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