From workers serving Ukraine
If your enemy is hungry…
“I had to undress to check myself for bullet wounds,” James explained after another risky journey to bring simple bread loaves to hungry, even starving, people.
James recalls an elderly lady who fell to her knees and kissed his hands as he offered her a loaf of bread saying, “This is the first thing I’ve had to eat in 5 days.”
Russian soldiers don’t necessarily have set checkpoints and are constantly on patrol. On this day, James was shot at three times and didn’t know if he’d been hit, which can happen in such a high adrenaline state. Thankfully, by God’s protection, he was not.
The next day, James went out on another run and a Russian soldier on patrol stopped him. The soldier asked, “Can I buy a loaf of that bread?” indicating the mound of bread loaves in the back of James’ van.
James asked, “Don’t you have bread?” The soldier replied that he hadn’t had bread in two weeks. The soldier didn’t have to ask to buy bread, he could have pointed his rifle and threatened or killed James for it. But God was at work again. James replied, “I can’t let you buy bread, but in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, I want to give you a loaf of bread.” The soldier accepted the loaf and allowed James to pass.
Sheltering Ukrainians
Each day, hundreds of people come to this church building for shelter (they even have mattresses in the restrooms between the urinals), food, medicine, clean water – anything the church can find to buy with your generous donations.
Recently, a farmer from another village showed up with a van load of his flowers. There is no market for flowers these days, and he hoped to trade his flowers for bread to take back to his village. Of course, James and the elders agreed and gave him as many loaves as they could. The beautiful flower bouquets were a good reminder that God the Creator is still at work even in such horrible days.
James, the elders, the deacons, and members of this church work tirelessly each day to meet basic needs and more importantly, share the Gospel with the many who come to the church as their last hope. In the last 2 months, 5 have come to Christ and been baptized!
While some are still able to evacuate from this city, many are turned back repeatedly. The danger to James and all volunteers taking bread to people who cannot make it to the church is definitely on the rise as now they are being targeted by the Russian occupiers. Please pray for God’s protection and favor as they continue to find ways to help the people of Ukraine and reach them for Christ.
We’re committed to loving and serving the people of Ukraine. Learn more at TeamExpansion.org/Ukraine.
