SGA-supported Pastor Volodymyr has sent us many wonderful testimonies in his latest report. “I can testify that the ministry of providing food aid from SGA and its partners is a very effective tool in reaching people with the Gospel,” he says.

“Your faith and sincere compassion are confirmed by the good deeds that are evident to all through the provision of this assistance,” Volodymyr adds in gratefulness to generous friends like you. “We thank our Lord that we are one people not only in earthly life but also in eternity.” Read more from Volodymyr and see the work God is doing in one village in Ukraine . . .

Dear SGA workers, brothers and sisters!

I greet you in the Name of the Lord!

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the help you have provided for us. Our church has 300 members, almost half of whom left [our village] when it was occupied. Those who stayed in the city continued to serve each other and the people around them. Every day during the active fighting, even under fire, people would come to the church and get humanitarian aid that we were receiving from various missions at the time, including SGA. Every day the number of people would change. Once, during the shelling . . . a rocket landed in the yard of our House of Prayer. The church buildings were heavily damaged. We are grateful to the Lord that no one was hurt. 

The church continues to take an active part in the distribution of humanitarian aid. We receive such food aid from SGA and are sincerely grateful to the Lord and to you, dear friends, for your sacrifice and dedication in this ministry. Many people have come to church through this ministry. Ten of them were baptized by faith. Now another group is preparing for baptism. 

I can testify that the ministry of providing food aid from SGA and its sponsors is a very effective tool in reaching people with the Gospel.   

Pastor Volodymyr answering some questions in his report:

How does this ministry affect the work of your church?

People are very grateful for the care during the war, which is a great testimony of God’s love. The number of people who seek God is growing! All people are overwhelmed with sincere gratitude for such care and concern! Through such a ministry, people want to learn about God and the Word of God. And those who already trust in Christ and are members of the church, through the aid, grow in faith and hope.

Please tell us about your church before the war.

The church had a normal life and ministry: 
– We were doing work within the church.
– The church was also focused on evangelism (we had several groups in different parts of the region)
– Engaged in orphan ministry
– Feeding the poor and homeless once a week
– Caring for the sick and bedridden

How did the war affect the daily life of the church?

One third of the church has moved to other places. The House of Prayer was damaged by a missile. For some time the church services were stopped. The church members serve the people around us, who were affected by the war, with humanitarian aid and try to help them in their spiritual and emotional struggles. Altogether we are looking for and providing help to those people who are forced to leave their homes because of the heavy shelling in our region. 

How does the church support people in your area?

The ministry has fully been restored. We are working on repairing the House of Prayer. We continue to help the victims: repairing their houses, building materials, helping with clothing, food, providing housing for refugees, etc. There are groups of people with whom we study the Word of God, and we have met most of them who received the food aid.

How has the war affected the spiritual life of people outside the church? How does the church respond to their needs?

The number of people who come closer to God and attend church has increased. We try to be open with them all the time.

What are your prayer requests that we could share with others?

-For the repentance of people who come to our church
-For the renewal of the spiritual life of the members of the Church
-For the restoration of the building of the House of Prayer (need financial support)
-A cease-fire on the border and, in general, together with all believers, we ask our Lord for the end of the war in our country!

We feel very strongly your prayers for us! Your faith and sincere compassion are confirmed by the good deeds that are evident to all through the provision of this assistance. We thank our Lord that we are one people not only in earthly life but also in eternity. My personal gratitude to everyone who constantly calls and worries about us. As a result of our joint unity and purpose, may the Lord strengthen and inspire us to fulfill His holy will and glorify His name alone and be faithful to Him in spite of all difficulties and sufferings!

We are very grateful to you for your responsiveness!

Blessings,
Volodymyr

Testimonies:

Liubov is 74 years old. She lives with her daughter Liana and grandson Bohdan. Mrs. Liubov is a widow and her daughter also became an early widow. After the full-scale invasion, her grandson went to the territorial defense of our city. She went through a lot of pain in her life. For several weeks, Bohdan did not get in touch. Later, she was informed that a rocket had hit the place (school) where her grandson was. There were 20 soldiers there, and 18 of them were killed. What a joy and comfort it was to learn that one of the two survivors was Bohdan! He was severely wounded and concussed. “The Lord is healing my grandson and he tries to earn money as much as he can, but it is difficult. “For our family, this help is a great blessing from the Lord Himself.” 

Despite the difficulties Liubov has faced in her family, she still tries to help her neighbors, including the elderly and disabled. She shares the Lord’s mercy and salvation with them and boasts that she has many friends who care for her even from abroad, because “they love Jesus very much, whom I love,” says Liuba. ”I have become convinced that your aid helps us to grow in faith because the Lord cares about us and through this the name of the Lord is glorified,” Sister Liuba shares.

Iryna is a single mother. She is raising two small children. The house where she lived was destroyed. It was very hard for Iryna, but the Lord sent Christians in her life to help her. She was very interested in Christianity. She started attending a Baptist church. Now she realizes how miraculously the Lord leads and helps her in her life, and that everything is for the better with Him!

“I go to church with great joy now, because there are real people in the church,” says Iryna. “Although the war is a great tragedy, it gives me a new hope and increases my trust in the Lord. I am not so worried about what will happen tomorrow. I pray all the time and thank God for providing us with what we need because He knows our needs,” says Iryna and is very grateful to those who have helped her, thankful to all the sponsors and nice people, who care for her.

Olga is raising three children. Her husband unfortunately left her. She lives with her mother. Her apartment was damaged by a rocket, so now she is renting a room. Olga is currently unemployed. Since the beginning of the war, Olga began to seek God and pray to Him as she could. She started looking for a church, because she knew that there was a God and people who believe and put their trust in Him. 

“When I first came to the church, I felt the joy and peace I had been searching for,” Olga says with excitement! She is no longer alone. She has found many friends, and most importantly, the salvation for her soul. In this evil world, there is a sincere and unselfish kindness that is expressed in good deeds. This food aid package is extremely helpful for Olga’s family. She is very grateful to the Lord, the sponsors and everyone involved in this help!

Nadiia is an 86 years old lady and has no more relatives. She used to work as a nurse. For the second time in her life, she is witnessing Russia’s attack on Ukraine . She never thought she would have to face war again. As a child, her mother and she survived the bombing of Minsk during World War II.

In March, when her neighborhood was attacked, she was hiding with her three dogs and cat in the hallway, right in the middle of the house. She heard an explosion and immediately realized that her house had been hit by a shell. When she went outside, she saw that her house was on fire. She lost everything. After that, she temporarily lived with neighbors. Now she says that “all my chickens and animals survived, so I guess I only lost my house.”

She came to a Baptist church after learning that the church was distributing food packages. At the church, Nadiia met the pastor and during a joint prayer, she asked God for a new home. For the next few weeks, she lived in the ruins of her old house, without a roof over her head. And in May, she surprisingly received a modular house. She sees it as a wonderful gift from God. Ms. Nadiya told us: “I didn’t know why I was alive, but now I know—so that I could feel God’s love and meet good people.”

Now she regularly comes to church for Sunday services, even though it is located a little over one mile away. Ms. Nadiya is very grateful for everything she has received and asks us to pray for peace in Ukraine.

In a time of great uncertainty, God is bringing help, healing, and hope to the people of Ukraine through SGA-supported pastors, churches, a seminary, and SGA-supported Compassion Ministry. Be a part of God’s incredible work with your generosity and prayer support.  

Your gift of compassion helps struggling people with emergency aid that generally includes Scripture materials, food, medicine, warm clothing, and shoes.