EXTREME COLD AND CONTINUOUS DESTRUCTIONThe pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue to bring the good news of Jesus to hundreds remaining in their war-torn country, bringing people love, hope, and light. Approximately 6.5 million people in Ukraine have been displaced and are facing freezing winter conditions after being forced to flee their homes. Many take shelter in damaged buildings and have limited access to food, electricity, and heat. LCC received the following updates from LCC staff member Rev. Larry Myers:  The pastors and laity of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue to risk their lives to deliver humanitarian aid and the Gospel to their fellow Ukrainians. A trip was made this past week to the de-occupied coastal region of the Dnieper River near the city of Kherson. Although you cannot always see the protection beneath their outer coats, they do wear bulletproof vests as they travel and visit. The hot items this winter are batteries, candles, and generators. The extremely cold weather and Russia's continuous destruction of the infrastructure make survival in Ukraine quite challenging.
Efforts continue to provide supplies from Romania to the SELCU pastors and congregations in Ukraine. The photo shows Sergiu Trifa (in a yellow knit hat), the son of the Rev. Sorin-Horia Trifa of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Romania, who has continued to purchase and transport much-needed items to the Romanian-Ukrainian border. Lutheran Church Charities provided funds to assist in this effort. Pictured in the center is the Rev. Oleg Schewtschenko, pastor of the SELCU congregation in Odessa, who regularly receives the supplies at the border and transports them into Ukraine.
Your Support Provides Cold Weather Supplies to the Soldiers on the Frontlines LCC received the following update from Oksana Svidruk of Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Palatine, Illinois:  Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thank you for supporting the 68 Jager Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. Their hope and perseverance have been fortified by your life-saving help. Although we are not there to witness the war, the donations provided keep them pushing forward every day. They feel protected through the supplies that we have sent them: bandages to heal wounds, as well as warm clothes to keep them warm during the winter. We are hoping to launch another donation campaign to provide more supplies. Once again, we would like to come together in prayer as we give thanks for all of the blessings we have received. Let us also remember those in need and humbly ask for God's grace and mercy. May 2023 bring us unity and peace under God's protection. Please prayerfully consider donating to help Ukrainians by showing the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need! Limited Access to Food, Warm Clothing, Electricity, and Heat! The pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue to bring the good news of Jesus to hundreds this Christmas in their war-torn country, bringing people love, hope, and light. Approximately 6.5 million people in Ukraine have been displaced and are facing freezing winter conditions after being forced to flee their homes. Many take shelter in damaged buildings and have limited access to food, electricity, and heat. LCC received the following update from Pastor Sergey Bevz in Dnipro.  We continue to carry out our ministry. Due to missile attacks on our critical infrastructure, we continue to have problems with electricity. For many people, this becomes even more of a problem because heating their homes relies on electricity. The water supply can also be connected to electricity. The mobile network also can not work for a long time without it. Therefore, now a very important help for people are candles, batteries, power banks, flashlights, generators, various types of stoves, warm clothes, and blankets. Without this, it is impossible to survive in the de-occupied places because, in most of them, there is no electricity. Also, many people are asking for some building materials to help them close the holes in their damaged houses. Medicines, food, and other basic food items are also important. We still try to make a trip deep into the de-occupied areas once a week. Also, every Sunday after the service, we receive people in the church. There are also separate groups of people whom we help - wounded soldiers in the hospital, the disabled, and people in special clothes. In recent months, the Lord has been blessing our church, and it is growing. We are also particularly humble before the Lord because we see a revival starting in the church. New people come to repentance. They confess their sins and faith in Jesus. There have been six converts in the last month. There are many people who come to confirmation classes. Recently, our city was hit by a rocket attack. The rocket hit a nine-story building and caused severe damage. We were there bringing help. This is something terrible that shocked us all, although this is far from the first such incident in recent months. Thank you for continuing to remember Ukraine and helping the victims. It helps many people to survive and endure during this time. God's blessings! Pastor Sergei Bevz Your Generosity Provides Computers for Children in Medinya Orphanage
YOUR DONATIONS HELPED MORE THAN 10,000 FAMILIES   During the current year, Lutheran Church Charities provided support to the victims of the war in Ukraine. The Lutheran Church "Living Water" in the city of Dnipro is one of the churches that received your donations. Your donations here in Ukraine have taken on a different form - food, basic necessities, medicines, clothing, certain critical needs, and so on. And even some bulletproof vests for our volunteers, who often bring help to dangerous places. It is even difficult for us today to calculate more or less exactly the number of people who received help from your donations. In fact, we did not think that all this would last for so many months and that there would be so many victims and those in need of help. But according to rough estimates, this is more than 10,000 thousand families (in most cases, we provide assistance per family, based on 4-5 people) only through our Church in the city of Dnipro. These were refugees who sought asylum in our city (today, there are about 400,000 refugees in our city). Also, these were people who remained in their cities and villages. Many of them survived the occupation. These were Donetsk, Kharkov, and Kherson regions. We have taken aid to many places in these areas. It is difficult to convey in words or even photographs what can be seen in those places where there were battles and occupation. War is worse than words or photos can convey. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans (5:20), said an amazing thought - when sin increases, grace abounds even more. We did not think that we would see confirmation of these words in this way. But we saw it during the war. When on the one hand, some people became a source of violence, destruction, death, pain, and tragedy. But other people have become a source of help, conductors of compassion, mercy, and God's grace. Therefore, as a citizen of Ukraine, as a brother in Christ, and on behalf of many people who received your help, I want to glorify the Lord and thank you and your charitable organization for the help provided. It really was important and precious and remains so. We wish you blessed days when we all celebrate Christmas and New Year. We wish you and all of us peace around us, peace within us, and peace with our God through our Savior Jesus Christ. God's blessings! Pastor Sergey Bevz City of Dnipro, Ukraine Christmas Eve Service Without Power  Most congregations of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine follow the Eastern Orthodox church calendar. Thus, the birth of Christ ('Christmas') was just observed on January 6-7. The congregation in Mikaloev, pastored by Oleksiy Navrotskyy, experienced a jam-packed house for its Christmas Eve worship. One of the ministries in the Odessa congregation is outreach to the disabled. Their Christmas Eve service for them had to be conducted without any power. Pastor Oleg Schewtschenko reports: "The Star of Bethlehem brought wise men to Jesus. We had no electricity, but the light of the Gospel once again brought children and parents in Odessa to their Saviour!"  Please prayerfully consider donating to help Ukrainians by showing the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need! You Are Making Miracles for the Little Ones in Ukraine!
LCC received the following update from Oksana Svidruk of Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Palatine, Illinois:
 Additionally, thanks to your contribution, we were able to send two generators to the orphanage! This means that they will be able to keep the lights on even though the war has taken out the power in most of the area. In November 2022, we sent 30 computers to a different orphanage in the Ivano Frankivsk region, Serdechko. Thanks to these computers, the children can keep studying. Despite the sounds of war all around them, they grow braver every day, knowing that they can continue to study and learn. Thanks to God’s grace, they are able to keep looking toward the future with hope and faith. We’re reaching out again so that we can provide the Medinya orphanage with the same opportunity. We plan to send 30 computers to the Medinya orphans so that they can keep moving forward in their studies. Your support is greatly appreciated. You have shown great kindness in treating the orphans just as you would the newborn king. Thank you for extending this kindness to the children of Ukraine. Oksana Svidruk Parishioner The Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Palatine Please prayerfully consider donating to help provide computers for the children in the Medinya orphanage.
SELCU PASTORS SERVING UKRAINIANS ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR FAITHFUL SUPPORTLimited Access to Food, Warm Clothing, Electricity, and Heat!  The pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue to bring the good news of Jesus to hundreds this Christmas in their war-torn country, bringing people love, hope, and light. Approximately 6.5 million people in Ukraine have been displaced and are facing freezing winter conditions after being forced to flee their homes. Many take shelter in damaged buildings and have limited access to food, electricity, and heat. LCC received the following update from Pastor Sergey Bevz in Dnipro.  Unfortunately, the situation has become more difficult. As we expected, there were serious "winter" problems. Russian missiles and drones are attacking Ukraine's critical infrastructure. Therefore, we often do not have electricity, sometimes for several days in a row. Because of this, there may also be no heat, water, communications, and the Internet. Therefore, today, in addition to products, generators, power banks, candles, batteries, various flashlights, and lamps also fell into the category of critical items. However, we continue to serve the people. As before, every Sunday in our building is the issuance of assistance to needy residents and refugees who live in our city. People receive food and essentials. Also, once a week, we make humanitarian trips to the de-occupied territories of the Kherson region. We carry food packages, medicines, candles, and batteries. We are also collecting warm clothes as much as possible. Russian soldiers, during the occupation, took away many warm things from them - jackets, blankets, sweaters, and much more. People in these places have not had electricity for the last 8-10 months. They also lack gas, often water, and communications. Of course, the physical, spiritual, and emotional state of these people is often very difficult.  At this time and in this context, we experience the period of Advent and Christmas in a very different way. Now we think about how our Savior came to a hostile world about 2,000 years ago. We are especially comforted by the fact that the Lord personally knew the state of this world, personally knew human cruelty and militancy. But at the same time, Christmas reminds us that we are not left alone. We are not abandoned by our Lord. We are not left without His protection. His name is Emmanuel, and God is with us. He came to be with us and be our Savior. We rejoice that He achieved His purpose. We are glad that He has "de-occupied" our hearts and souls for His Kingdom. The Lord is with us, and this gives us firm hope! Therefore, please accept Merry Christmas greetings from me and the Lutheran Church "Living Water" in the city of Dnipro! Thank you for continuing to support Ukraine and those affected by the war! May the Lord richly bless you and strengthen you in faith! Regards, Sergey Bevz  LCC received the following update from Pastor Oleksiy Navrotskyy: I want to thank you and all partners of Lutheran Church Charities for the incredible work you are accomplishing in my country. Without exaggeration, you and we together have impacted tens of thousands of lives of Ukrainians when they were scared, cold, hopeless, and lonely. Your compassion and generosity have brought hope into the life of so many. God knows the real number of those men, women, kids, and elderly people who were saved from despair and death this year. On behalf of my fellow citizens, church members, and brothers - pastors of SELCU, I thank you for your cooperation in the humanitarian and Gospel mission in Ukraine. Nikolaev Lutheran church (where I serve as a pastor now) is fully packed with new people who hear the Gospel, confess their sins and faith in Christ, and are studying in Confirmation class. It is a real miracle and revival (in the best meaning of this word). God works through His divine Word, growing faith and a new life in so many. You are partners in this labor. Thank you for your trust and the honor to distribute the resources of LCC in Ukraine. We do it attentively with prayer and consideration.
We hope that this war will come to an end and we will restore our beautiful country. We pray for Lord's guidance and wisdom and for His mercy to us and our countries in 2023. Thank you again for your participation in the mission in Ukraine. Your brother in Christ, Oleksiy Navrotskyy Nikolaev, Ukraine  LCC received the following update from Pastor Oleg Schewtschenko, who's spending Christmas in Ukraine serving his people, separated from his wife and children (the below picture is from last year).  Dear Friends, brothers, and sisters, What a day! We remember and celebrate the mystery of God becoming flesh! It is a special time to hear the Word of God, a beautiful opportunity to get the whole family together and enjoy the gift of family, love, hope, joy, and faith. As one of the pastors in Ukraine, I treasure this time because so many people will be able to come and hear the meaning of Christmas for the very first time this year! Despite the war and feeling of being empty, powerless, lonely, and even abandoned – what a privilege to come and to bring the life-changing, hope-giving, faith-creating, and strengthen Good News – “For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
I would love to use this time to express my deepest thanks for all your work, your prayers for us in Ukraine, and your generous support! As I travel, getting the needed things for people, preaching, or just praying with people, you are always with me!
Thank you so much for allowing me and many others to see and experience God's love agape and His care through you! I want to wish you God's blessing. May the Lord be with you and with us. Pastor Oleg Schewtschenko Please prayerfully consider donating to help Ukrainians by showing the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need! Limited Access to Food, Electricity, and Heat  100% of Your Donations Support Ukrainians in Need  Millions of Ukrainians are facing their most challenging winter in recent history, with no end to the war raging in their country. Approximately 6.5 million people in Ukraine have been displaced and are facing freezing winter conditions after being forced to flee their homes. Many take shelter in damaged buildings and have limited access to food, electricity, and heat. The humanitarian ministries of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue unabated in the war torn country. Russian missile strikes have managed to damage virtually every aspect of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. LCC received the following update from Pastor Yurii Timerkan:  I am a Pastor from the Bashtanka region. It is the Southern part of Ukraine. By God's mercy we entered the Advent season. Here in Ukraine, just one or two years ago, we had the same spirit and expectations as you have in the USA or wherever you are today. Expectations about Christmas celebrations, preparing food for guests or finding a good deal in the supermarket. People in the church thought about special worship service. I think it's the same as most of you have. But the war made its adjustment. A few days ago, I helped one older lady from our congregation (75 years old) to visit her son in the Odessa region in a hospital (220 km far from our home). She said to me when we were on the road that everything she dreamed for the last eight months was to see her son alive. And she did it. She met him in the hospital but not because the war stopped, but because he received a bullet wound and could not defend our country more. During the rest of Advent season, the main expectation of this lady is to hear that her son will have the possibility to recover from his injury.  And this is a new reality for millions of Ukrainians today. As a volunteer, I visited some de-occupied territories in Herson City. People in that region waited for electricity for more than seven months. They just want to charge their smartphones and call their parents or friends. Some of them wait for good medicine, drinking water or good food. Of course, we can't provide everything that people need in our regions, but the help and support which you gave us during the last nine months made it possible to find solutions for a lot of needs. Today I want to tell you that people in Ukraine are the same as you. But because of war, our main expectation is to get back to a normal life. Without war, without tears, and without fear. We appreciate all your support. It helps a lot of people to feel not alone in this tragedy. Thank you very much for everything. Please continue to pray for Ukraine. We really need it. Blessed Advent to you, blessed Christmas, and may God richly bless you in all your deeds. Pastor Yurii
Please prayerfully consider donating to help Ukrainians by showing the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need!
 100% of Your Donations Support Ukrainians in Need Millions of Ukrainians are facing their most challenging winter in recent history, with no end to the war raging in their country. Approximately 6.5 million people in Ukraine have been displaced and are facing freezing winter conditions after being forced to flee their homes. Many take shelter in damaged buildings and have limited access to food, electricity, and heat.  The humanitarian ministries of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue unabated in the wartorn country. Russian missile strikes have managed to damage virtually every aspect of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The SELCU pastors report that the energy grid is absent in Odessa and in the eastern regions. Cooking food has become extremely difficult, and keeping warm in these winter months is a major obstacle to survival. To deliver humanitarian relief, the pastors often have to be accompanied by armed military personnel. The photos recently received from Pastors Oleksiy Navrotskyy, Oleg Schewtschenko, Yurii Timerkan, and Verlera Verba visually demonstrate the condition of Ukraine and the difficulties of their ministries. And yet, they continue to share the precious Gospel for the soul together with loving care for the body.
Please prayerfully consider donating to help Ukrainians by showing the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need!
LCC received a request from Jackie Rychel, Ministry in Mission to help with medical expenses for a resident of Jacmel Lutheran Home.
 Donations needed to provide children and their families with food  Through your generous donations, Lutheran Church Charities continues to provide scholarships for children in the tent city in Haiti. Each year for Christmas, we ask that you consider a gift of food for the children.
Because of the current political crisis in Haiti, the cost of food has risen dramatically. We are asking for donations to provide each child with a food package of basic supplies that will feed their family during the Christmas break. Without this assistance, many of the children will go hungry. The cost is $65.00 per child for a gift of basic food staples. Please consider a generous donation to show the love and compassion of Jesus to these children this Christmas. 100% of Your Donations Continue to Support Ukrainians in Need Since March 2022, Lutheran Church Charities has been working cooperatively with pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) and the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Palatine, Illinois, to provide humanitarian relief and the clear proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your Support Provides Personalized Supply Boxes to the Soldiers on the Front Lines  Father Mykhailo Kuzma and the Parishioners of The Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church-Palatine provided each soldier within The Hunting Brigade 68 with a personalized supply box. Inside each kit is a prayer card hand-crafted by Mrs. Linda Phillips, a warm jacket, winter boots, a hat, mittens, war-time socks, and other useful items with goodies. They received a total of 135 sets. They also delivered needed supplies and medicine for a Field Hospital. Thanks to your donations and prayers, the soldiers feel strengthened and motivated to keep fighting for Ukraine. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.  SELCU Pastors Serving Ukrainians  During the week of November 7-11, SELCU Pastor Valera Verba and a young layperson from the Dnipro congregation traveled to the area of Kherson, Ukraine. This is where the congregation is located that Pastor Verba used to serve and from which Russian troops have supposedly retreated. The purpose of the trip was to meet with faithful congregants and to deliver humanitarian aid. He reported the following: “A pastor in body armor. Today, in Ukraine, in some places, this is exactly the case. And this is not an act of distrust of God. These are the rules of safety principles. It is a special blessing not to rely on circumstances but to trust God in the midst of any circumstances. When you go to de-occupied cities and villages, you try to bring a little hope and warmth. Because people have no electricity, gas, water, food and heat for a long time. And such a desire to bring it all, to bring the hope that is always in Christ Jesus. Which I believe is protecting our country. Because it is impossible without God to confront such a Goliath and still receive victory day by day! But when you talk to people, you realize that you believe in them sometimes more than you expected. And they themselves can cheer and support you. Glory be to Jesus Christ!” Please prayerfully consider donating to help Ukrainians by showing the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need!
"We are grateful to you and everyone who continues to support Ukraine and those affected by the war. Your donations help people survive in this difficult time. It testifies to them about God and His care for them." Pastor Sergey Bevz 100% of Your Donations Continue to Support Ukrainians in Need SELCU Pastors Serving Ukrainians Since March 2022, Lutheran Church Charities has been working cooperatively with pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) to provide humanitarian relief which combines the clear proclamation of the gospel. SELCU Pastor Sergey Bevz sent the following update on his ministry work in Ukraine: The last week has been very hectic. Several strong rocket strikes were carried out on our city. There are dead. There is serious damage. One of the blows came about 600-700 meters from the church building (it is in order). The hits were on residential areas of the city. The houses of some parishioners received minor damage (windows were broken). The bus depot was close to us.
We continue to maintain our rhythm in service. We are doing a few promotions every week. We continue to help the refugees of our city and local residents. We also make trips to de-occupied places. We visited the city of Izyum and the surrounding villages. The city of Izyum is the largest city liberated as a result of the Kharkiv offensive in September. We were among the first who arrived in this city after the liberation. In the city called Kharkivska Bucha in our media, several large mass graves were found - more than 400 bodies. There are several more that specialists are currently working on. The destruction of this city is terrible. The city is destroyed by 70-80%. There is no electricity, gas, drinking water, communications, or the Internet. Some of the people we gave food to hugged us and cried. They rejoiced not in the products, but in the fact that they were glad to be free from the “Russian world.” Next, we visited villages in the Izyum region. Visiting such small liberated villages is a priority for us. The fact is that many volunteers and churches go to those places that are well known. In the villages that are located in the depths, little or no help is brought, and that is why we go there. In the near future, we expect a large wave of internal refugees. They will leave their homes because of the cold snap. Many towns and villages were left without gas and electricity. They will not be able to heat their houses. Pastor Valera Verba is in Odessa now and next month. He is substituting for Pastor Oleg Shevchenko, who received permission to travel to Germany to visit his family. I also hope to get permission to visit Germany in a few weeks. If this happens, I will have the opportunity to see my family, visit and minister to our refugees, and collect humanitarian aid. We pray and hope that the active phase of this war will end in the coming months. Over the past month, most of the Ukrainian lands have been liberated. We hope this will continue in the future. However, there is only escalation on the part of Russia, despite the heavy losses they are suffering. We are grateful to you and everyone who continues to support Ukraine and those affected by the war. Your donations help people survive in this difficult time. In addition, it testifies to them about God and His care for them. May the Lord be with you! Pastor Sergey Bevz Your Donations are Immediately Helping Ukrainians in Need!
LCC received the following request from our Mission Partner Jackie Rychel with Ministry in Mission:
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