If you would like to support us financially you can do so below. Remember, if you are a UK taxpayer, please confirm that you would like us to claim Gift Aid on your donation. This will add 25p to every £1 you give.
Dear Friends,
This has been another difficult week, but the team remain resilient. Some of you will have read that, with the help of the North Korean army, the Russians are trying to win back Kursk and in doing so are targeting Sumy region much harder. This week the level of drones and missiles flying over has significantly increased.
This had an impact on the bakery, as when the bread was baking a drone must have hit or affected the local power station, cutting off supply to the Centre. Whilst the generators kicked in for the buildings, they are not man enough to power the bakery itself, so baking had to be abandoned halfway through. Below you can see that still over 150 loaves were given out, and the rest of the dough was bagged up and given to those that could bake at home. Nothing is wasted!
The power issue has become quite a problem, as this last attack caused a massive power surge into the new building, and sadly the protection they used was not sufficient, and therefore it blew the fuseboard and the PA sound desk irreparably. The whole damage will cost around £1,250 to get right again. Bohdan is very concerned about the buildings as the new activity centre he says is the best looking building in the county so he fears that this will become a target. He has asked for specific prayer for their safety at this time.
Following last week’s scare with Bohdan, the authorities have asked for him to submit his papers once again to gain exemption. He has had to send them because of the danger of driving there, as there have been some more slight changes in rules, and if papers are not right and he was stopped when travelling he could be commandeered into the army immediately. It is now becoming unsafe for people to get about locally due to the roadblocks and instant taking of people to go and fight. Alexander is one such person. He is studying to gain his master’s degree and has just turned 25. He attended summer camps and the youth work regularly so text Bohdan to see if he could help. He was driving around town and although he had exemption papers he was taken, and within 40 minutes taken away for training. His young wife and toddler are distraught.
Bohdan was due to visit the Kursk border with a friend to help with visiting the wounded and taking some Bibles, aid and encouragement. This has not been able to happen. Instead, the team are busy with all other things they can do. Musical Sergey has been not only doing the computer workshops, but, as you can see in the photo at the top of the page, has also been helping the elderly in training them with mobile smart phones as well as computers, as this is how communication will happen with sirens and alerts.
They are still doing Bible distribution into the villages by posting them to people that have requested copies, and continue to give them away at the Centre.
Larisa and her orphanage have been very quiet of late. She had hoped to repair the bomb-damaged building, but now Sumy is under such heavy attack the government have given her a building in another village in Sumy Oblast, but some way away from Sumy city. We cannot report the location, but sadly the building where they are was an old government care home and in not good repair. There is no heating, no insulation, with paper thin external walls. In addition, funding has been cut so even buying food is a challenge. Larisa has been able to purchase insulation for the walls, but needs to find a builder and the funds to be able finish this work. Most trained able-bodied men are away fighting. Bohdan cannot get a team of volunteers together for the same reason, and also it is not safe to drive that far away. All her bedding and things were destroyed in the previous building when the bombs hit, so we have committed to look at buying food for the next 2 months and get the sewing team on the bedding. As there are 45 children in her care in Ukraine (plus the others in Austria) this cost will be around £2,000.
The team remains in good spirits. They are not down beat in any way, but are doing whatever they can to help those in need and to share the love of Jesus in every way they can. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. It is greatly appreciated.
Every blessing
Peter Martin
Founding Director of Hope Lebedyn
