Dear Philippian Fellowship Friends,
Thank you for your faithfulness with prayer and support in February and March.
The Lord has seen fit to include us in His plan of showing love to our neighbors fleeing the war in Ukraine. We are doing this through many different avenues. We are housing refugees in our homes, at Camp Eli, at our church in Fundulea, and at our church plant in Sinesti. The initial wave of people that came through needed help getting to the airport, train station, bus station, or just a place to stay for a couple days before they traveled on to other parts of Europe or even North America. The more recent refugees are needing to stay longer it seems.
We have helped with transporting people from the border in Moldova with Ukraine to the capital of Chisinau, or from the Romanian borders to our location. We have become a travel agency, working out different flights, tickets, COVID requirements, visa info, document requirements, as many who came have no possibility of getting anywhere else on their own. It seems we are also a laundry service for all the dear folks that come through!
We have been able to take seven van loads of goods into Chernivtsi, Ukraine, that were then loaded onto larger transport vans and carried to Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine. The church we delivered to in Kharkiv was bombed last week while believers were inside praying. The bomb failed to explode, only causing a large hole in the roof, broken windows, etc.
God brought a FCA missionary couple leaving Ukraine on their way back to the states. After seeing their usefulness here their plans changed, and they have been with us since helping with the refugees. Their knowledge of the Russian language is invaluable. Google translate works okay for food choices but having a believing translator to share the gospel is the best!
In February Ady & Niky Cojoc, along with Florin Nastase went to Ezo, South Sudan with Simon Backhit for three weeks. Simon is originally from this village. They were able to show the Jesus film in the Zande language in two locations every evening. They were able to give over 1000 New Testaments to the people who desired a copy after watching the film and hearing about Jesus’ life. They assisted in the repairs of existing wells and were instrumental in drilling more new wells. Niky and Florin were able to teach creation and science at the schools. They contracted to make new benches for the existing school in town and renovated the classrooms also. We had the privilege of hosting the Cojoc’s two children, Naomi and Ioel, while they were gone!
With the Lord’s help we have basically finished the interior of the Mission house. We have finished the foundation and block work for the garage/utility/furnace/boiler room also. Thanks so much for your generous gifts to make this project a reality!
Gerald and Kristin Ziemer
