Translation of the report from 08/20/2022 / Gert Pohl

After a short summer break, here is the report of our last aid trip between 07/23 and 07/25. to Ukraine. After some delays and clarification as to who should go to the Ukraine as the second man with Konstantin, a devout Ukrainian from the village of Anadoli spontaneously found himself, of course from Church community of Vitalo Zhurek, which we have supported from the beginning. God has his own departure times and after some delays we were happy to finally know why we had to wait so long.

So on Saturday, July 23, 2022, the time had come. Konstantin's car was also ready and everything else prepared. And the trip went without any major incidents and the Ukrainian border could also be crossed without a long stop.

We are currently supporting 2 projects: On the one hand, the Sulamite communities in Kyiv, whose work is becoming more and more extensive due to the increasing number of internal refugees, and on the other hand, our brothers and sisters in a village in Anadoli, which we have been supporting financially since the beginning.

Let's start today with Anadoli: This work is quite unspectacular, but also very helpful. As reported in the past, many men from this village are at war. The Baptist congregation there provided rooms and a kitchen where not only the families of the soldiers (actually the whole village is somehow involved) cook together and pack food rations for the men at the front (and many others). At regular intervals, these women then go to the front to their husbands and distribute the food rations and despite the great suffering and the very stressful situation for everyone, this work is a light of humanity and the love of God in these dark times. Life-Project thanks you for this token of love. Please pray for the village community and the soldiers from Anadoli who are doing a hard service for your country.

It was an honor for us to be able to present an amount of 3000.00 euros on your behalf to this community in Anadoli.

Meanwhile, more and more internal refugees from the south and the area around Luhans and Doniez are arriving in Kyiv, the country's capital. To a large extent, these are people whose houses and apartments have been destroyed and who only come to the capital with a suitcase. Many others are simply fleeing the Russian invasion and waiting for the war to come back. The Sulamite communities still maintain a kind of food bank, where the people are mainly provided with food, clothing and everyday necessities free of charge. But not only the physical need is covered, but also the gospel is preached very centrally. In groups of about 30 - 50 people, in bad weather or in the open air, a 15-minute evangelism sermon is given before the relief supplies are distributed, and people are often very emotionally touched in these times of need. I would like to refer to the reports and video snippets from our past aid transports.

In recent months, services have grown to a four-digit number every Sunday. Large halls are rented and large services are celebrated. Many people have found faith in Jesus Christ and have turned from their lost path to our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.
What started out as a few dozen people in April has now become a strong light, which shines in the darkness as a testimony to our Lord's mercy.

We are very grateful to God for giving us the opportunity to work in such a direct way with the affected people in Ukraine and to be able to see the fruits of our work so directly..

We are also thankful that together with you we were able to donate 7000.00 Euros to the Sulamite churches in Kyiv for this blessed ministry.

Here is the list of costs, which this time is very efficient because we were able to use the contacts and structures that we already had:

Outward journey:
Gasoline receipts = €363.77
Toll sticker = €37.23


Ukraine domestic and return:
Fuel receipts diesel = €502.67
Donation project Anadoli = 3,000.00 €
Donation Sulamite Churches = 7,000.00€

Total amount withdrawn in cash prior to travel = €11,000.00
plus cash donation before departure = 120.00 euros
Total budget = 11120.00€
Less Total expenses= €10,902.00
Bring the rest back in cash = 218.00 euros

The amounts not used are reserved for the next campaign!

Thanks to all siblings and friends of Life-project e.V. for all prayers, donations and supporting the concerns of our Ukrainian siblings.

Glory to the LORD alone!

Gert / 2022-07-01

Donation goal reached!! Thank you very much!

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord and friends of Life-Project.

We have now just exceeded 11,500.00 and thus reached our 12,000.00 target.

Due to a corona illness of Konstantin, the owner of the Sprinter, who will be on the road, as well as necessary repair work on the car, the aid trip will now take place on July 17th, 2022.

We would like to thank all donors for your help.
Since I will not be traveling personally this time due to a stay in the USA, and will only be back in Germany on 07/26/22, I will only write a travel report afterwards.
Please continue to pray for our needy brothers and sisters in Ukraine. For a blessed journey from Konstantoin and Boris and that our help can arrive on target again.

Glory to our Lord!

