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

1. Some of our readers may remember a Ukrainian woman named Alona, who appeared in one of our videos last winter. At the time of making the video, Alona was on her way to mail packages of warm clothing, which BIEM had provided. She was mailing the clothing to her uncle and to the son of one of her colleagues at work and was expressing gratitude to BIEM for that opportunity. But now Alona and her family request prayer for the uncle, Andrei, who was serving on the front lines and has disappeared. The family fears he has been either killed or taken prisoner.

2. BIEM’s missionary pastor Igor Fomichov ministers in a church in Desna, Ukraine, which is a town with a military base. That church has many members and friends serving in combat, and Igor shared a sobering story. Two of his members—Roma and Vova (one of their deacons)— were part of a unit of 100 men who were dispatched to the front line. After 2 months of intense fighting, the remains of that unit returned with only 13 survivors out of the 100. The deacon, Vova, was the only one who returned uninjured. The other 12, including Roma, are hospitalized with injuries. Roma has an injured arm that is not responding to treatment and has lost all feeling. Nevertheless, the military is refusing to release Roma and plans to send him back to the front. Please pray about this situation.

3. Our video for this week, “They see the church is active and cares for them,” takes its name from an observation by Michael Buyko, the son of BIEM’s director for Ukraine, Eugene Buyko. In this video update, Michael shows examples of some of the medical supplies provided by BIEM. He also describes how these items not only help people in need but also increase society’s esteem for the church and glorify God. You can watch the video through this link:

https://vimeo.com/user37287229/theysee

4. Trail Life USA is a faith-based Scout-like organization providing youth mentorship and character development to boys in the United States. One of their groups, led by BIEM friend C.J. Cordell, has gathered clothing for BIEM’s war relief efforts in Ukraine. This weekend they are bringing a large trailer full of clothing to our BIEM headquarters for our next container shipment of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Praise God!

In Christ,

Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM