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"5 churches" project
aid 04 project for 5 churches.
The "5 Churches" project (as we call it among ourselves) was created with the help of our foreign friends/partners and PlusOne. This is an additional grant that was allocated to five partner churches. Churches that are active in hot spots, helping victims and sheltering refugees.
Churches located in the following cities: Irpin, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Kryvyi Rih and Dunaivtsi.
The grant was received to strengthen the active ministry they carry out. For example: someone prepares food, accepts refugees, prepares premises for winter, buys food or fuel, conducts camps - churches are free to use finances in their ministry. These finances will help to be even more efficient.
5 churches ministries record:
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Irpin Bible Church, city of Irpin
From the first days of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the church has been actively serving people helping them to evacuate. One day after midnight, a volunteer of the church received a call from some people with a request to evacuate their elderly father, who didn’t really want to leave Irpin. The following day, a team of volunteers arrived at the indicated address and managed to persuade the old man, who continued to resist, to leave his home with them. As the evening was approaching, the same people called the volunteers from the church and asked why they hadn’t yet evacuated their dad yet. The volunteers responded they had picked up the man already. As it turned out, they got the address wrong and evacuated the wrong man. The next morning they found the “right” father, this time at the correct address and evacuated that man as well. The very next day, a mine flew into the house of the man who was the first to be evacuated, and his house was completely destroyed. By such an interesting story, and by the mistake of the volunteers from the church, God saved the life of another person.
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Video link Pastor Vasyl Ostryi was a companion in the preparation of the church for the war - he had initiated water and food supplies, conducted online broadcasts with chaplains and soldiers.
When the war broke out, he was visiting the USA, so he returned to Ukraine to actively volunteer - to ensure the possibility of a large-scale evacuation of the people of Irpin, to deliver humanitarian aid together with the team, and launched a Trust Line.
"Irpin Bible Church" - Website
"Irpin Bible Church" - Instagram
Photo: oto
Church of Grace, Sumy city
From the day the war started, our church has been actively serving local people. On February 24, Russian troops invaded our city and having set up checkpoints at the exits, took control over the city. Sumy city was under siege. At that time, it was also subject to aerial bombardment. One such casualty happened on the night of March 7 when a Russian jet dropped several bombs on the residential area. An entire street of private houses was destroyed and 22 people including children died. During Russian occupation, our community continued to provide people primarily with spiritual support. We prayed for people, shared the message of encouragement and hope with them. During these four months, we would buy food, household detergents, hygiene items and medicines whenever possible. We distributed aid to the homes of the neediest strata of the population. In the beginning, together with other churches and local businessmen, flour, eggs and chickens were distributed through the churches. Then we began to form food packages, supplementing them with medicines and hygiene items. During the first two months of the war, we were also helping with the evacuation of people who wanted to leave. Thanks to joined efforts with other churches, people were transported to safer places by small vans. People would first stay in the cities of Poltava and Cherkasy. From there they had an opportunity to go to the west of Ukraine or abroad.
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"Church of Grace" - Facebook
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Church of Jesus Christ, Mykolaiv city
From the first days we felt a great responsibility in helping physically and spiritually and morally our military. During the first days of the war, starting in the morning, we would deliver hot tea, as well as basic necessities. And, most importantly, at every meeting with the military, we would give them a hug and pray together. We still continue to do so! During this time, however, it has grown more into cooperation with commanders and officials.
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The help we provided was various: power generators, bulletproof vests, a lot of medicine, helmets, optics, food…, one won't remember everything, but what we remember for sure – every time when meeting with the military, we try to give them a hug and pray with them and for them!
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"Church of Jesus Christ" - Facebook
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Shelter Church, the city of Kriviy Rog
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Our community of Jesus' disciples is the most informal and open structure for cooperation - both with churches of other denominations and with various civil society organizations. In this way, our team manages to be as flexible and efficient as possible in these conditions. The main activities, in addition to the daily prayer front and pastoral care of the faithful, are implemented through the Cultural and Community Centre SHELTER + and the Union of Responsible Citizens. In particular, for success at the front and assistance to refugees, we do the following: 1) we are looking for / buying / producing equipment for military protection (helmets, armor, high-quality individual first aid kits, specific medical equipment) and for more effective reconnaissance activities (thermal imagers, quadcopters, walkie-talkies). For example, we have merged several local businesses and organized high-quality production of more than 200 bulletproof vests. Also organized a high-quality chain for the purchase of cars for the front in Europe and have already brought, put in order and handed over to various units of the Armed Forces more than 20 cars
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"Shelter Church" - Website
"Shelter Church" - Instagram
"Shelter Church" - Facebook
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We are a family from Mariupol. We came here to Krivoy Rog saving the life of our children and life of our own. Here we met a lot of kindhearted people and received support from volunteers and just caring people. It was very delightful and we feel proud for our country and our people. Our acquaintance with Shelter and the people who are engaged in this work has been the greatest luck for us. This is really their frontline for the sake of our Victory, as Roman says, and they get a victory at their frontline every day. Thanks to everyone who volunteers and who takes care of children. Thanks for all the events you organized - you did your best and we feel it and your attitude makes my life easier and makes me want to live on ... Thanks to you, I started feeling the ground under my feet, I got to understand how I can face everything that is happening, where I can get the strength for my faith. What you do is very important. Thankful to each of you" Lena (Mariupol)
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ÒÀÁÎÐÈ05BETHLEHEM CHURCH, city of dunaivtsi hot hot ot
“Loving God, loving people” - these 4 words describe the mission of the local church "Bethlehem". Since February 24, our community has been actively involved in service in the military realities. In addition to existing ministries, new ones have emerged in response to the challenges of war. Since the beginning of the war, the Bethlehem Church has been working in 6 areas.
WHAT DID THE BETHLEHEM CHURCH DO DURING THE WAR? - Evacuation of people from flash points. During the hostilities, about 20 drivers took people out of the places where fighting continues and frontline areas. These are people from Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions. - In each of the trips, the drivers delivered humanitarian aid to cities affected by the war. - The Bethlehem Church was a coordination centre between charitable organizations and frontline/deoccupied territories. - Temporary location for people. Since the beginning of the war, it has received 6,000 people who have been evacuated from flash points. People stayed at the church or at members of the church community in transit.
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You can find more information about our MINISTRY here:
Церква “Віфлеєм” - Instagram Церква “Віфлеєм” - Facebook Церква “Віфлеєм” - YouTube