How are you doing? Did you know that according to the UN there are more Ukrainian refugees in Russia than anywhere else in the world? Over 2,4 million people have crossed the border from the beginning of war in February, and that is on top of the stream of refugees that have been moving to Russia since the hostilities began in 2014 in Eastern Ukraine. Now in all fairness, not all these refugees stay in Russia. Some do travel farther North and seek asylum status in other European countries. But many do stay and are in need of our assistance.
We began helping refugees immediately. Our first batch of aid was collected and delivered to Voronezh back in early March. One of the things we immediately discovered was that aid was collected by the government at huge warehouses and then distributed centrally on an as-needed basis. This system worked great at preventing corruption and cutting away routes to the black market, but it was rather slow in addressing the needs of specific people and did not allow for the personal touch of ministering to those that we were helping.
Thus, we switched to a different approach and have tapped into our network of churches in the south of Russia. That allowed us to address specific needs like sometimes renting a place for a dispersed family or looking into purchasing a washing machine for a church that cared for refugees. It also empowered local pastors on the ground and their church members to specifically reach the refugees with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the last 6 months, we have sent help to Voronezh, purchased care packages in Toganrog, provided aid in Novocherkask, assisted people in Rostov, and helped pack supplies for ministers that traveled to Donetsk, perhaps one of the hotter regions in this conflict right now.
During this time, we raised money in Russia. For example, one of our church members “adopted” one family, paid for their housing, prayed for them, and met their practical needs as they arose. But we have also seen churches and foundations in the US respond to this need and provide much-needed help. Thank you very much for your prayers; thank you for your partnership in alleviating this great crisis and making lives of so many at least a little bit more normal.
Yours in praying and hastening the day of revival in Moscow and Russia,
Constantin and Alexandra
Please join us in praying for God:
- To bring peace to Ukraine and Russia and to bless our efforts in not only caring for refugees but also reaching them with the Gospel of Christ.
- To nurish and raise in faith the 6 people we are about to baptize this coming Sunday.
- To raise necessery funds and make a wise purchase of an appartment that would be a place to raise our boys and to serve Christ in proclaiming the Gospel.
GIVING THROUGH INTERNETIONAL COMMUNITIES OF EURASIA (ICC-E):
You can donate to the Lysakovs’ ministry via ICC-E by check or autopay from your bank (see address below), or with your credit card via the ICC-E web site http://icceurasia.com/
Website: http://icceurasia.com
Email: icc.eurasia@gmail.com:
Mailing Address:
ICC-Eurasia
P.O. Box 34035
Bethesda, MD 20827-0035
Phone +1 (301) 514-7433
GIVING THROUGH CRYPTO CURRENCY
It's a new age and a new dawn, so why not use this simple method if you are so inclined and you have etherium or bitcoin that you want to use to support our ministry. You can use our Metamask wallet that was set up for these purposes (0xE021dB34F65C0F5B1F0ccF4Def059233B67891DB)
