December 2, 2024

December 2, 2024 ( Day 1013)

News from Ukraine

We are already experiencing the third war winter and although we have already gotten used to many things, it looks that this winter will be the hardest.

Odessa has been attacked many times in the last few weeks, the enemy is hitting port structures, energy facilities and residential areas. The same thing happens with other cities. Blackouts started again. Every day we receive the information about the time for power outages, but due to constant attacks they change frequently and we don't know when and for how long there will be no power. Sometimes there is no power for several hours and sometimes for the whole day. Institutions and enterprises use generators and charging systems that were bought during previous winters. Our church has once again become an oasis of light and warmth during the blackouts thanks to the solar panels installed on the roof. We pray that the Lord will save our church from destruction so that during the attacks nothing will damage the panels that give us light and heat.

In this cold season our desire is to warm our soldiers who defend us from the enemy, to help them at least a little now. We regularly send parcels to the front line with the things what the soldiers that we know ask us for. Our sisters at church are knitting socks and woolen belts for our soldiers to keep them warm. Our local defense group is working very hard. We receive a lot of requests for camouflage nets from our military. The group of volunteers is currently making nets of different colors for the case of snow and for the case when there is no snow. It will help our soldiers to cover their equipment and their dugouts and remain unnoticed by the enemy.

Another big need now is the transportation of the wounded who need rehabilitation and periodic hospital treatment. Over the past month, Sergey has already traveled to Kyiv twice with the wounded Sasha and his wife. The trip takes 8 hours, so he removes the seats in our church van and make a berth for Sasha to lie comfortably. Traveling is also an opportunity to communicate, an opportunity to listen when Sasha is ready to talk.

Last month a new family moved into our refugee center. Oksana, the mother and her two children Maksim and Veronika. They are refugees from Kherson region, the village where they lived is occupied by the enemy. Oksana’s husband Oleg is fighting, he joined the army during the first days of the war. Few months ago he was wounded and after the hospital he returned to his unit. Oksana has already made friends with other residents of our center and is happy to be a part of our support group of refugees. The building of our refugee center is warm and comfortable. The center has become a real home for these people.

We have started preparing a Christmas program in our church. A Christmas concert will be one of our events for a holiday season. So many people today feel grief and loneliness. We really want the people in our community to feel joy and celebrate the wonderful event of Christmas no matter what. We want them to feel that special joy of the Savior coming into this world, the Savior who will never leave nor forsake us. We are preparing a puppet show and gifts for the children in the orphanage.

We thank you very much for your donation, for your prayers and for your support. We would not have been able to hold out during such a difficult war if we had not been helped and supported. May the Lord bless you and give you according to the riches of His Glory.

Please, send your donations to Pathway Ministries
E. Langston Haygood,D.Min.,Ph.D.
Pathway Ministries, Inc.
288 Huntington Parc Circle
Birmingham, AL 35226
(205)835-3325
http://www.pathwayministriesinc.com

In Christ,
Lyuda

P.S. There are photos of the volunteers in our local defense center, the photos the soldiers who received our parcels, the photos of the new family and other people living in our refugee center and the photo of the meeting of the group of refugees.