Teaching Resources International

Help for Ukraine

Here are some trusted groups that you can give to help the people of Ukraine. There are so many needs and many organizations are helping. Just be sure you know the persons involved or the organization before giving. There are many scams. I’ll try to keep adding some more as I can.

Our needs … of course we have needs. We have lost our home, our car, and all our clothing and possessions. However, we have many faithful friends in the US helping us. But we still have needs too. If you want to support us or help us in some way personally, you can contribute by sending a check to Teaching Resources International, PO Box 1025, Cabot, AR 72023. Put #1000-Ehrhard in the memo. Or you can give through PayPal from our Website at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=6V78KANJJCEDG. But the needs below are much more crucial than ours. These organizations are providing direct support and ministering the gospel to people in Ukraine. All those listed are our dear friends and colleagues in Ukraine. Thank you for helping them!

Andriy Kolbovsky, Without Excuse Endeavor. Andriy is our neighbor. He has been involved in helping with orphans in Ukraine since 2003. He is currently in Ukraine transporting refugees and also transporting supplies and humanitarian aid. Please pray for him and his wife, Alla, and their two children. They are close friends and servants of the gospel. Here is a link about his work. http://woee.org/partners/?fbclid=IwAR0R8WJONTqwQibSTe4sf0-aoRuUmpP8kVBGv8tZhAcyzxyJwGAGPonIVTg. 

Here is a link to help with finances http://give.woee.org/GeneralFundFreeway

Sergey and Galya Pevnev.  Sergey and Galya have been serving with Campus Ministries in Ukraine since 2007. We met them while we were helping with English Outreaches at the University in Kyiv. After the war began in 2014, there were no campus ministries in Eastern Ukraine. Sergey and Galya decided to go to Khariv and begin a student ministry there in 2016. Before the war, they were involved in evangelism, discipleship and having home meetings to reach out to young mothers. 

When the war began in 2022, they were still serving in Kharkiv, which was just 30 km from the Russian border. The night before the invasion, they woke up at 2 am hearing explosions. They took their family and fled south into Hungry. While there, they ministered to the large influx of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war zone. 

If you would like to give to help their ministry or to help their family, you can do so through the Campus Crusade website using the link provided.

Aleksei and Lena Khodakovsky … Losha and Lena have been our friends for many years and we worked together with them in reaching university students in Kyiv. Before the war, they were involved in leading the campus ministry at Shevchenko University in Kyiv. They did evangelistic outreaches and did personal discipleship and led small groups.

When the war began, they became involved in helping people in the occupied areas and in helping them rebuild after the Russians left. They have made many trips to Poland to get supplies and bring them to the front lines in the East. They also made many trips to the front lines to bring medical supplies to hospitals and other supplies to the soldiers. Losha also went behind lines to bring people out from the occupied areas. One person he helped told him, “The measure of love is determined by the measure of sacrifice.” Losha and Lena continue to serve with joy, sharing the love of Christ and the gospel in Ukraine. If you want to help them with their ministries in Ukraine, you can use PayPal at lena.khodakivska20@gmail.com 

Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary (UBTS) continues to help hundreds of refugees who are streaming West to L’viv to escape the front lines of the Russian invasion. The number of people and the needs they have grow greater every day. The entire seminary has been converted into a “refugee camp with mattresses covering the floors and many volunteers helping to cook and feed refugees as they come through. Please help them so they have the resources to help others.

https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/UPF/UkraineEmergencyFund

Oleksii and Natalia Gaiduchenko … Oleksii and Natalia were teaching English and leading a new church plant at the beginning of the war. Both Oleksii and Natalia are graduates of our seminary with Masters degrees in Biblical Counseling. They have been our friends for many years and were part of the same church before starting a new church in Kyiv. Since the war began, they have continued to lead their church and have also increased their efforts to help with various humanitarian supplies.  

During the war, they have been greatly involved in humanitarian efforts bringing medicines and food to refugees as well as making trips to bring supplies to those in occupied villages. Their church has been helping to provide school supplies for refugees who have moved to Kyiv after their homes were destroyed. 

If you would like to help them meet the needs of refugees while they share the gospel, you can send donations through PayPal to Gaiduchenko.olexii@gmail.com.

Maksym Sliazin, former student and pastor is helping refugees to get to Poland and helping them in Poland. Here is the information to help them with finances. 

PayPal account: maksymsliazin@gmail.com. Bank account details: Santander Bank Polska PL 11 1090 1098 0000 0001 3219 6409; SWIFT code: WBKPPLPP Maksym Sliazin  80-180 Podleckiego 3/15

Irpin Bible Church One of the pastors is our friend (and former student) and current Director of Youth Ministries at KTS. This church is in the city where some of the most fierce fighting has taken place as Russia has tried to secure the Gostomel Airfield. The humanitarian needs are great. If you want to help the church, here is a place to donate. https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0U0H00000ZQGMcUAP&fbclid=IwAR3NiGIaEhYRrrkyVRRUqlK-oAjqM6IOikKWcajokX8q-W1KtCHvRkoZNVE

Sergey and Natasha Bochko. This is our pastor and his wife. They have 3 small children too. They have evacuated to Romania for now and they are helping with refugees there. Here is their information. You can send your donation through PayPal. The email for PayPal is: bochkofamily@gmail.com. 

SEND International Many of our professors and other missionaries to Ukraine are working with SEND. Here is where you can contribute. https://send.org/?fbclid=IwAR2Q0xpiwyVhu61QVwGgqMn017Q95ObGyyOM7EWEJydJ8Dk4UxtdMlkeVzg

Artur Nadiv – student and former missionary to China. He is now working with relief efforts, especially in Kyiv. Here are some ways to help him minister to others. Bank transfer or via Wise.com: The account of the recipient – 26209898213740, Establishment of a bank – PrivatBank, MFI Bank – 305299, Recipient of payment – NADIIEV ARTUR, IBAN – UA293052990000026209898213740, The account of the recipient – 26209898213740, Card сurrency – UAH, USREOU code of the recipient – 3230809539, Payment description – Deposit funds into the account NADIIEV ARTUR. Via PayPal — paypal.me/mkfiddler, include a note that it’s for “Ukrainian Outreach” or for “Artur Nadiiev” (these are my trusted friends, and they know how to make transfers to me). He keeps track of all the donations and expenses and can provide a Google Docs spreadsheet upon request.

Samaritan’s Purse https://www.facebook.com/1642864607/posts/10224202275478249/

Mission Euraisa https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158545642713456&id=751978455 

There is one attribute of God that is rarely discussed. Yet it is foundational to understanding what kind of God we serve.  This is the generosity of God. While it is sometimes discussed under the kindness of God or the love of God in most theological textbooks, it is rarely given much attention. But I think the generosity of God is one aspect of God’s character that that is crucial to understanding what an amazing God we serve! 

What a person thinks about God affects the way he serves God. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable that we have come to call the “Parable of the Talents.” He tells about a master who gives 3 servants “talents” (a monetary value equal to about 20 years wages) before he goes away. He gives 5 to one, 2 to another and 1 to the last. When the master returns, the first two joyfully give back to the master double the amount he had given to them. The last one returns his one talent says, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.” He condemned the servant saying that he should have at least invested the money so he could have gotten some interest from it. But the third servant’s problem was that he viewed his master as stingy instead of generous. Our service of God will never exceed our view of God!  

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All-Knowing God … (January 2022 Update) 

If there is one attribute of God that I often wish I had it would be omniscience. My limited knowledge affects almost everything I do – especially my planning for the future. I have gotten pretty good at planning and anticipating what will happen. But I must admit that I am wrong far more often than I am right. What I often think will happen does not. And what I greatly desire to not happen, frequently does. 

Right now, we are faced with some monumental decisions as Russia seems poised to invade Ukraine (more on that below). Since Putin has annually made it look like he is planning an open attack on Ukraine but never followed through, it is hard to know if his latest threat is simply another attempt to gain some negotiating leverage, or if he is really planning to invade this time. If would be great to be able to know the future as we face major, life-affecting decisions in the coming days. To be all-knowing like God would be a tremendous advantage! 

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No Other Name … (December 2021 Update) 

“A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” That famous line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet captures a universal truth – what something is matters more than what something is called. But when we are thinking about Jesus, His name is more than just a name that He is called. His name signifies WHO He is as well as WHAT He does! The names of Jesus are unique and special. They convey meanings that remind us about the real meaning of Christmas. They tell us WHO Jesus is and WHY He came to us that first Christmas morning. 

In the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel, two of the names of the Messiah are given … Jesus and Emannuel. Both are essential to the Christmas message. He is Jesus – born to save His people from their sins. And He is Emannuel – God with us. Both names are essential. Jesus must have a human birth to be our savior. He must be one of us. But if He is just one of us, then He cannot save us. He must also be God to have a perfect, infinite righteousness able to cover all our sin. That’s why He is Emannuel – God with us. 

In Matthew 1:18-25, we can see three truths about the birth of Jesus. In verses 18-20, we can see His Special Birth. In verse 21, we see His Special Work. And in verses 22-25, we see His Special Person. 

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Thankfulness and Godliness … (November 2021 Update) 

Over the last couple of months, I have been participating in a study of Jerry Bridge’s Respectable Sins with a group of guys. It’s a great book! But this past week, we studied two chapters that I thought I would do fairly well with – ungodliness and unthankfulness. I tend to think of myself as a fairly “godly” person (in a humble way, of course) and I am usually very thankful for all that God gives me.  

But, as I read the chapters, I discovered that those two sins had become “respectable” for me too. Bridges defines “ungodliness” as a failure to recognize and depend on God at all times. I quickly realized that I usually recognize the Lord in spiritual matters but often leave Him out of my thinking in daily, regular issues and work. Ungodliness is not wickedness – but just failing to recognize God and depend on Him for everything. My previous assessment of my own godliness quickly crumbled to the ground. 

When I began the chapter on “Unthankfulness,” I felt more secure because I am very grateful for all the Lord gives me. In the first half of the chapter, I felt pretty good about being a thankful person as Bridges reminded us that we need to be thankful for all the Lord has given us. But … halfway through the chapter, Bridges switched from being thankful for what God has given us to being thankful whenever things do not turn out the way we want. Ouch! That hit home and I immediately saw that I needed to repent of my unthankfulness too. 

Godliness and Thankfulness go together. A godly person sees that he needs the Lord in every situation and learns to depend upon Him for everything. The ungodly live as though God does not exist – even if they believe that He does exist! The truly thankful person is not just grateful for the good things God gives. He recognizes that God is in every situation (godliness) and therefore he is able to give thanks even when things do not go according to his plans and wishes. A godly man is truly a thankful man. 

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