Ukraine

Give thanks that a trust grant last year has enabled Beginning of Life to support 50 Ukrainian women and their families through art therapy and counselling in Moldova. Please pray for the team working in the Psychological Art Studio at Beginning of Life. Pray that God would equip them as they cope with the emotional and physical strain caused by the strong emotions of those they serve.

Praise the Lord for a special, blessed, and productive time in Ukraine. We have fulfilled our objectives for this trip and have connected well with many people, especially some of the team members in the Irpin church plants and here in Lviv with the New Hope team. Please continue praying for the situation in Ukraine.

Please pray as Jesus instructed in Luke 10 v 2: "The harvest is plentiful” (more than 700 million people in Europe don’t know Jesus) "but the workers are few” (our mission has only around 250 workers). "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field please pray for more missionaries.

We rejoice that the church in Moldova is deeply involved in helping churches meet needs in Ukraine

Please pray for church-led charity Hope Lebedyn’s in Ukraine. It’s mission to serve those in severe need became even more vital when the war broke out. The Hope Lebedyn centre and church is being used for all kinds of aid distribution, and nothing is given out without also including a Bible or Bible resource. Give thanks for organisations like Hope Lebedyn and its mission to support and serve those who have been left devastated by the war. Praise God for how they are helping people in practical and spiritual ways.

Ukraine has received 86 boxes of medicines from EEF for their Moldovan partners and more are needed. The next shipment is in early April. Funds can be used to buy goods and medicines in Moldova or items shipped by road.

David's visit to Ukraine was incredibly moving, challenging and inspiring. The workers in Lviv were very weary: rolling power cuts and frequent air raids had taken their toll on the team. However, they continue serving the Lord faithfully in many different ways. Just one example: following an air raid with a direct strike on electrical infrastructure that left 90% of the city without power, the team ran a children’s Christmas camp within two hours of this happening. GOD IS GOOD

Despite the war, our partner FEBC Ukraine is continuing to broadcast the gospel across the country. As we consider the birth of Jesus and recall how God entered the world in the humblest circumstances, we lift up our Christian brothers and sisters in Ukraine who are facing unimaginable hardship as winter sets in. Pray for God's protection over the energy, internet and water supplies. Pray that nothing would stop the team at FEBC Ukraine from serving their listeners and continuing to bring good news 'that will cause great joy for all the people'. (Luke 2 v 10)bus tours for Russian-speaking Jewish migrants in Israel. These tours are extremely popular - news of them is spread among the Jewish community by word of mouth and increasing numbers are attending. Please pray that many Jewish people will be saved through these Bible studies and evangelistic tours.

Using FM radio, social networks, smartphone apps, and web broadcasting, our partner, FEBC Ukraine is playing a vital role in sharing God's word and praying for people over the airwaves while also providing practical support to listeners traumatised by the conflict. Please pray for Iryna who coordinates the counselling team. She carries a huge weight of responsibility as the demand for counselling continues to increase at an extraordinary rate. She has almost been killed twice in different attacks during the war. (Isaiah 40 v 29)

Please pray for the Ukrainian refugees in Poland. The Ukrainian community is really big now - in several Polish cities it is already exceeding 30% of the population. Lifewords have recently sent new Bible booklets to print, and their Bible animations have reached half a million people in just one month. Give thanks that the Bible is bringing comfort to people who have been displaced by war, and those who stayed behind to fight.

This year, the idea to do the Summer Day Camp for kids in Lviv was challenging and bold at the same time. Having a bomb shelter functioning in the basement of the New Hope Center was a benefit and an advantage we should not have missed. This time, there was no broad advertisement—only a poster on the building. Only four days after it was placed, 90% of children of 60 kids in the camp were registered. 80% of them were from unchurched families. Praise God.