Dear Pastors and Friends,

During Vitaly Bilyak’s 14th trip into Ukraine’s war zone with physical and spiritual aid, one type of provision he took was hand warmers. These come in a plastic wrapper with pouches in each package. After removing a pouch from its packaging, the user gives it a fast shake to activate the ingredients inside the pouch. Once shaken, such a warmer quickly heats up due to a natural chemical reaction. Slipped inside a glove or boot, a warmer can provide some personal heat for many hours. A soldier sitting in a frozen trench on the war front can especially appreciate such gifts of warmth.

In a video he made about that trip, Vitaly pauses to read us the words of James 2:15: “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” In our modern world, we have largely lost the significance of helping someone who lacks suitable clothing and suffers from cold and hunger. Yet, the Russian invasion of Ukraine compels us to reconsider and act upon such verses as we reflect God’s compassion and love. Of course, Vitaly and our other aid workers always include the Gospel with the physical assistance, for the Gospel of Christ is everyone’s greatest need.

Also, in this video you will see and hear a young soldier who came to Christ through these war relief distributions. Praise God for using us to save souls!

Thank you again for your prayers and donations to our ongoing war relief outreaches. We certainly look forward to the day when this devastating war will be over. But until then, we intend to bless victims with the Gospel while also showing compassion for their physical needs as well. Thank you for all you do to help!

Here’s the link to Vitaly’s latest video:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/warmed

Blessings to you!

Sam & Amy Slobodian