Letter from Pastor Gennadii Pilipenko in Kharkiv Ukraine

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022, both sides have faced massive losses and unimaginable horrors in this War!

The vaulted Russian army has been humiliated by the length of this conflict and its inability to defeat the Ukrainian army or people!  But with dewindling  supplies and ammunition the Ukrainian army has had to pull back and assume a defensive position.  Sensing an opportunity for a decisive strike, Russia has employed massive amounts of jets, tanks, missiles and artillery shells at a five to one ratio against major cities in Ukraine, terrorizing citizens and destroying the infrastructure.

Our friends there, like senior Pastor Gennadii Pilipenko, have demonstrated incredible courage and compassion as they meet the desperate needs of war weary and displaced victims of this awful violence. I hope to join them next month and by God’s grace, bring encouragement and much needed resource. Your prayers and support are more important than ever during this critical time…

Shalom, dear brother Jerry!

Lena and I sincerely thank you for your prayers for our family. For two years now, the enemy has been wanting to destroy our city and our entire country, but he has not succeeded, because many believers within the country and in many other countries are praying for Ukraine. The enemy wanted us to freeze in winter and walk around in the evenings without light, but he didn’t succeed either.

But since March of this year, the situation in our city has changed a lot. The Russian army has increased shelling of our country, especially the city of Kharkov. Enemy shells, missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs destroyed all power stations and transformer substations in Kharkov and the Kharkov region. After the massive attack, our city was without electricity, without communications and without the Internet for 24 hours. The water supply was cut off in many houses.

But the next Sunday our church was again filled with believers who gathered to glorify the Lord and ask Him for mercy. The Lord has again answered the prayers of His children. Water supply in our city has already been fully restored. Electricity is supplied to almost all houses, but is switched off for several hours according to a schedule. Energy supply system employees have to solve the very complex problem of distributing electricity within the country between regions. But the street lighting is turned off. Therefore, in the evenings we walk and drive in the dark, like in the spring of 2022. Our city is under fire both day and night. There is constant destruction of houses and other objects, as well as loss of life.

But at the same time, the Lord constantly protects believers and their homes. Glory to our Lord! We constantly ask the Lord to close the sky over Kharkov to shells. But at the same time, we want heaven to always remain open for prayer. We believe that at a certain time the Lord will stop the war and peace will come to our country.

In May we plan to be in Kharkov. If you come to Ukraine during the last three weeks of May, we will be very glad to have a meeting with you. Once again, we thank you for your prayers and wish you blessings from the Lord. Say hi to Sue.  With love in Jesus, Gennadii