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

Dear Friends of BIEM,

1. When it comes to evacuating refugees from decimated and dangerous areas of Ukraine, moving them westward is the main goal. Most go to Western Ukraine, but many continue farther to Poland, Germany, and other European destinations. However, evacuating refugees from Russian-occupied areas such as Donbas is much more complicated. Recently, we helped evacuate such families. In one family, the father and 6-year-old daughter were killed in a bombing, while the rest of the family survived. They could not travel straight westward because of the war, so their first step was to Rostov-on-Don in Russia. From there to Moscow. From Moscow they traveled to Minsk in Belarus, and then to Brest in Belarus. From Brest they traveled to Poland then finally into Ukraine.

2. As more stores reopen in Western and Central Ukraine there remains a great need in the East. Vitaly Bilyak continues to make dangerous trips all the way to the battle area. Igor Fomichov and others have been able to take substantial aid to Chernihiv, one of the hardest hit cities in Ukraine. One member of our church there is a city council member, and he has been very active in assisting humanitarian-aid efforts.

3. A couple of days ago, an army recruiting contingent showed up at our drug and alcohol rehab center in Desna. Pastor Igor reports that people were shocked for two reasons. One is that the men in a drug and alcohol rehab center are not considered quality candidates for military service. Second, the Ukrainian army has had no problem recruiting soldiers. The lines at recruiting offices have been blocks long in many cases.

4. The new church being established in the Druzhba area of Ternopil has secured a location for holding regular meetings. Please pray for Sergiy and Karina Koop as they begin their ministry in this area, which is now home to over 30,000 refugees. Click on this link to hear their report about this significant event.

https://vimeo.com/753101896/4767eada18

5. This has been a good week for Ukraine as their army has made significant gains and has pushed the Russian troops a long way back towards Russia. Christians are praising God for this answer to prayer even though actual victory is still a long way off. Along with this good news, there is also the very sad fact that as Ukraine recovers more and more territory they are finding hundreds of mass graves of civilians, including women and children, who were simply slaughtered. May God bring an end to this heartbreaking moment in history.

Sam Slobodian
President - BIEM