May and June

Hello dear friends,
Time flies quickly — it’s already August, and more than half of the year has passed, so it’s time for our regular report on our missionary work in Poland and abroad. This report includes the months of May and June.

In May, together with our friends from the Netherlands — Hans and Gert — we went to the Kherson region to help people suffering because of the war in Ukraine. We visited churches, hospitals, the fire department, the police station, and private homes. To the makeshift hospital in the town of Vysokopillya, we delivered an operating table and medical supplies. This hospital is actually an old house adapted for medical purposes; it doesn’t stand out from the surrounding homes, which makes it difficult for Russian forces to locate. Surgeries, medical treatments, and help for anyone in need take place there. It also serves as a support point for soldiers, where they can wash clothes, have a meal, and more.

Besides the medical supplies we donated, we also left food and cakes from the Netherlands — which we receive twice a year from the Voordijk bakery — so that in these bitter times people could have a few sweet moments. In the same town, we visited the fire department, which was especially meaningful for our friend Hans, who is also a firefighter. We gave them cakes as well.

We decided to also give cakes to the police station, what was a problem. A few days earlier, in Kryvyi Rih, someone had brought a “gift” package to a police station, and it turned out to be a bomb. Because of this, police were forbidden to accept any packages — sometimes food given to services is poisoned — so extreme caution is advised. At first, no one wanted to accept our gift, but after carefully checking the boxes and their contents, and inspecting us, they accepted them.

In Vysokopillya, we also visited two churches where we gave food items to the people. We had enough supplies to prepare over 300 high-quality food parcels (each containing more than 10 items).

In the town of Zelenodolsk, we visited a health clinic and the fire department, giving coffee, tea, and sweets to those serving others and saving lives. It might seem like a small thing, but for these people, the fact that they are remembered and receive a small gift brings great joy and is a blessing to them.

The next town on our route was Kochubeyivka, where we visited a small Baptist congregation, giving our brothers and sisters food products, as well as the local medical point. We gave the pastor a bicycle, which made him very happy, and we also left clothing and adult diapers.

The next stop was Novobratske, where we met a missionary from Canada who dedicated her life to serving others. We left products her so that she could prepare packages for the entire village and give them to all residents.

The trip was very difficult. We had some car troubles — on the way back to Poland, Hans’s car broke down. On the way to Ukraine, we had a dangerous situation still in Poland: a tire service worker, when changing to summer tires, didn’t tighten one of our wheels properly, and during the trip, the wheel came loose. Because of the damage, another wheel came loose in Ukraine, but we managed to fix it enough to keep driving.

We lost yet another wheel in Ukraine due to overloading the car and poor-quality roads. A bulge appeared in one of my tires — thank God Hans noticed it before it exploded, and we replaced it. We also lost the front windshield of our Renault. In the towns we visited, roads were in very poor condition, and sometimes there was no asphalt at all — just gravel roads. On one of these, a stone flew up and shattered our windshield, which now needs to be replaced. On top of that, we have some serious engine problem that mechanics haven’t yet identified. In the Ford, after returning from Ukraine, we had to replace the radiator because it had a hole and was leaking fluid.

Trips like this require a lot of effort from us, but in Ukraine, cars really get worn out — even one trip can cause significant damage.

On the way back, we visited our friend Sasha and left him supplies for a center for people with addictions. Then we went to the town of Kovel, where we stayed overnight before heading to Poland. There we left adult diapers for Sergei, who accompanied us on our trip and takes care of elderly and disabled people.

This is just a short description of our first trip.

Our second trip was to Boryslav and Drohobych, where we support the church in missionary work and help the elderly. We brought 150 packages for people in need and adult diapers for the elderly. We also visited the hospital and the palliative care ward, supplying them for 3 months with diapers and other necessary items for caring for seniors.

On the way to Boryslav, we again had a breakdown and had to change cars in Warsaw. This was a weekend trip — we left on Friday and were back home by Sunday. Boryslav is about 200 km from the Polish border.

During these two trips, we delivered over 5 tons of food, adult diapers, wheelchairs, and other essential items for those in need. We preached the Gospel, prayed for people, traveled thousands of kilometers, and returned safely to Poland, while Hans and Gert returned to the Netherlands.

In May and June, we didn’t go to Slovakia to visit our Roma friends, because they came to us, and we organized evangelistic event in our town during the pentecostal day.

To describe in detail our travels and other missionary activities over these two months, we would have to write a small book. I tried to summarize briefly what we did in May and June, and now it’s already August.

In July, our daughter was born, but I will write more about that in the next report.

May God bless you, and thank you for your support. God has brought us together, and  thanks to your support in various forms that we can bring love, faith, and hope to others.