Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
Dear Friends of BIEM,
1. Greetings from Ukraine, where there was a lot of concern about what would happen on August 24th, Ukrainian Independence Day. Many feared a massive rocket and missile attack from Russia. Because of the threat, we stayed west of Kyiv until today. There was a definite upswing in war activity on that day, with rocket and missile attacks targeting 58 different cities in Ukraine with tragic loss of life. Perhaps the worst attack was upon a civilian train that killed nearly 30 near Dnipropetrovsk. This barbaric attack was reported by our news media, so you may have heard of it. On the 25th, there was only one such attack. Today on the 26th, there are none that have been made public so far, but it is still morning.
2. Many Ukrainians were both amazed and heartened by the fact that, despite the danger, Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson took a very public stroll through Kyiv’s downtown area on the 24th. Although we did not duplicate that act of bravery, our coming here at the same time the U.S. embassy in Kyiv was urging U.S. citizens to depart Ukraine using “privately available ground transportation” definitely encouraged the hearts of our brethren here. We could tell that many citizens were departing Ukraine as we were arriving,because there was virtually no line at the border crossing going into Ukraine while the line at the border crossings for those leaving Ukraine was 13 hours long!
3. One of the most discouraging factors here is that many believers in Ukraine have family in Russia who simply do not believe what their Ukrainian relatives tell them about the war. They choose to believe Putin’s propaganda machine rather than the eyewitness accounts of their own relatives. For example, the attack on the civilian train that we mentioned was portrayed by Russian media as an attack on a military train carrying hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers to the war front. Meanwhile, it’s obvious to the rest of the world that this was a civilian train. Pray that somehow the light of truth would penetrate the darkness that has descended over Russia today.
4. Praise God that despite very trying circumstances, ministry continues. Once again, this weekend we will be participating in baptisms of new converts. Such ministry is taking place in churches all over Ukraine. Theyreport increases in attendance even though many church members have evacuated to the West.Ukrainians are more open to the Gospel now than before the war, which is resulting in a harvest of souls. In fact, at this present time BIEM is starting a new church in an unreached area of Ternopil, Ukraine. Sergeyand Karina Koop, our newest missionaries, have just begun a special outreach in an area that contains 30,000 refugees. They feel God’s leading for them to plant a new church there. Please pray for them in this endeavor. Following is a link to a video where they share their plans:
5. Our summer camps here in Ukraine are in their final week and are making a big impact in the community. Perhaps more than ever before. People are amazed that during a time of war churches are putting forth so much effort for the sake of children and youth. One of our camps was closely watched by the highly decorated general of the border guards, who viewed the activities from his balcony overlooking the church property. He was so impressed that he asked the pastor if he could write about it on his Facebook. No problem, said the pastor. So, the general wrote a glowing report about what an excellent program this church operated for the youth while the Orthodox Church did nothing! This was surprising, because not long ago the Orthodox Church gave him a special award because his command had intercepted the smuggling of some valuable and very holy Orthodox icons out of Ukraine. While they probably won’t ask him to return the medal, he surely will not get any more from that direction.
Sam Slobodian
President - BIEM