Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Cheri and I deeply appreciate your partnership in providing warm blankets for Ukrainians during their cold winter. I thought you might like to see the fruit of your prayers and sacrifices, so we’re showing you a few photos to give you a picture of what the Lord is doing.

Our ministry partners are buying blankets by the hundreds and distributing them through their church to displaced peoples. Thanks to your partnership we were able to purchase and distribute nearly 600 blankets last week for Ukrainians displaced by the war. Today we are in the process of purchasing 600 more.

How does distribution work? There are three steps: 1) registration, 2) gospel presentation, and 3) blanket distribution.1. Registration. Our teammates carefully verify each person’s “Displaced Refugee” status. Sometimes registration takes place by candlelight, since millions have no heat, water, or electricity due to the war.

2. Gospel. The gospel is the priority. Our ministry partners do evangelistic events first and then humanitarian help. Some recipients have started visiting their church. Follow up will continue for months and possibly for years.

Example: One couple started coming to Bible Studies and said, “We’ve always come to the Orthodox church to light candles for our sins, but we never opened the Bible to read it and understand what the priest was reading. Now we are reading the Bible by ourselves. There’s so much we didn’t know.”

3. Distribution. The joyful and grateful expressions on people’s faces tell the story. In addition to refugees, recipients include church members as well as newcomers, especially those who lost their jobs.

Your Ukrainian brothers and sisters asked us to send you their deep appreciation. When you see here your fellow believers handing blankets to people in need, just think of their hands as your hands. You have partnered with us and them to share Christ’s love during this emergency.

Thank you so much.

Rich and Cheri