I am finally back in Ukraine after a 3 1/2 day trip. The first part was good as I flew on our nice airplanes from Orlando to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Warsaw where I spent the night in a hotel by the airport. The next day Lillya arrived in Warsaw and we took the train to Kiev. I’m thinking that a train from Poland which is part of the European Union will be so nice and modern – and most of all comfortable. We had booked a sleeping compartment for us. Imagine our surprise when we saw a train that is probably older than I am – no exaggeration! Our little compartment was so small with 3 beds stacked on top of each other. After we put our luggage in, there was only about 5 inches left for our feet. And with the bunk beds, there was no place to sit – only hunched over which gets tiring very quick! Poor Lillya had to climb up to the second bunk. I won’t even try to describe the bathroom which everyone used. One American missionary wrote years ago that using the bathroom on the train was like trying to ride a bucking bronco! And what a good description that is.
MY EXPECTATION:

MY REALITY:

I’m adapting to the times with no electricity pretty well as I was expecting it. But when there is no water, it is the hardest. I now have a generator I can use for the electricity, but that doesn’t bring the water from the community’s water tank. I hope I get to take a shower tonight!
Valentina and I are planning our trip down to the Kherson Region to get the first 5 clinics set up. Most of the medical equipment has already been delivered there and we will see if Vadim is willing to drive there because it is so dangerous. The doctor we are working with there told Valentina this morning that we should not take the train to Kherson as it is being bombed regularly. She told us to take it to Nickolaiv and drive to the villages from there. As soon as I know the exact dates we will be going I will be sending out an urgent request for fervent prayer as we know the danger involved. The doctors in these clinics didn’t believe we would actually do this until they started receiving the supplies and equipment! Needless to say they are so very excited.
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see everyone here. I am so very grateful to be here and anxious to get out and start seeing people. The last couple of days we had our assembly line set up to pack the food packages we give. You wouldn’t believe the amount of food that goes into one of them – I think they weigh about 30 pounds each! But it’s actually a fun time for us – lots of laughter and joking and the time passes very quickly. We are preparing for the distribution of 800 food packages to the village of Rakitno for the very poor refugees there. We are also preparing for the Chaplain’s vans that are going out to the East and South.



The Chaplains are now delivering some of the generators we bought for the small villages so at least one building will have light and heat! Everyone is working so hard to help as much as is humanly possible. We all know how dire the situation is in those small villages that have been occupied and bombed.
Loading one of the generators into the Chaplain’s van:

And starting to load food packages:

Vadim and Tonya returned safely from their last trip to the East. They went to a couple of the villages where they were last time and then ventured further into some other ones. Tonya had several stories, but one of them that really touched me was that most people asked for a Bible before they asked for food! In the midst of all this horror, it is awesome to see God bringing something good out of it and that is a renewed hunger for Him!


Following are a couple more stories from Tonya:
“During this trip we re-visited four villages in the de-occupied areas. When we went the first time, the people mostly just picked up their food and left. But this time they wanted to talk to us. One woman went home and came back with several warm fried potato patties. She told us, “It’s for you because it’s cold now. When I took one, I started crying because I knew that she brought us all that she had.”

“Another woman I recognized was waving from the crowd. She is the wife of the man who had cancer and last time we came to their home and talked with them. We also gave them some warm clothes, diapers, and food. Before we left, I asked him if he wanted to invite Jesus into his heart, and he prayed to receive Jesus right then. This time we found out that he died 3 days after our visit. Praise the Lord that we know he is now with Jesus.”
“Another man shared that he no longer wanted to live – with all the bombing and people dying everywhere, he couldn’t see any sense in this life anymore. He asked his daughter to donate his body so his organs could be used to save lives. As he cried, I knew the best thing I could do was just hug him and let love pour out of my heart to him.”

More pictures from their trip:



And a few pictures from 2 of our Chaplains as they give out help in the areas being hardest hit right now:





How blessed we are to be able to bring God’s light into this evil darkness! Pray for all of us to remain healthy and strong – both physically and spiritually. The darkness tries to overcome, but it never can put out the light of God!