Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
Dear Friends of BIEM,
1. Vitaly Bilyak just completed a visit to the United States. This trip enabled us to reunite him with his family, who have been staying with relatives near Seattle. Vitaly also reported to various churches with firsthand reports concerning the war in Ukraine and what BIEM has been doing in providing War Relief aid to Ukraine. Every church we visited with the Bilyaks received them warmly, encouraged them greatly, and asked many questions, which Vitaly did a great job answering. One frequent question no one can answer right now is when Vitaly’s family and the many others that have evacuated to safer countries will be able to return to Ukraine. Russia continues to bomb civilians indiscriminately all over Ukraine, so no area can be considered truly safe.
2, Vitaly is now in Poland, where he will spend two days filling his vehicle and trailer with food, medicine, and medical supplies he must bring into Ukraine when he returns. While with us in Indiana, we were able to purchase nearly $8,000 of medicine, medical supplies, and medical equipment he took back with him. It was quite an adventure checking him in at the Delta counter of the Indianapolis airport with 8 bags. The bags were very visibly marked "Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine," which certainly helped at the check-in counter, where the Delta personnel were all on board with helping Ukraine.
3. The large volume of powdered milk from one of the containers we received has now been distributed through numerous ministry points spread across 5 regions of Ukraine. You can view a video report of this distribution on our website under "View War Relief Updates."
4. We are glad to report an answer to prayer as the Buykos (mother and 3 daughters) received visas today to come to the United States. Please pray that we can get brother Eugene Buyko here as well under the same program that worked for Vitaly. It would be wonderful if we could reunite him with his family for a few weeks as well. Please pray for the Yurchenkos as they attempt to get visas to the US as well. They plan to apply in August.
5. Thank you for praying for the 6th 40-foot container of aid that was enroute at the time of last week's update. We are glad to report that it safely entered Ukraine and has reached the Kyiv region. Soon we will post a video update on this to our website.
Sam Slobodian
President - BIEM