By Don Hughes —
Mercy Projects (MercyProjects.org) founder Jeff Thompson and team members have done everything possible since the Ukraine War started to alleviate human suffering. Now they have turned to using vans to enter war-torn areas to deliver supplies and take vulnerable people to safety on the return trip.
This includes many perilous trips from Poland into various parts of Ukraine, where battles rage. They are delivering Kevlar vests, helmets, medical supplies, and food. They use the vans to extract at-risk people and take them to the border on the return journey.
In a report delivered April 2nd from Eastern Ukraine, Jeff Thompson said, “About 100 miles from Mariupol, the Christian people in this region are increasingly worried about the situation. While the media reports Russian troops pulling out, the shelling increases. We drove 1,000 miles one way with three vans over pot-holed roads to complete this mission. Again, thank you for praying for us.”
“We spent the night at a local pastor’s home before unloading our supplies and then loading our passengers in the morning for the long return trip to safety. Pastor Vadim has young men from his church serving in the active military and the civilian defense force. They helped us unload and distribute supplies.”
Thompson said, “As we unloaded, air raid sirens went off for 10 minutes. It is eerie to hear the sirens, but that is part of their daily existence. Earlier in the month, in Kyiv, visiting our team member Andriy, who is now a chaplain in the civilian defense force, we listened to constant shelling in the distance. No air raid sirens, just shelling. Our heart goes out to the brave people of Ukraine who face these threats daily, and we want to help them even more.”
Mercy Projects has a child education center in the town of Ivankiv, near Chernobyl. It has been under Russian control since the first days of the war.
“According to our ministry associate, Andrey Kolbovskiy, Ivankiv was supposedly liberated yesterday when the Russians pulled back,” Thompson reported. “But people there are still locked down. They face the new threat of land mines left by the Russian invaders.”
“The war seems to be going into a new phase,” Thompson said. “But the human suffering is continuing on a large scale. Mercy Projects has always emphasized at-risk children, but now everyone in Ukraine is at risk. That’s why we are going into hazardous areas with our three vans to deliver needed supplies and help the most vulnerable people escape. Please continue to pray for us.”
View videos and other content here: https://www.mercyprojects.org/category/ukraine-war/
