Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. Today, BIEM’s 3rd container of war relief in 2024 departed for Ukraine. Once again, this shipment was made possible by all of you who contributed clothing, walkers, crutches, wheelchairs, medical supplies, and other items for those in need in Ukraine during this time of war. In addition, many, many volunteers came to the BIEM warehouse and donated their time in sorting and packing the clothing in preparation for loading. Yet others came earlier this week and assisted manually in loading the container despite frigid temperatures. To one and all we express a huge “Thank you!”
2. Igor’s car—As we are publishing this update, our missionary Igor Formichov is on his way back to Ukraine. Thank you to all those who prayed for his meetings and for his disabled vehicle, which he left in Poland. Praise God for Ukrainian friends in Poland, who were able to get the vehicle into a shop where it was determined that the vehicle was the victim of bad fuel, which clogged the fuel pump and injectors. Cleaning did make the vehicle operable and hopefully operable enough for Igor to make it back to Ukraine, where he may need to replace the pump and injectors for long-term use. Praise the Lord for a church in South Dakota that has volunteered to pay for the costs of repair thus far.
3. While briefly visiting us in the US, Igor had opportunities to speak in some supporting churches and personally provide updates on the wartime situation in his home country of Ukraine. However, Igor also played an invaluable role in loading the container mentioned in #1 above. Both before and after volunteers came to help load it, Igor spent many hours hand-loading and arranging odd-shaped items of various sizes to use every bit of airspace possible. He started the trip back to Ukraine on the same morning the container was scheduled for pickup. Before leaving, he provided a brief interview in which he not only deeply thanks all of you who give but also explains why such donations provide so much hope for the recipients—a “light in this time of crisis,” as he puts it:
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/crisis
4. Praise God for friends of BIEM in Wisconsin who are providing a large supply of disposable diapers (for both adults and children) for Ukraine. This is an extremely welcome contribution to our war relief efforts because such diapers are very expensive in Ukraine. Especially for the elderly, who try to survive on a pitifully meager income which has become even more strained since the war has resulted in shortages of goods and rising costs for everything, especially for food and essentials like diapers. As we now begin collecting goods for our first container of 2025, we can certainly use more such disposable diapers. If you have any you don’t need, please consider donating them to us for war relief.
In Christ,
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM