To our LifeNets Supporters and Friends!
These last few months have been ones of great challenge for us at LifeNets as we deal with the tragedy of war in Ukraine, Our primary effort has been to provide relief for children from heavily bombed Chernihiv with great uncertainty of their ultimate safety.
At the same time we are maintaining our scholarship program along with providing financing of boreholes for clean water in South Central Africa. In this newsletter I'm giving you some of the highlights of the past few months.
Children of Chernihiv, Ukraine
At the end of this newsletter I'm posting a summary of recent activity for helping residents, mostly children in Chernihiv, Ukraine. These are children who have been hearing gunfire and explosions from artillery and rockets for weeks. Their play has become violent as they shoot at one another with imaginary guns and engage in violent play as a result of seeing the war outside their doors.
We helped send about 100 children from the Chernihiv area to where there is calm for now. Chernihiv is an area where we started working in 1996 to help victim children of Chernobyl (35 miles due west) Now we are working with children who are victims of the barbaric Russian invasion.
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My husband Victor has spoken to two Rotary Clubs, one in Ohio and another in Indiana this past month telling our story.
In Ukraine, we are helping not only in the north in Chernihiv but in the far west where Christian congregations are helping to temporarily shelter and feed refugees.
We thank you who have contributed to this very large LifeNets projects that has brought relief physically and emotionally. You can help us by going to our special web page. Click or tap here.
We have done a few new podcasts on The Kubik Report that also may be of interest to you. Please feel free to forward or share this newsletter with others.
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Again, thank you for your support.
We love and appreciate all of you,
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How to Effortlessly Double Your LifeNets Donation
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Many companies will match their employees' and retirees' charitable contributions. Check with your personnel office to see if your company will do so. They will provide the necessary forms and instructions. Thank you very much! Donations to LifeNets are tax-deductible in the United States.
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Tractor For Ghana
We are happy to be able to provide a tractor for Ghana to dramatically increase food production. After searching through used tractors, one was recently purchased for use by the Yeji congregation in central Ghana. It is a Massy Ferguson 178 diesel tractor with a 3 point plow/disk implement.
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Upon inspection by a professional mechanic, the tractor was found to be in good working order with plenty of life expectancy.
Most of the members of the Yeji congregation are farming families. This tractor will help them to substantially increase their crop production from year to year. To date, much of their tilling and harvesting work has been done by hand. This limits the amount of ground they are able to put into production. Also, there is a good business return to be made by hiring out to others in the community by offering plowing, disking and crop harvesting services
Due to the generous support there were enough funds available to purchase the tractor and plow, handle a few tune-up related repairs and transport the unit to Yeji. The members were also able to build a secure shelter to store it within a gated compound. A small amount of funds remain for the purchase of an additional implement or two, as well as some routine maintenance to help the brethren get started. Ultimately, this is intended to be a self-supporting project with funds being set aside for the tractor's upkeep as income from its use is generated.
Thank you once again for your support of our brethren in Yeji, Ghana. Your generosity is very much appreciated!
Paul Moody
Senior Pastor ~ English Speaking West Africa
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Scholarship Statistics for 2021
Our Developing Nations Scholarship Program is the largest single activity of LifeNets that has continued now for 22 years. Hundreds of young people have had the opportunity for higher education in their country. Many of these have earned degrees, certifications, learned professions and have job security along with many other benefits. We thank all of you who have had this vision to support these students.
Below is a summary of scholarships distribution, The students are very grateful and so are we! We thank all for their support. More at https://lifenets.org/category/scholarships.
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Sewing Machines for Zambia's Interior
We are happy to provide items to help people in this manner. Jonathan Litaba expresses gratitude:
"On the behalf of Mtendere and Mumbwa United Church of God congregations we greatly thank you our area Ministry for what you do to us, let godly blessings be upon you. Recently three sewing machines were procured for Kasumpa and Nalubanda North and were presented and they give thanks to you and the Kubiks."
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Here is the original request made to us.
We the women from Kasumpa and Nalubanda South are hereby requesting if the Church could assist us with 3 sewing machines, so that we can find something to do during this time of climate change. Our names are Mrs Precias Katapya (wife of Willard, from Kasumpa, and am baptised. Mrs Martilda Nchima from Nalubanda South, also baptised. Mrs Lister Ndiya (wife of Jonathan, from Kasumpa – prospective member. She did the course of tailoring and will teach us how to use the machines.
Signed by Willard Katapya on behalf of the women, and Jonathan Litaba on behalf of Mumbwa Church UCG.
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Water found in Gokwe, Zimbabwe
LifeNets has wanted to drill a borehole in Gokwe, Zimbabwe for a few years but it was always delayed. A previous drilling attempt was unsuccesful. But, on July 19, 2022 we found water! This borehole will serve a community of 100 people. Here is a report from senior pastor Lewis VanAusdle:
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Last night, in the village of Chemba, the drilling rig hit water at 56.43 meters. This is truly a blessing from God. I’ve attached a few photos and a video of the final moments of drilling. In the video, you can see the excitement from the people who were there watching, waiting, and praying.