Gert Pohl 2022-06-14

Updated donation status for the coming aid delivery to Kyiv on 30th of June 2022

Donation account: Life-project e.V.  VR-Bank Aalen Germany 
IBAN: DE40 6149 0150 0024 4140 00
BIC /SWIFT: GENODES1AAV

 

For the upcoming trip we have again planned 11,000.00 euros. Among other things, we will use this money to support the contact point for refugees from the east in Kyiv with the largest amount. There, groceries and everyday necessities will again be bought from the food wholesaler Metro in Kyiv in order to provide the refugees directly with the most necessary things to supply. We documented the reports on this in great detail in May if you simply scroll down in this blog.

Furthermore, we visit the small Baptist community again, whose women cook for their soldiers in the east and provide them with the essentials. Not only their men benefit from it, but also many other men at the front are also cared for. This congregation has been serving in prayer and practical love unspectacularly but faithfully since the beginning of the war. We would like to continue to support this and thank you for your commitment. During our last visit there in May, we gave Pastur Vitali Zhurek an amount of 2000.00 euros on your behalf, for which he thanked you very warmly on behalf of the community and on behalf of the many volunteer helpers and also the recipients. This help directly benefits our brothers and sisters on the front lines.

Here we can have a little peek into this action...
We`ve got a little Video-snapshot from Pastor Vitali:

https://youtu.be/WqfR5P0ebro

On 13.06. our donation account has grown again to 4,202.27 euros. We thank you and our LORD for blessing these aid deliveries in this way. Please don't forget to continue to stand up for our brothers and sisters in prayer.

Here's one more request: We've had an increasing number of requests for donations of textiles, but also the most necessary simple kitchen utensils such as pans, plates and cutlery. Many refugees are now coming to the capital with almost nothing from the destroyed cities to the east. Everything is asked. We will probably be on the road again with the same Mercedes Sprinter as last time. Konstantin, the owner of the transporter, will have a trailer hitch installed next week and we can then attach the trailer from Pohltechnik to the rear, so that we should have enough space. As usual, the meeting point is in my garage at Heimatwinkel 21. Please register in advance (0172 7300577), or if I or Dennis (in house no. 19) are not there, at the Dombacher family, house no. 26, ring the bell directly opposite.
Well, if you wanted to sort out your closets anyway, now would be another great opportunity to help grateful brothers and sisters in need. Everything we take with us, we bring directly and free of charge to the distribution points for those in need. Without interim storage, dealers or other intermediary institutions.

Of course, the same also applies to the financial aid, which we sometimes convert into food on site (see our previous documentation) or hand over personally to the volunteers in Kyiv. We included some of the many expressions of gratitude from the recipients in our last report. With our donations in Kyiv alone, we have already packed more than 4 tons of food individually in small plastic bags and distributed it in this way to the volunteer helpers in the communities there. Approximately 300-400 people are confronted daily with the Word of God in the form of a short prayer before receiving the food. Churches fill up significantly from Sunday to Sunday with more people. Many allow themselves to be called to repentance and, through this testimony of love, recognize the very personal grace of God in their lives.

Let us not let this light of love go out and let us honor our LORD. In addition to all the terror and horror of this war, we are seeing the MERCY of OUR LORD these days, which he is showing to these people in a very special way through his lively community in the midst of this inhuman war in the Ukraine.

We thank you for all your prayers, donations and supporting the concerns of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. After our return, probably on June 4th or 5th, we will report again.

All glory to HIM

admin

22-06-06

Announcement next aid transport to Kiev on June 30, 2022

Dear brothers and sisters, pray-ers and friends of Life-Project e.V.

Many pictures of recipients of our relief supplies have now arrived as well as some mobile phone videos which have been set to music by a few volunteers from the Kiev churches.  These supplies were purchased with some of the nearly 5000.00 euros that we turned over to them on May 9th. Groceries and other essential items were bought and then distributed by a large evangelistic team. The recipients were always given tracts and Bibles or scripture portions as well as an invitation to church services. Many people come to the Sunday meetings. I can't upload all the pictures, but I'm including a selection of them below. There are hundreds of photos and short videos with greetings from the people, all of them expressing their gratitude. We see that our efforts not only help with physical needs, but also how the seed of God's word falls on fertile ground in times of need and arouses true spiritual interest.

On June 30th we are planning our next humanitarian aid trip to Kyiv to continue our support of this project (and others) and to maintain our contacts on site. Borys will probably drive again with Richard Bresel, who was also part of the most recent trip. As the fighting in the east is becoming ever more intense, many people are currently fleeing to the capital. The queues in front of the distribution point in Kyiv are currently getting longer and longer. There are now also more and more volunteers who are involved in order to accomplish this task. However, the funds are also becoming increasingly scarce and we are grateful that we are not the only donors who provide funds. However, there is still a very urgent need, especially for food and everyday necessities. While the prices for the Ukrainians are becoming increasingly expensive, we continue to be able buy very cheaply with our euros because of the rising exchange rate. At the same time, we are able to support the local economy.

