Update 13th June 2025

Illustration titled “Summer Camps – Connecting with children through the war,” depicting children engaging in various camp activities such as drawing, playing, and interacting, set against a backdrop symbolizing both conflict and hope.

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Dear Friends,

This week has been a bit calmer in Lebedyn, and there has been no direct bombing into the town for which we are grateful.

The landscape and general situation is changing day by day, making life more of a challenge. However, missiles still fly overhead on their way to bring destruction elsewhere, and Bohdan has noted that these are getting louder and bigger. Sumy city has been hit very hard, with Russian troops getting ever closer. Road checkpoints are becoming more vigilant, making it harder to go into the city as Bohdan found out this week. The food wholesaler we use is based there, and they are now struggling with supplies as it is getting so hard to receive deliveries.

On Wednesday, the village of Vorozhba was heavily bombed. This is only 15km away from Lebedyn. An agriculture plant was hit and destroyed, along with other farm equipment, making life difficult for the farmers to grow food. Heavy fighting is surrounding Samotoivka making it impossible for Pastor Andrew and his family to return. Everywhere they look destruction is evident.

Healthcare for people is getting harder. Hospitals are full of the wounded; any fit doctors are sent to the front-line, leaving hospitals full with little staff. Lebedyn hospital only has 2 senior doctors, and to get seen by a doctor Bohdan has said you will have to see someone privately but these fees are increasing daily making this unaffordable.

Bohdan had the funeral on Monday of a lady he called his “adopted grandma”. She was always there for him and spoke much wisdom into his life both spiritually and practically. She was also Musical Sergey’s mother-in-law. This meant no bread was baked as they all supported each other in attending the funeral. Bohdan said that although she was old, her death could have been avoided. Drugs are not getting to the pharmacies now and many remain closed.

The team carry on with their usual work, and they were able to help the hospital with nappies for the children, sanitary wear and incontinence pants. All the children’s and youth clubs continue over the weekend. Baptismal classes are growing and now 12 people attend, with 2 more starting this week. These are refugees who came to the Centre and were so broken, they had lost everything but found Jesus at their time of need.

The church in Okhtyrka is really struggling. The town was heavily bombed in the early part of the war, which included the church building being destroyed. Many people have fled, although there are still around 20 church members there. Vladamir, who has overseen the church since the beginning in 1999, has been very unwell, and he and his wife are going to leave to live with his daughter in Germany, where he can get the right medical help. Bohdan and the team will help oversee the work of the church for now.

This week Bohdan has asked for prayer specifically for a few items. The main requests are for:

  • safety for the team.
  • safety for the camps to go ahead.
  • for Lena who I shared about last week. She is understandably still struggling.

The camps need a special focus as there have been some legal changes that will impact them. Any large gathering has to now be registered with the Police, Fire service and Education service, and permission granted to enable these to proceed. It is especially needed if children are without parental supervision. Please pray that as the team complete the necessary paperwork and submission, this will go through smoothly and all permissions will be granted.

Pastor Sergey joined us for a little while yesterday. He looks well, although still frail and determined not to give in. He is concerned on how the war is impacting the region. He said to “ask people to pray harder!!” The villages around Lebedyn are now like deserts.

I want to thank people for their kindness for help with both the feeding of families and the summer camp programme for all ages. The food packages we are producing feed a family of 4 for a week and so far, around 15,000 meals can be given away. We will also produce a further 3,500 meals during the camps. Bohdan is talking with food wholesalers to get supplies and better prices.

Thank you everyone. It is not too late to sponsor a child through summer camp. Can you help us reach our goal of supporting 500 children? The cost is just £40 per child for the entire week, which is designed to raise their spirits and bring smiles to their faces.

Please click the link below to view a PDF containing instructions on how to donate:

Summer Camps - Connecting with children through the war PDF

Thank you again for standing with us. We keep praying for peace, and for the end to this needless war and killing.

Every blessing

Peter Martin

Founding Director of Hope Lebedyn

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    From 17th - 24th February we are holding a week of prayer as we remember the 2nd anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
    To help you pray, we've created a PDF guide that contains some daily prayer points. 

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