News from Kharkiv...

The following is a letter from Gennadii Pilipenko, Senior Pastor in the Kharkiv Region of Ukraine:

Peace be with you from the Lord, dear Jerry!  

I sincerely thank you for your letter, from which it is clear that the military operations in Kharkiv cause you great worries about our security.   I will write a few words about our life in the past three weeks. Our church is going through a period of "scattering": many families have left Kharkiv, some are on the way, some have remained in the city. Difficulties united believers and brought them to their knees. Prayer to the Lord rises around the clock, hourly, day and night, in the Prayer House and in homes. Thanks God!   A great blessing for church members is communication in the church Telegram group. Divine services are held on Sundays. The number of attendees is constantly increasing.

About 30 brothers and sisters are active in volunteer service.   Volunteer service covers 7 areas:

1) The prayer house has become a refuge both for those whose houses have been damaged and for those who are in a state of fear. Dozens of people found shelter in this "shelter". Many of them began to understand their dependence on God.

2) Charity dinners for 50-60 people are prepared daily. People who are fleeing shelling in metro stations began to come to dinners.

3) During the first two weeks, evacuation buses to the Dnieper and Poltava departed from our house of prayer almost daily.

4) Many people are being helped to move around the city, especially to the train station, since the cost of a taxi has increased by 10-20 times.

5) The Church receives humanitarian aid from other churches and missions in the form of food and distributes it both to members of different churches and to many other Kharkiv residents. Volunteers deliver food packages to addresses.

6) The Church has received humanitarian aid in the form of clothing (for adults and children) and distributes it in shelters and on the streets. Together with clothes, New Testaments are offered to people, which many take with gratitude.

7) Two families who left for the West of Ukraine buy medicines in pharmacies for many members of the church and their acquaintances. Then the medicines arrive in Kharkiv, and volunteers deliver them to the addresses.  

In all the trouble of war, three of God's blessings are clearly visible: – believers began to pray more; – the church has become a kind of dominant in society: both a refuge, and a house of bread, and a source of hope; – unbelieving people, previously indifferent to God, awaken faith. Glory to the merciful Lord!  

In the Kharkiv region, in the town of Izyum, the invaders destroyed a prayer house. Three days ago, in the prayer house of the church where pastor Dima serves, the front doors and some glass were destroyed by a shock wave. Many houses in Kharkiv are damaged or destroyed.

The prayer house of our church is protected by the Lord. He also guards the house in which we live. We have light, heat, water, food. We are no better than other believers, we do not deserve such blessings. The Lord does this only in answer to your prayers and the prayers of many other believers.   Kolya and Sveta also thank God for His protection and great care. Today, after the service, we dined with the family of Ira and Dima, talked with our grandchildren. They, too, are under the protection of the Lord. We pray for Ira's forthcoming birth of a baby and the strengthening of her physical strength.   Please continue to pray for our ministry and peace in Ukraine.  

With brotherly love, Gennadii