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Dear Friends,
You might have seen in the news this week that Sumy region has been hit most days with missiles and drones, making life very challenging for everyone. Lebedyn itself has had more of this activity than at any other time in the war. It makes their work so much harder in these conditions.
Firstly, I want to share an urgent need for prayer. Pastor Sergey, who started this church and mission work in Lebedyn, has been taken ill. Sadly, he had a heart attack at the Centre and was first taken to Lebedyn hospital where they said to take him to Sumy hospital. He remains there with them confirming he has significant heart issues which need an urgent operation. However, they too cannot do this operation as they are too full of war casualties being so close to Kursk. We suspect he will be transferred to a hospital in Kyiv, but again there are no ambulances to take him there and it means that one of his sons will drive him by private car the 6 hour+ journey on difficult roads. The next day or so is critical as if he doesn’t haven’t have the necessary operation he will not survive and the journey for someone in his condition is also highly dangerous. So please can we pray for him and his family at this time.
In other challenging news, Larisa called Bohdan and was in tears on the phone as government money for funding orphanages is running dry. She has no funds to pay the gas bill or even buy necessary food. We have sent money through to Bohdan to help purchase food and medical supplies for her and the children in the new building. It is their residential centre that is struggling more than the day care centre in Sumy. I reported a few weeks back about a lady in the church that was adopting 2 young girls abandoned in the war. Their mother was arrested for crimes and she had turned to alcohol. The judge has stopped the adoption order as there is a new law set by the government that bars children from being adopted whilst there is a war going on and the parents are alive or only Missing in Action. This has been tough for the girls to handle and they are back with Larisa.
As a result of the war there are many more reports and legal things for the Centre to do. It is not just an annual audit, but there are audits that are needed for aid that is given out to prove that it is being given out to the right people. This is sapping a lot of the time, but Bohdan’s wife, Alla, has been wonderfully looking after this.
Progress is being made with Bohdan’s papers for exemption which will last until May. On Thursday morning they arrived as an online version (whilst we were speaking), subject to his medical this coming week. He is going to go the military commission tomorrow morning to see if he can get a paper version so he can travel around and help with all the other ministries.
People still come for help and especially for bread. Hundreds of loaves of bread have been given away this week with families and people of all ages desperate for help. Soldiers and families near the Kursk region wish for the team to bake more goods for them as they too struggle in this war.
I recently had the privilege of going to see and meet the trustees and CEO of Ukraine Relief, a charity in Bournemouth who are now helping us to send aid to Lebedyn. Their warehouse is huge and the size of the very large mega supermarket building. They were marking the anniversary of the war with a special event which I was invited to. The truck is now in Poland waiting to get into Ukraine and to Lviv, where the UN will drive and escort the truck to Lebedyn. We do not know the exact timescale of everything, but please pray this is not delayed. Ukraine Relief want to help us get more aid to the team in Lebedyn in the future.
The homegroups still keep growing with more and more young people. Dasha’s grandma is loving coming along to church and all the activities, and has helped bake bread for people this last 2 weeks. She is now a fully-fledged baker on the team and wants to help more and more. This gives a sense of all helping to do something in this war.
Sadly, Lyuba's grandmother died last week, so please do pray for her and their family as her grandmother also looked after the children of her aunt who sadly died before Christmas.
Thank you to everyone who came and travelled to see us on Saturday at the service we held. We really appreciated your support, as did Bohdan. It was good for him to see so many gathered to pray for them. If you wish to have a link to the service for you to stream please do let me know.
We really appreciate your continued support and prayers.
Every blessing
Peter Martin
Founding Director of Hope Lebedyn
