Salt & LIght's Role in Ukraine as Year 2 of the War Begins...

Shalom dear blog readers and partners in the ministry!  Sorry for the delay on posts, we have been a little overwhelmed by several projects here at home!  

Still the War continues to rage as we have just passed the one year anniversary of the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine! The statistics are staggering- hundreds of thousands of lives lost, others maimed for life and unimaginable deprivations and sufferings!  

I hope to return to Ukraine this April, if God permits, after recovering from a double knee replacement performed by a wonderful surgeon, our dear brother Dr. Al Barronian!   Nothing is definite yet - we are praying as a leadership team at the Salt and Light church, but I have written to our medical team, including our dear doctor Lev, to ask about their thoughts and the timing, as well as several other ministry partners. As you can read from the notes below, the answer is a resounding "Yes", this is the time!    

We have learned after over 30 years of missions work not to direct God, but to surrender daily to His plans and purpose. This has made our journeys more profound and fruitful than any other experience we have ever had!   It is a walk of trust and faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, but how else would we ever want to be led, especially in days of crisis!!    At this point we are still waiting on final confirmation from the team here at Salt and Light. Then we will be excited to see how, in God's mercy, He will supply provision for travel and the critical needs of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine... 

"Dear Brother Jerry,  

I am very glad to hear that you are doing well and by God's grace you have fully recovered. God is great and powerful. You and your all family are always in my prayers.   I will be very grateful if you can share my stories with your lovely friends on the blog.   

Svetlana, Lesia and Srgii Orlyuk, Maksym and I, with a team of doctors, are now working with refugees from Eastern Ukraine in our churches. Most importantly now these people need love and care. And, in addition to the medical examination and the distribution of medicines, we show the love of the Lord. And we give our love as Jesus taught us to love and as we love Jesus.  

As for April, definitely YES! Yes, with great joy and love, I will be with you in April where necessary and for as long as necessary. Dear Jerry, you can count on me completely. I can meet you at the border or in any city where you say and I can take you to any city and be with you. For me, this will be a great blessing. It will be a blessed time to serve people with you.  I will pray for your plans and trip to Israel and Ukraine.   

I look forward to our meeting in April. In Christ’s love, Lev "

"Shalom, dear brother! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your letter and words of encouragement. By the grace of God, everything is fine in our family. The Russian army is stepping up attacks on our country. The city of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region are still under fire from enemy missiles, but the Lord is protecting His children! A few days ago I went to the village of Grakovo in the Kharkov region. This village was recently liberated from the occupation, but many people still do not have electricity or work. We brought them food packages, I gave a short sermon about Jesus. The people were very grateful for the help. Praise the Lord that you are feeling well after complex operations. The Lord did this so that you would have the strength to visit Israel again and come to Ukraine with a word of encouragement. May the Lord bless you! In the church, too, everything is good and blessed, thank God. Say hello to Sue. Accept heartfelt greetings from Lena and our entire family.   With love in Jesus, Gennadii."