are going to be really major needs for our
brethren and sisters in Ukraine, many of
whom are pensioners. Many of military age
have received callup papers, as the Ukrainian
military seeks to raise an army of 200,000
men to take control of the country from the
rebels, who have claimed to be raising an
army of 100,000. These are big figures. With
the West supporting Ukraine and Russia
supporting the rebels, poor Ukraine is caught
in the middle of a terrible conflict. The Police
are going around to
the homes of those
called up and taking
them away to the
barracks if they don’t
report themselves.
And nobody who has
been called up can
now leave Ukraine.
Please do pray for
this terrible situation
and for our brethren
who are now in
hiding. With Ukraine
now filling up with
tanks and all kinds of military technology, the
largest scale war in Europe since 1945 is now
underway, with East pitted against West with
Ukraine in the middle, including over 200 of
our brethren and sisters. We were able to
distribute welfare to those in need.
It was good to see brethren present at the
Bible School who were baptized over the last
year, and everywhere there is evidence of the
great spiritual blessing of the Russian NEV
Bible with commentary - thank you all so
much for enabling it.
Bro David Corbin
describes the Ukraine Bible School:
“On the 28th January, Bro Duncan, Bro
Nathan Badger and me boarded an Air Baltic
plane heading from Riga, Latvia to Kiev,
Ukraine. After we cleared customs we
thought to get some Ukrainian cooked food.
Well we soon found out that was not going to
happen. Apart from a couple coffee stalls,
there was no cooked food anywhere in this
sprawling airport to be found. We walked
with our luggage to the nearby airport hotel
and was told that due to no guests, they had
closed the only restaurant in the hotel. So
we headed back to the airport. On our way
back Bro Duncan was able to negotiate with
a taxi driver a reasonable price, to take us to
our destination at a Ministry of Defence
sanatorium building in the suburbs of Kiev.
We arrived around 9:00 pm (I am still curious
how the driver found the location with no
visible signs on the secondary roads, minimal
lights and rain - but
again, God was in
control). After Bro
Duncan checked us in
to our rooms, I guess
he had enquired of
the caretaker about
some where to eat,
honestly I had given
up finding
anything to eat for
the night! My
reasoning was that if
there was no
restaurant around
the main airport in Kiev, then surely there
wouldn’t be any in what seems like an aban-
doned town. But were we in for a surprise...
About a third of a mile walk down some
deserted roads patrolled by an army of stray
dogs and the occasional person walking by,
there was a restaurant that served some of
the best salads and pizzas! On Thursday
morning, 29th we were up by 8:00 am, so we
could have some good Ukrainian breakfast
and be ready to share the daily readings
together at 9:30 am sharp. I was surprised by
how many brethren had trickled in overnight
and during the morning, despite the war in
the east. With Bro Duncan translating, I
heard of many twenty plus hour rides by bus
and train to reach the Bible school venue.
It’s really inspiring and an exhortation in
itself to see what these mainly elderly
brethren are willing to go through to share
fellowship together for a few days. The first
two and a half hours were spent doing the
daily bible readings each day which was led
by Bro Duncan. After the daily readings we
had three classes each day. Two by Bro
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Carelinks | Ukraine Bible School
Bro Artem follows the study with brethren and sisters
who had made long and difficult journeys to be with us