Our brethren in Zimbabwe are thankful to LifeNets who provided the initial funding for this project and to Good Works who provided the final funding to reach water and to those who have donated to these programs, and to all of you for your prayers.
Lewis VanAusdle
Pastor, United Church of God
NYC, NJ, CT, Malawi, Zimbabwe
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From Children of Chernobyl to Children of Invasion, LifeNets Steps in With Relief
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Supporting much-needed safe relief for Ukrainian children and rebuilding bomb damage in homes, LifeNets International committed an initial $132,000 to directly support critical projects in war-torn Ukraine this summer. One project has brought nearly 100 children from devastated Chernihiv – including orphans and children without parental care – to a safe summer campground facility on the Transcarpathian/Romanian border.
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The project, organized through the offices of Ukrainian governors of Vyacheslav Chaus (Chernihiv) and Viktor Mykyta (Transcarpathia), is providing a 60-day respite from shelling and living in bombed-out buildings from the Russian-Ukrainian war, according to Victor Kubik, founder of LifeNets International, a humanitarian organization.
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“As the New York Times documented in mid-July, homes of millions of Ukrainians are in ruins, seriously damaged, or in the hands of Russian occupiers,” said Kubik. “LifeNets has been a long-time supporter of various Ukrainian humanitarian projects, so we are using our direct contacts to provide much needed aid.”
The city of Chernihiv (which had a population of 285,000 before the war began) and the shuttered Chernobyl (Chornobyl) nuclear power facility were among the first areas to be overrun by Russian troops earlier in the year. The Russians have since withdrawn, leaving billions of dollars’ worth of damage and ruin to housing, infrastructure, businesses and communities.
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Chernihiv is located about 55 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border and about 80 miles from Kyiv, the national capital. The city is 57 miles southeast from the entombed, but still radioactive Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Chernihiv is home to the Revival Center for Children, a facility founded by Dr. Vasyl Pasichnyk, a pediatrician, and his wife, Natalya, also a medical provider. The Revival Centre was originally founded in part to support and treat children victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and is the first project that LifeNets supported in the 1990s.
The boys and girls traveled to a newly reopened campground on the Romanian-Ukraine border in late June “to have some much-needed space to emotionally and psychologically recover from the terror of continuous shelling, bomb bursts, automatic gunfire, and Russian missile attacks in Chernihiv, which was one of the first cities attacked by Russia,” said Kubik. “They have lived for more than 100 days with piercing air raid and missile attack sirens punctuating their nights and days, which causes psychological trauma.”
Several of the teenagers and children are associated with the Revival Centre. “Dr. Pasichnyk saw how children are being emotionally impacted by living in a bombed-out war zone and asked if LifeNets could help support much-needed relief,” said Kubik. “The campground facility has been closed for more than two years because of the pandemic, but we were able to work with local trusted officials to overcome legal and supply issues to get the camp set up for the Chernihiv teenagers and younger children.”
The project grew to include orphans and other children from various schools in the Chernihiv region.
In a conversation through Starlink internet technology, Dr. Pasichnyk told Kubik how prices for everything in the region has skyrocketed and conveyed his and his staff’s deep appreciation for the two LifeNets projects. “The Revival center staff is very concerned about repairing the bomb concussion damage in their homes before the fall and winter set in,” Kubik said.
As noted, the project to help Ukrainian children is one of three relief projects currently funded by LifeNets. LifeNets is providing funds for the children’s camp project, which is the first to join two previous long-time LifeNets programs together (the Revival Center and a current project to provide food and supplies for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian war) in the Ukraine, and $17,000 for Chernihiv residents who work at the Revival Centre to purchase new windows and doors blown out by concussion blasts from Russian bombs and missiles. Additional funds for rebuilding and repair project are being contributed by church organizations and others.
“We are having to deal with several extra issues, both legal and financial, to transfer the funds safely and securely to Ukraine, but we’re getting it done,” said Beverly Kubik, who serves as chairman and president of LifeNets, and co-founded LifeNets with her husband Victor. “We are grateful to our Sabbatarian friends both for their prior work in supporting and housing Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country, and now for their work in arranging chaperones, support, and supplies for the 60-day camp.”
“Everything is much more expensive and far more complex today during the war than when we have funded and supported Ukrainian projects in the past,” said Kubik, who came to the United States in the 1940s as a Ukrainian refugee with his parents (now deceased). “We thank those who have contributed and shown an outpouring of support, and we ask those who are able and interested to consider supporting these important efforts.”
LifeNets is known for its capacity to identify, support, and fund individual projects that change lives and make a difference in situations that cannot sometimes be effectively addressed by larger humanitarian organizations. Persons wishing to secure more information or who desire to make a contribution can visit https://lifenets.org/`
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Contact and Donation Information
LifeNets International
1227 Woodchase Trail
Batavia, Ohio 45103-2605
513 843-7744
513 201-8850
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1227 Woodchase Trail
Batavia, Ohio 45103-2605
513 843-7744, 513 201-8850
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