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By: Brother Sasha The great war, not provoked by Ukraine, which began in February 2022, brought enormous pain, suffering and hatred to our land. Here are some of the consequences of this great war:
When war comes to your country, to your home, when you are attacked by an enemy who is more powerful than you, there is a small choice of actions for each person:
Our society has all three categories of people. Some accepted the occupation, some ran away from the war, some resist in any way possible. There is no rationality in Ukraine's resistance. The enemy is much bigger and stronger than us. A huge number of people and governments are persuading Ukraine to capitulate and accept the so-called realities and think realistically and rationally. Almost three years after the start of the great war, I notice that new and dangerous patterns are starting to form in our society and especially among young people:
This new pattern is penetrating society and people’s consciousness. War makes people cynical, having lost faith in justice, having lost hope in anything or anyone. In such dark moments, I personally remember the words of the Apostle Paul: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1st Corinthians 13:13) I think that love is called the greatest, because love is the driving engine for faith and hope. When faith weakens and hope disappears, the surest way to regain faith and hope is through the experience of love. Ukrainian society is in a huge deficit of love. People in our society are in desperate need of love – first and foremost, an understanding of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. People are also in desperate need of practical expressions of love from other people towards them. What we are trying to do in Ukraine is to try to show to all kinds of people around us that they are loved and not abandoned. We hope that through a little practical expression of love, some of these people will come to know the love of Christ that surpasses all human understanding. Here are some stories of people to whom we are trying to show practical love: Olga Olga is 55 years old. Her life has never been simple and easy. The death of her son, addiction, a broken hip. The war left her with absolutely nothing. The city in eastern Ukraine where she lived was destroyed and is now occupied by the Russian army. Olga was evacuated to Kiev region.  Olga's greatest practical need is to restore the necessary documents to receive social benefits for disability and as a refugee. This is a rather complicated process that involves trips to various institutions and hospitals. Our assistance allows us to pay for transportation costs, expenses for receiving medical treatment. Olga's accommodation and food are paid for by the local church. Lyuda & Her Five Children  Lyuda's family fled the war several times. At first, they were forced to move to a place that seemed relatively safe to them, but when the front line began to approach this place, they were forced to evacuate to Kiev region. And it was the right decision, because soon after the evacuation, a Russian drone flew into their house, right into the chimney of the house, and destroyed the entire house. Now the village where they lived is under occupation by the Russian army. The conditions in which they live now are far from ideal, but Lyudmila and her husband are happy that they are safe. Children are children and find joy in the simplest things, such as riding on a simple swing in the yard.
The children did not go to school for 4 years, first because of the covid epidemic, then because of the war and moving around Ukraine. Education was only online, but this is not the same as being physically present at school. Our assistance to this family allows them to purchase everything the kids need for going to school. Lydia  Lydia and her two adult sons also fled the war. Their city was also destroyed and occupied by the Russian army. They did not want to stay in the territory occupied by Russia and decided to go into the unknown. They were helped with evacuation and found a simple rural house where they can live temporarily. One of Lidiya's sons suffers from cerebral palsy and needs care. Our help helped Lidiya buy firewood to heat her house. These are just several stories from dozens of similar personal tragedies experienced by millions of Ukrainians. I look at the photos of these people again and admire them and share their grief.
They are different people - children, young people, old people. Millions of people in Ukraine are emotionally and mentally traumatized by the war and its consequences. We help:
But in fact, this is a practical manifestation of love and through this faith and hope return to people as many of them have witnessed to us. We are immensely grateful to you for your practical love, for your prayers! God is working through you! This war has once again shown the miracle of the church. Someone took these people out of the war zone. Someone found them temporary housing. Someone donated money to help these people. Someone bought and delivered food, firewood and medicine. Our prayer for the people who are receiving help is in tune with the prayer of the Apostle Paul - Ephesians 3:19, that God would open their eyes, so that they would see the love of God in their lives: Praying for them “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Those being baptized are immigrants. These people become part of the church, and our family grows. May God bless you for the labor you do in praying for us and helping us in every way possible. Share our joy in this labor as it is your fruit as well. You sow, we reap, but we rejoice together BaptismThe new year, 2025, began for our community with a festive and important event for every church: - water baptism. Four sisters and three brothers made a covenant with God. It is interesting that all these people at different times in the last two years, after Makarov was liberated from the Russian army, came as immigrants from the eastern regions of our country. Leaving their homes, their relatives and everything they and their families had received throughout their lives - came here to find something much more valuable and important here - a new family, church, support and a real relationship with Christ. The ages of the newly baptized range from fourteen to seventy-four. Among them there are a mother and daughter, the son of one of our rehabilitants, the husband of a wife who had been baptized before, and the fiancée of a man who had long ago made a covenant with God while still living in the Donetsk region.
Such different ages and status of our new church members encourages and calls us to serve different people, in different directions, in different areas and unites us around Christ. The Lord is always looking for faithful people who are ready to go and spread the Good News. Pray for us to be attentive to the call of God, to go and serve those people whom the Lord has already prepared for Himself. Pray for those who have been baptized, that they may be fully joined to our family, and that in this fellowship they may be able to be comforted in all their sorrows. Pray for those who are contemplating baptism, that their hearts would be open and willing to choose Christ as their Lord and Savior.
MinistryThe war continues. We pray for peace and victory, but now the Lord is leading our country even more so. More of our brothers are joining the military and going to defend us, our homes, our lives. Three people, Ilya (a member of our church), Vitaly and Igor (relatives of our church members) have been missing for a long time. We pray for any news about them, pray for their families and trust God in everything. More and more villages and towns continue to be captured by the enemy in eastern Ukraine. More and more people are fleeing the war and coming to us in Makarov and neighboring villages. Our brothers are actively involved in the evacuation of such families. Now we are preparing another house for the possibility of living for a family that will be able to come to us the next day. Before the new year we received a large family with 5 children, who have already been displaced twice since 2014 because of the war in Ukraine. The three older brothers and one of the sisters are already getting all the documents to transfer by study to the local school. The family needs everything for their studies from notebooks and pencils to briefcases and clothes. These children have spent the last 2 years just sitting at home and studying online to the sound of guns. We as a church desire to support this family in their needs as well as other families who are in need of wood to heat their homes, warm clothes, and food. Many, especially single displaced women live in Makarov in a modular town - in addition to our worship services, they always attend home groups and a doctrinal study. And one more such complex for older single immigrants is located in the village of Kolonshchina, which is 15 kilometers from Makarov. We have begun to invite those who wish to come to our Sunday meeting. We gladly take everyone and bring them back by car.
Prayer Needs For MHCUnder all these circumstances, we see how the Lord is leading us to a new, but very relevant ministry. And the most recent celebration of baptism shows that this is really important, both for the church and for Christ.
Pray that the Lord will bless:
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