We are excited to share with all the readers that due to the donations that we receive, we are able to help people in another village. While visiting Ukraine, Vitaliy and the rest of the Mission members visited Gregoriy, who lives in Bratske, Ukraine (who is also a pastor in said village). After a long discussion, both sides agreed to work together to help the poor in that village. Gregoriy will receive money from Maria (our accountant in Blagoveshchenka) and he will use that money to help those in need.

We would like to thank every individual who donated; and remember, you can give your donation to any of the members of Mission friend or simply by clicking the “DONATE” button.

With your contribution, we can help even more people.

We would like to inform you that we have two more members that joined Mission Friend. They both live in Kamianske (previously known as Dniprodzerzhynsk), Ukraine. You may already know Denys, who has been working with the Mission for the past several years, and now we have Lily Kravets and Maria Krivoruchko who joined. We previously mentioned that Lily is living at the retirement home in the village of Blagoveshchenka to help out the residents. Maria is our accountant, so she will be keeping track of the money that is sent there. Maria will provide Angela (our accountant in US) with a monthly summary of how much was spent, where the money was spent, and how much more is needed.

In one of our previous posts, we mentioned that Mission Friend members will fix up a room for Lily (a member of Mission Friend who will live on the property to help the residents living in that house). After taking a closer look, it was decided that because of the faulty condition of the “proposed room”, it would be safer to build a separate room for Lily. On the seventh day of their stay in Ukraine, Vitaliy and Vova started building a one-room house. They bought all the material the evening before, and they started building the next morning. There was a delay due to a power outage in the village of Blagoveshchenka, so the construction took a little longer than expected. Nevertheless, with the help of Denis and Alex (who lives in the second house in the village of Blagoveshchenka), they finished a one-room house before the members of Mission Friend returned to America. Vitaliy and Denis even spent the night in this room through the Sabbath to have church service with the residents and the villagers.

After finishing painting the windowsills and gluing the wallpaper in the kitchen, Angela and Alina helped with the last touches of the one-room house.

Lily’s one-room house

Mission members went out to buy all the thing they need for the retirement house. They bought food for the residents as well as things needed for the construction of the new room. Vitaliy and Vladimir will be building the room for Liliya. If she’ll end up not needed the room, it will be used to move in new residents.

That same day, Maria, Angela, and Alina took off the old wallpaper to put the new one up. They also cleaned up the rooms, as well as washing the windows and the cabinets to get them ready to be painted.

As it was planned, on Sunday, some of the missionaries with the help of some people from the Dneprodzerzhinsk church, brought clothes to the village “Stepovoe” where the residents each took whatever they needed.

Afterwards, all of the kids from Blagoveshenka were invited to the missionary house for games, lunch, and presents. Mission Friend brought a volleyball net for the kids, and while the boys played soccer, the girls were learning how to play volleyball. Liliya cooked everyone pilaf for lunch. Then at the end of the day kids were handed out notebooks, covers, and treats, such as cookies and ice cream.

In the afternoon, while the kids were gathering for the games, Alina and Anastasiya, a sister of faith from Dneprodzerzhinsk church, helped paint the windows in the retirement house.

The day was productively spent, and the kids had a good time.

On the second day, mission members went to buy tile to make a tiled floor in two rooms of the retirement home. They also bought food and some kitchenware for the residents of the house.

Afterwards, the missionaries went to hand out invitations near the village or Blagoveshenkа. Everyone was invited to come to the house on Sunday to receive clothes that were sent from U.S.

Upon arrival in Ukraine, mission members visited the retirement house and met the residents. They also met some people who live in the village “Blagoveshenkа”. There’s a family of 9 that resides in this village who’s roof burned down in a house fire. On the first day, missionaries, Vitaliy, Denis, and Vladimir helped them to temporarily cover the roof, as they are expecting rain over the weekend.

In the meantime, Alina, Angela and some of the residents of the house helped sort out the clothes that were sent from U.S. to give out to the villagers on Sunday.

Denis along with mission members started the construction of a little house on the property to use as “church” for Sabbath services.

Also, a member of the church in Dneprodzerzhinsk, Liliya, looks after the house and cooks for the residents, and keeps the house in order. Missionaries are working on remodeling a room in the house where Liliya could live when she stays at the house.

There’s a lot to be done in the limited time that mission members will be in Ukraine, but they are going to try to get as much done as possible.

Maria Litvinenko, a new member of mission Friend, is collecting clothes to be sent to Ukraine. Our members in Ukraine distribute those clothes to those in need. We accept new and used clothes that are in good condition. If you’d like to donate, or have any questions about this, please feel free to contact any of the members of the mission or email us directly at friend.mission@gmail.com.