Update from Jeff Abrams

Because so many of you care about Ukraine...and pray...and help us...you deserve to know what's going on... May God be glorified!

(There's a lot of info. because there's a lot going on.)

Please share with others who care...

"Rescue Ukraine" Annual Report—2024

It is a true honor to be involved in the glorious work of serving, as best we can, the precious people of Ukraine. It’s also a privilege to share with you the generational opportunities God is presently giving us to “overcome evil with good.”

Thank you for your heart for Ukraine…for your prayers and generous financial support. Because of God, and the help of God’s people, there is much good to report—and yet we humbly realize that the devil continues to bring devastation to the nation of Ukraine and it’s courageous people.

In particular, the Lord’s church is under great duress—unlike anything experienced by our brethren since the days of the Roman Emperors. I’m proud to report that despite profound challenges, our Ukrainian friends are standing tall—evangelizing, serving, praying, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the vulnerable. They are true demonstrations of what it means to, “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

Want some good news? Since the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February of 2022, approximately 600 Ukrainians have been obedient to the saving gospel of Jesus! These are unprecedented numbers especially for a country located on the European continent. The people of Ukraine—even as war rages across their land—continue to be remarkably receptive to the message of Jesus—and the hope found only in Him.

This is why our efforts to take Christ to Ukraine are so necessary…so urgent. Nobody has a more desperate need for the good news of Jesus than those in the crosshairs of such unspeakable evil.

2024 IN REVIEW

1. I resigned as the pulpit minister of the Tuscumbia Church of Christ to devote myself to the full-time work of Ukraine Missions.

2. “Rescue Ukraine,” a nonprofit charitable organization under the oversight of the Tuscumbia Church of Christ was formed. Its mission is to love the people of Ukraine as Jesus loves us. You can visit RescueUkraine.com to learn more…

3. I was privileged to make three trips in 2024 to places and dear friends all across Ukraine—including such frontline cities as Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Nikopol, Sumy, and Kharkiv.

4. A special highlight was the opportunity to celebrate with our beloved sister Anna her 100th birthday in “our” hometown of Kramatorsk. Anna, who was the oldest Christian in Ukraine, has now gone on to her reward. It was 18 hours of flying, 12 hours on a bus, and 21 hours on a train—to place roses on her grave—but some people are worth the journey… Looking forward to introducing y’all to Anna in heaven one day. She’ll be the one tending to God’s flowers.

5. We recently coordinated a memorial ceremony at the Washington Monument to remember the lost children of Ukraine. The event featured 600 teddy bears scattered across the hillside—each representing a Ukrainian child killed by Russia. It was a special honor to have the Ambassador from Ukraine, Oksana Markarova, as our guest. What an impressive and inspirational lady! The media coverage, both local and global, was an extraordinary aid in conveying the message that the children of Ukraine who have been murdered, wounded, orphaned, displaced and stolen…deserve better! They deserve our love and protection. This genocide must be acknowledged and stopped! While in DC our hard-working crew braved challenging conditions to convey our love for the children of Ukraine at the US Capitol, and the Ukrainian and Russian embassies. The visit to the Russian embassy was especially “interesting.”

The teddy bears are on their way to the children of Ukraine.

6. We continue to assist with refugee relief across Ukraine and Europe…providing safe shelter, fuel for heat, food, warm clothing, energy sources, medical assistance, etc. We also seek to facilitate the treatment of various psychological challenges many of our friends are understandably dealing with. We have partnered with excellent counselors in this effort. We have also begun assisting drug rehab centers for men and women.

7. We have assisted with the purchase, rent, remodeling, etc. of worship and outreach facilities in major population areas such as Lviv, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, and Warsaw, Poland.

8. We also assisted in the evacuation and relocation of the church that previously worshipped in the extremely dangerous city of Pokrovsk. We stand ready to assist others who may need to relocate.

9. We continue to provide financial support to 6 (soon to be 7) truly courageous preachers who often place themselves in harms way to serve others.

10. We continue assisting 2 schools in teaching Jesus to both children and adults.

11. We conducted 2 Bible camps for Christian families and guests in Warsaw, Poland and Lviv, Ukraine. Since 2003 “Camp Amerikraine” has been the largest annual gathering of Christians in Europe. This summer we were blessed to have approximately 450 participants—many of whom braved challenge circumstances to be present.

12. We were also involved in the purchase and distribution of much needed items to about 500 orphans in and around Kyiv.

13. We continue to be involved in two massive Bible projects. The first is the printing and distributing of 5,000 Bibles that have, “Gift from the Church of Christ” on the cover and on an inside page there is much useful information including a guide to salvation through Jesus. To our knowledge, Bibles such as this have never been made available in Ukraine. The second project is an ongoing effort to translate and distribute the first ever Study Bible in the Ukrainian language. We are undertaking this huge task in cooperation with our friends at Apologetics Press.

14. In the USA there are many Ukrainian Christians that we continue to be involved with…and assist with various needs, including having an annual retreat near Nashville, Tennessee. I’m especially thankful for the 21 Ukrainians that are an active part of the Tuscumbia family. What a blessing these wonderful servants are to me, my family, to the Lord’s church and to our community.

Looking toward 2025… if God wills, we plan to continue to do essentially all we have been doing plus hopefully much more to help save Ukrainian lives and souls.

We will continue to evangelize, help refugees, help orphans, have camps, retreats, youth meetings, distribute Bibles, support schools, support preachers, make many trips across Ukraine, and seek to involve others in multiple and generational opportunities to, “overcome evil with good.”

A rather urgent need right now is to provide funds to churches for heat during this cold winter.

I will also continue traveling around the US (and possibly Canada) thanking our donors, reporting on opportunities God is giving us to help Ukraine, and soliciting funds for this urgent work.

In mid January I plan to return to cities and churches across Ukraine, distributing these new evangelistic Bibles, distributing various items to orphanages, teaching Jesus…and being inspired by the faithfulness of my Ukrainian friend.

Please pray for me and for “Rescue Ukraine.” But above all, please pray for Ukraine, for the christians under siege in Ukraine…for peace…for victory over evil.

If you’d like to talk about any of this, call me, 256-483-7022. Or you can write me at JeffAbrams@aol.com.

You can make a onetime or recurring donation at RescueUkraine.com.

Checks can be sent to Rescue Ukraine, Tuscumbia Church of Christ, 102, E. 4th Street, Tuscumbia, Al. 35674.

Thank you!

God bless you. God bless Ukraine.

Jeff