Pastor's Note - Spring 2023
Crates For Ukraine – Packed with Love
by Rick Marshall
On a haunting night one year ago, decades of peace on the landmass of Europe ended when Russian military forces by land, sea and air invaded the nation of Ukraine. The General Secretary of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization - established in 1949 to act as a deterrent to Soviet expansion after World War II) said: "Peace on our continent has been shattered. We now have war in Europe, on a scale and of a type we thought belonged to history."
We have seen this nightmare before. Recent history remembers the wicked deeds of Lenin; Stalin; Hitler; Mao Zedong; Idi Amin; Kim Jong-Il; Pol Pot; Saddam Hussein, and now, Vladimir Putin – a man obsessed with power.
But who inspired this war of aggression in Ukraine? According to the Bible, the answer is Satan – his name means adversary. In John 8:44, Jesus used two words to describe the enemy of our souls: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Is this the beginning of a new era of instability in a world already rocked by years of pandemic, corruption, genocide, cyberattacks, natural calamities, greed and unbelief?
A month after the Russian invasion, I spoke about the events that Jesus predicted would take place prior to his return as recorded in Luke 21: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. -- Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (vs. 10 & 28)
Russ Mehrtens, a member of SLPC, sent me a note after the service inspired by the phrase: “Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war” -- taken from the closing hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation”:
“We’re seeing on the news daily the destruction and chaos caused by physical war, and it reminded me that the Church has been in a spiritual war since Pentecost. That war is no less deadly, the destruction that the enemy brings is huge apart from God’s intervention or healing, and the spiritual war can cause chaos in our hearts.”
This year we have all felt the effects of this spiritual chaos – which raises two questions: How can we remain strong and faithful to Jesus during such a time as this? What would Jesus have us do?
First, our strength comes from communing with God in prayer and by reading His Word. He invites us to fellowship with Him every day – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Second, we must obey the law of love! “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” (1 John 3:18). When we love a lost and hurting world, we become the hands and feet of Jesus – His Ambassadors!
For the past two months, SLPC has been cooperating with churches across America to provide clothing, medical aid, and other vital essentials for Ukrainians by participating in the Crates for Ukraine (CFU) project.
CFU has three specific goals:
- To connect the hands of churches in the U.S. to the hands of churches in Ukraine.
- To provide aid that has been specifically requested by the churches in Ukraine.
- To provide aid that is packaged to travel quickly to the areas of greatest need.
During the month of February 2023, SLPC filled 21 crates with items valued at $21,500. And four other churches in our Presbytery filled another 30 crates valued at $26,000.
On March 1st -- these 51 crates were delivered by truck to a warehouse in Chattanooga, TN. From Chattanooga the crates were transferred to Flexport Aviation in Dallas, TX – for air freight delivery to Vienna, Austria. From Austria the crates were shipped to Lviv, Ukraine – a large western city located north of the Carpathian Mountains.
As of March 15th – 1300 crates from PCA Churches across America have been delivered safely to Ukraine. The value of these crates is over 1 million dollars!
The distribution of the crates is overseen by Ukrainian pastors and our PCA Mission to the World Team members, who have been working together for over 30 years. They do a regular assessment of those with the greatest need – and ship the items ASAP. You can see a map of the distribution of the crates to date at: https://maphub.net/CratesForUkraine/Aid-Map
Finally, please pray:
- For God to end the war, to grow His church, and to give great faith to His people during this time of great suffering.
- For the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ukraine as they distribute this aid and minister to those in need.
- For everyone who receives aid, to know that Jesus Christ loves and cares for them and that they have not been forgotten by the rest of the world!
- For the Lord Jesus to use CFU to create opportunities for the gospel to be proclaimed – leading to the formation of new communities of faith across Ukraine.
“So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.” Acts 11:29-30
And a special “Thank You” to everyone from SLPC who gave their time, talents, and treasures to bring glory and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ!
51 Crates loaded up at SLPC - February 28, 2023
The CFU warehouse at Lviv, Ukraine - Reformed Church of the Holy Trinity
