Gospel & War Updates

SEPTEMBER 9 UPDATE

Update from Sergey:
Our dear friends, those who support our ministry in Ukraine and in Kyiv! We thank God with all our hearts for your participation and sacrifice in ministry! Thanks to you, we are able to continue our ministry in Ukraine for the glory of the Lord during this time of war. A few years ago none of us would have believed that there would be war. Much less that it could be so brutally fratricidal! That a neighboring country, which was considered a brotherly country, would mercilessly kill our soldiers, women and children, rape and abuse peaceful people. Destroy homes and kindergartens, hospitals and churches. And at the highest level they will say that all Ukrainians must be destroyed, that they will fight to the last Ukrainian. Genocide of our people, this is what came to us from a once friendly country. Relations have been severed for many years to come. Ukrainians did not want this war, but now, defending their land, they are part of it. We are all participants in this war.

A few months ago my friend, the pastor of the Light of the Gospel church in Balakleya, Kharkov region, was arrested by the Russians and beaten in the commandant's office for two days, demanding that he agree that he was an American agent and was destroying his country. By the grace of God, on the third day, when he was about to be interrogated and beaten again-most likely he would have been killed on the third day-Alexander lost consciousness in his cell and they had to send him to the hospital. That's how God saved Alexander from death. Then he escaped from Balakleya the hard way, and stayed alive. Praise God!

A few weeks ago my brother Oleg, a chaplain, died near Kherson. He died while helping another wounded man from a Russian mine. Three days ago Andrew, the pastor of the Christian Evangelical Church in the Kharkov region, was killed by a shell exploding in the House of Prayer. Two days ago they brought a summons for my son, Timofey, to take him to the front. We pray that God will keep Timothy. The whole church is involved in some kind of ministry during the war. They try to help each other. They take in refugees, feed the hungry, and share what is left over. My team in the church, those who are actively involved in ministry every day are 9 people. These are sacrificial people who are willing to serve day and night! 

We organize humanitarian aid for people affected by the war, carry food packages to places whereRussians have already left and people are hungry in the villages. They cry when they get a loaf of bread. There are a lot of poor people in Kiev, refugees from the east of the country who just lost everything, who also need help, food packages, clothes and medicine. And we try to help in any way we can. I want to say a big thank you to our very best friends in America who help us financially for all these needs. This is an invaluable help to us! Thank you dear brother Ben and sister Vicki! Thank you Shae and your family! Thank you John and the many donors who participate in our ministry in Kiev and Ukraine! We load vans with products and send them to the war zone-to the east of the country, to the north of the country, to the north-east, to the south of our country.

Praise God for those pastors who have stayed to serve under the bullets and bursts of shells near the battlefields. These are special places where we send a lot of humanitarian aid. It is here, where shells fall and many are on the cusp of death, that people accept help and pray, thanking God for the church helping them. Every service in these churches is overflowing with people who haven't been to church before. One minister in the east that we support has already baptized over 95 people in his young church during the war! Praise God! We need another minibus to carry water to a town in eastern Ukraine where the Russians have bombed all the water sources. A city with multi-story buildings-no water! So the brothers are going to put two barrels in each minibus, fill it up outside the city, and with 2 tons of water they return to the city, where they distribute water to the people for free. There are long lines, people are tired and hopeless. And here our ministers try to encourage people and tell them the Gospel. To tell them about the One who is the Source of Living Water! And people listen and pray and cry...

A very great blessing for us during the war is that several young families moved from the east of the country to the west to plant new churches. These were Alexei and Alena Salfetnikov to Ivano-Frankovsk. These are Timofey and Nigina Guts in Nadvornoye, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Dmytro and Olena Breslavec-to Vasylkiv, Kyiv region. These are Alexander and Sveta Derkach in Radekhov, Volyn region. These ministers have moved to new cities to plant new churches. There is already a beginning in each of these cities. We are also praying for three more families of ministers who are ready to move to the Kiev region for ministry. We are trying to find support for each family to be able to engage in service to people, to buy products and different materials for the ministry to these cities. Brothers work hard to provide for their families. Praise God!

Pray friends for my family. For the health of Lilya and our daughter Kristina. Both my mother and daughter are in poor health. Pray also for my health.

God bless you all!
Sergey and Lilya Guts