Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People

1. Early in our war relief efforts, a part of the relief we were providing in the Ternopil region of Ukraine was distributed in the Druzhba area of Ternopil, a district where 30,000 refugees had settled. Sergiy and Karina Koop headed up this effort, which led to them getting a burden to start a new church in this area. For many months they have conducted regular children’s meetings, youth meetings, and special events in a rented facility that they remodeled in the heart of this district. All of this activity was preparing for the day when they would begin Sunday services. That date arrived on Sunday, February 11, when 34 people attended their first Sunday service. While Sergiy and Karina were thrilled, they were also apprehensive about the attendance on the 2nd Sunday, since many who attended the first Sunday were simply curious visitors. Praise God, 23 people attended their second Sunday on February 18. Following is a link to a brief video the Koops made to show the activities and events that led up to now having regular Sunday services:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/koops

2. The donations for our project of providing warm clothing and Scriptures for Ukrainian soldiers has now reached $154,000! This amount provides warm clothing for 1,540 soldiers. Praise God! We will accept donations for this project through February 29, so there’s still time to donate to this outreach if the Lord so leads.

3. In this brief video, BIEM’s Sasha Petrenko shares some of his firsthand experiences after a frontline commander invited him to spend a night near the war front.

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/emotionalvisit

4. On February 22, our missionary Vitaly Bilyak—who has now made 16 evangelistic-aid trips into the southeastern war zones of Ukraine—was summoned to the military induction office. Fearing he might be conscripted into the army, we prayed for him. That day, they let him go home. But Vitaly was required to report again today, February 23. Vitaly used that opportunity to distribute New Testaments while waiting in line. Meanwhile, we at BIEM were praying the examiners would exempt him from military service so he could continue his service to the church and to others. Praise God, Vitaly was not conscripted. For now, at least, he was permitted to return home a civilian. Considering the way God has used Vitaly and his congregation to minister to thousands of refugees in the church building and to others near the front, we believe the correct decision was made. Brother Vitaly has been serving the Lord and his country in ways that make him more valuable out of uniform than in one.

5. Tomorrow, February 24, marks the 2nd anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine. We continue to urge believers to pray daily for an end to this disastrous conflict along with other specific prayer requests. BIEM still has on hand prayer reminders in the form of bookmarks and prayer cards. If you would like to receive some for yourself or for your church or other group, please contact the BIEM office, and we will mail them to you.

In Christ,

Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM