The following is copied and shared with permission and reflects a deeply personal  perspective forged amid the daily suffering and sacrifice caused by the war in Ukraine.  This update is offered to inform and encourage your prayerful support for all who are affected by this tragedy.

If you would like to help us with humanitarian aid efforts you can donate through our  website https://ipministry.org/donate/. The needs are growing as we keep helping thousands of people to move west within Ukraine and also helping those who want to leave the country temporarily. We need funds most of all for gas, but also for food and various supplies (medical, bed linens, mattresses, etc). Thank you.                        

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Update from Maia Evening of 4/21/22:

The 57th night of war is coming.
Yesterday a barricade on our street that had been built in the first days of the war was removed. Gradually anti-tank hedgehogs are disappearing from our roads. I read today that 85% of russian troops that were in Belarus (north of Kyiv) have been moved out of Belarus. We still have air raids daily, but our beautiful city is getting more and more to normal life. We hear 50,000-60,000 people are returning to the captial daily. We see more neighbors in our building. The parking lot near the building is filling up again. Looking at the statistics of air raids in Kyiv I can see that our sense of decreasing danger in Kyiv is not subjective.

Psalm 31:21,22
Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed me the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.

We are grateful to God for keeping us alive and safe so far. I read today that according to military experts, over 9,000 artillery shells of different calibers did not explode upon reaching the intended target; 400 of them are aviation bombs! One of them was successfully neutralized in Irpin (suburbs of Kyiv) yesterday – a 500 kg bomb that could have detonated any moment after being thrown on the city over 3 weeks ago!

Please, don’t stop praying for Ukraine. The war is not over. Putin is throwing all the might of his army to the battles in the east and south of Ukraine, he wants to accomplish something by May 9th, to have some kind of victory for his military parade on Red Square. Russians are showering our towns and villages in the east and south with artillery fire. Our defenders are keeping the horde from advancing.

Mariupol has been besieged by the Russians since March 1, with 95% of the buildings destroyed by enemy shelling. There is no water, electricity, heating or communications in the city. Up to 22,000 civilians are reported to have been killed as a result of the Russian attack on the city. To hide the traces of the crimes against civilians russians have brought to Mariupol at least 13 mobile crematoria, in which they dispose of the bodies of dead civilians that they collect in the city.

In spite of russian defense minister reporting to putin that Mariupol is under russian control, the street battles continue there. There are at least 1000 civilians, mostly women, children and elderly taking refuge in Azovstal steel plant’s underground shelters. Russians do not allow them to evacuate and keep threatening to drop heavy bombs on the plant. It will take God’s miracle for people to come out of there alive.

Our prayer for Mariupol is also from Pslam 31:1-5
1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.

PS, In attached table you can see dates starting Feb 24, the red dots show number of air raids that day and the number indicates how many total minutes we spent in bomb shelters, for example on Briana’s birthday we had 9 air raids that lasted 810 minutes. The longer time was only on March 4th when it was 824 min and 10 air raids.

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Please share these updates with others. I have added direct links to our email, our website, and to the IP Ministry Journal on YouTube to the bottom of this page. Your prayers are precious to us. Thank you!

In Christ,
Brandy Ezzell
International Partnerships