This week some of our American staff returned to Ukraine after evacuating nearly four months ago. We are grateful to God for the way He directed their departure in February since bombs dropped in the country only one week later. The area of our base no longer seems threatened by imminent danger, so our American staff members are able to return to help our Ukrainian staff manage the large quantity of aid in Ukraine. Some of our staff members were unable to return this week but will be traveling to the country in the coming weeks.
We invite you to pray for our staff as they adjust to the move. Ukraine seems like home to them, but it is not the same as they left it. Pray that they can remain mentally strong as they witness the destruction and minister to the many needs around them. Our national workers in Ukraine did a tremendous job to operate the flow of aid in the absence of the American staff. Pray that they too would not become “weary in well doing.”
The crucial need for aid in Ukraine is ongoing. While some areas are liberated, the economy is in shambles. Despite the challenges, we are grateful for the opportunity to operate there. We were able to replenish our fuel reserves at the CAM compound in June, which enables our staff and workers to continue to deliver food, medicines, and other emergency aid throughout the country. So far, we can get plentiful supplies of food and other aid to distribute.
Many Ukrainians are looking ahead and are already worried about firewood and other supplies they need to stay warm in the coming winter. The heat of summer will end too quickly for the people struggling to provide the basics. We are researching ways to best meet these needs before winter arrives.
Now that our staff returned, they plan to implement many of the general CAM programs that were inoperable while they were gone. Our staff are also working toward starting a rebuilding program in areas devastated by the war but are no longer facing active conflict. We look to God for wisdom to know how to best meet the needs in Ukraine in the coming months and years.