Therefore we ask again on behalf of the countless people who are fleeing or who are in great distress, that you renew prayer for these suffering people. Many thanks in advance to all of you.

In addition, there are again requests for clothing and material donations. We don't yet know which vehicle we will be using, but we will certainly fill it up again. Please do not donate any food, because there is plenty of it in the country and it is much cheaper to buy it there. And, we will again need the space in the car for medical supplies and material. Please contact me, Gert Pohl, at 0172 7300577. My garage in Aalen Hofherrnweiler is still available.

We will also go back to the small village of Anadoly and visit Vitaly Zhurek's Baptist church. From this small village about 15 men were drafted into the war. Since the beginning of the war, the entire village community has been involved in providing their soldiers with food and other necessary items. Not only do the 15 men from this village who are risking their lives at the front benefit from this, but also many other soldiers at the front in the south-east of the country. We want to continue to support our fellow believers and would like to send them another 2,000.00 to 3,000.00 euros, depending on how large our total budget will be this time. In addition, we also agreed there with the pastor of the church that a small part of the money and material donations could also be used for people in the village who are particularly in need. I hope that this is also in your interest. These poor people are already giving virtually all that they have to help and we don't want to simply overlook some of our Christian brothers and sisters who are particularly affected by the current situation.

We thank God for these doors of opportunity that he has opened for us during this time.
Let's keep praying for this country and stand up for our brothers and sisters there!

Finally, a very personal request from me:
We pray that Life-project can continue this relief work for as long as possible. Our circle of donors currently consists of quite a few people, but overall they are financially involved to their limits. We can see this from the number of visitors to our website and the donations received. It is my prayer that we will still find more people who can help spread our blog reports on social media. Since it is to be expected that this war will (unfortunately) not be over soon, we need perseverance if we want to continue to help even more. It will therefore be helpful to communicate our burden more broadly.  Please help us to communicate with as many  people, groups and churches as possible and in this way to make our blog known.
 
If you would support us by sharing this Life-Project e.V. blog among your personal contacts, or if you have other possibilities to spread this information, then we would be very grateful. Thanks also for any further ideas on how we can spread the information about our efforts.

Glory to the Lord alone!

Here are some video links on Youtube:
 
A distribution campaign, about 3 weeks ago:
https://youtu.be/jGvNe6EvQGc
 
The next video is more recent and shows similar outreach activities from the same church that we were also involved in.
Our 1500 Life-project e.V. stickers have all been used up. We're printing a few more to take along on this trip.
 
This next video is a spontaneous thank you from a woman who received aid.  I hope to get a translation in the next few days:
 
 
Some more picture:
WarteschlangeKiew
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2-06-06 / Gert Pohl

Financial report of the relief trip to Kiev from May 5 to May 11, 2022

Accounting mode: This time we paid for the additional purchases in Germany in cash, or processed them through the cash box. Some amounts, such as the tourniquets, were paid for with Paypal but were still processed through the cash box. We processed this internally. Only at the end, when we ran out of cash at the last gas station, did we pay by card. This has not yet been accounted for. That is why there is a minus amount at the end of the report. This minus amount will be covered and included on our next report.

How the funds were disbursed:

Concerning support for the village residents in Chebutintze (entry no. 33), most of these nearly €900.00 will not go directly to the war zone. These funds primarily benefit very needy residents in this village. We made sure that the money is in fact used for this purpose. We visited, for example, a family that lives in extreme poverty, and yet they still took in an orphaned baby from the war zone. These were exceptional situations where we felt free to make a decision as to how the funds were disbursed. We trust that this was in accord with your intentions.

The two items, no. 34 and 35 (total €770.00) also include the fuel costs for the 990 kilometer drive to Kyiv with the rental car. We had to take our van to the workshop (repair was paid for by the owner of the van) and then drive to Kyiv in the rented Mercetes Vito.

If you have any questions or need to see the receipts, you can contact me: Gert Pohl 0049 172 7300577

As a Life-project team, we thank our great God for His care and protection and all of you for your great support. The funds were disbursed with utmost care and we strongly believe that we can continue to spread God's word and His love in this way.

All glory be to the LORD!

excel