, taking them food and just spending time with them and hearing their stories.

 

Olga, the first lady we visited, greeted us with a big smile and hug and when she learned we were Americans, she shouted with joy and hugged us again.

 

Olga was born with a disabled left hand and right leg. She worked on a shoe factory assembly line when she was younger. She has no family. All of her life has been a struggle but she loves the Lord and it shows.

 

She thanked us again and again as we were leaving and gave us big tearful hugs.

 

Our second visit was to another woman named Olga. She was completely disabled and bedridden by a stroke three years ago and could not move or speak.

 

Olga is cared for by her daughter Natalia, who lives with Olga in her small apartment, along with Natalie’s two daughters, son-in law (Victor), and a one week old new grandson.

 

We brought them food and enjoyed hearing their stories. Victor was on leave from the military. He normally serves on the front lines and showed us videos of explosions happening near him.

 

We left there with our hearts full of compassion for this family and prayers that God would protect Victor and bring him safely home.

 

Our last stop was to visit 88 year old Taitia. She lives on the top floor of an old apartment complex in a small three room apartment, with her daughter Helen and two other family members.

 

From their apartment they could see the bombs falling during the initial invasion, one of which blew the windows out of the apartment.

 

When Tatia was younger she worked in a textile factory during the Soviet era and later at a military manufacturing company. She said life was very difficult during those times. She said they couldn’t even afford to buy a pair of “Levi jeans”.

 

She and Helen were moved to tears by our visit and were so grateful for the food we delivered. They sent us away with tear-soaked shoulders and hearts breaking over their struggles.

 

Please pray for these individuals and families. They need our help and prayers so much.

 

Moe

11/22/2024

Hello Church Family!

 

I am happy to say that we are wrapping up our stay and getting ready to head home!

 

This past week has been filled with so many blessings, it is hard to list them all.

 

One of the church families we visited had experienced a devastating fire within the last year at their home, and were slowly repairing the vast amount of damage that occurred. They were living in a small apartment at the time of our visit. We shared a meal with them and provided them with a cash gift to help them replace the windows that were shattered.

 

 We also continued to deliver power stations to church families with small children. Today the pastor told us stories from those that received power stations and had already used them. Because we have experienced power outages two or three times a day, it did not take but a few hours after receiving the power stations, for the families to put them to use.

 

The pastor told us how each family was just amazed by the generosity of our church, and our friends, and our family members...all who gave to support the purchase of the power stations. He said they were all just so very overwhelmed with the gift because it made such a huge impact on their quality of life. The pastor reminded me again that these families would never be able to afford to buy one of these power stations on their own.

 

He told me that one family described how, not long after they received the power station, their apartment lost power but that they were able to connect a light, their refrigerator and even a microwave so that they could feed their children and keep the food safely refrigerated. The other families reported similar stories.

 

We also visited some more shut-ins, bringing them food and fellowship. Each had their own story of hardship and struggle. Helen, an 84 year old woman, told us that she receives a $120 monthly pension from the government, but that her apartment rent, electricity and gas bill came to $150 per month. She said she receives financial help from family members and the church, so she can buy food and other necessities in order to get by.

 

76 year old Ghelena, another shut-in, said that she had fallen and broken her hip a few months ago. She said the bone was shattered so badly, there was no surgery that could repair it. She can barely get out of bed now and relies on neighbors to take her to doctor appointments and to bring her food. She has no family and said that she has not been out of her apartment in weeks. We offered to take her outside for a while in her wheelchair but she declined, stating that she would ask a friend to take her out another day.

 

We always end our visits with hugs and tears, promises of keeping them in our prayers, and a gift of cash to help ease their struggles.

 

Our host church operates a rehabilitation house called the Mercy House. Years ago the church purchased an small farmhouse far out in the country where those struggling with addiction could find a place of refuge, warmth and spiritual support.

 

We traveled the hour and a half to the Mercy House after going to the market and loading the van with their monthly food supply. The long country dirt roads wind along vast farmland fields. The roads are badly pitted with deep potholes, and although this type of road condition would call for slower speeds, that was not the concern of our driver, so it made for quite an adventurous ride!

 

Normally these small communities pool their monies to pay for a road crew to maintain their roads, but during wartime, all of the workers are off serving in the military, so things like road maintenance go unattended.

 

Upon our arrival at the Mercy House we were greeted with warm smiles from faces aged beyond their years. Four men currently live at the house. Three have been there for many years because they have nowhere else to live. One recently came to the house a few months ago. In the past, they have had over twenty men living there at the same time.

 

After unloading the food supplies, we were treated to a delicious lunch of borsch, fatback and bread. It was delicious and everyone enjoyed the meal.

 

Once everyone was finished, each man took turns telling the story of his life. Each man told of how alcohol and/or drugs had stolen their life and how it caused them to lose everything. One man told of how he was taken out of a gutter and to a hospital where a nurse introduced him to the manager of the Mercy House. He said it was there at the Mercy House that he accepted Christ and ended his life of addiction. The others related almost identical stories.

 

Darren and I were both moved to tears of sadness as we listened to the depths to which these men had fallen...then we were moved to tears of joy as we listened to how their lives had been completely changed after accepting Christ. Praise God for the work of this church and the work of our Savior in the lives of these men.

 

As we were leaving, the man that prepared our food, looked at us with tears in his eyes and said (through our translator): "If someone had told me years ago that I would someday be serving my soup to two Americans, I would have never believed them. Thank you for coming to visit us and thank you for caring about the people of Ukraine".

 

Before leaving they all gave us big hugs and big smiles from faces that looked a bit brighter and maybe a touch less aged, than when we first arrived.

 

I want to thank you all again for your ongoing prayers and for the generous support of the church and for the support of the members who gave individually. You will never fully know the enormous impact your generosity and prayers have made on the lives of so many people here.

 

God willing, we will land back in the US safely Sunday night and I will see you all again soon!

 

With love in Christ,

 

Moe

 

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ"

Gal 6:2