PCCR News and Updates

Ukraine 🇺🇦 In 18 work hours, two “shifts” have never been so hard to describe. Three men shared how, a few hours ago, they were a team of six, now three are gone. Those who remained are suffering from concussions and shrapnel injuries. Another man described how he watched a man jump from a burning building, four stories down to his death. Still another tells how, during times of extreme shelling, he covered himself with bodies of fallen comrades to prevent his own death. The man on the stretcher is barely responsive, with head wounds and leg injuries. He was in the fight for only six hours before his injuries occurred. If I was in the US, he would be flown to a trauma center; yet here we are, over an hour from any type of medical intervention and entrusted with the care for this man. The other man cradles his head, trying to escape the headache and nausea he has been fighting for only three days prior to his injury. Four transfers, ten patients, stories shared… none of this is meant for any human to ever experience. Emotional pain, physical pain, spiritual pain, laid bare and raw. Blank stares, eyes letting us know the patient’s are desperate for relief, souls begging for something but they are unsure what. Some patients pour it out, others contain it within. Working with translators who care about these men is an experience beyond words. I can’t speak their verbal language, but I can show compassion first, then communicate through our translator. Truly, a generation of men are going to come out of this war, and having no connection to God, they will become violent, bitter, angry and abusive. The fight is spiritual, how can we work to prevent this from starting a new series of generational sins. I learned to read eyes, and recognize some of their pain. I wish we had Bibles to distribute in the waiting rooms… I wish I could speak the language. ~ By one of our former volunteers #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 I can’t do much, but I can pray. A smile and a parcel of food, some hygiene kits and a whole lot of compassion is good, and it’s what I believe God has put in our hearts to do. But at the end of the day, while my care and kindness might make their day a little better, God is the only one who can change their lives. So as I think of all the people I’ve met who have so deeply touched my heart, the most important, most loving thing I could do for them is to pray. Pray that they would come to know Jesus. Pray that the words of our chaplain Leonid reaches their hearts. Pray for healing and restoration for the woman sick and living in a dark basement. Pray for a revelation of God’s love over the lives of the broken hearted that are too afraid to leave because they don’t know what lies ahead. God has a beautiful plan for each one of them, and it’s devastating to think that some of them may not know him at all, while others may have been taught the wrong message. I know I can’t do much, but with God the outcome can be magnificent. I’m so thankful to be a part of an organization that puts God first. It’s a privilege to work alongside others who want to see God move in powerful ways, and He definitely has! Thank you to everyone who has helped fund this project, and thank you to all the prayer warriors out there! ❤️❤️ ~written by one of our volunteers #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 What if we never helped? This is a question that comes to mind when people ask me why I am doing this. In a time when everyone in Haiti is already struggling and people can’t afford to eat, we have the added burden of more than 150,000 internally displaced people. There are no refugee camps. There is nowhere for people to flee to, except their friends and family who live outside of the gang-controlled areas. The hospitality and the ability of the Haitian people to accept and care for all these refugees is amazing. One gentleman told me: “I have two families staying at my house. If they had stayed where they were, it would’ve been death by bullets, but I am afraid that they only escaped the bullets to die by starvation here in the mountains. The food we received today helps us to be able to help the refugees who are fleeing the violence.” #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 A glimpse into what some of our food distributions look like, taken several weeks ago as one of the last snow fell. #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 “Thank you for thinking about us!” - “Thank you, thank you so much! We will have rice tonight for the first time in a long time…” - “…make sure every one that makes this possible knows we are so grateful.” These are just a few of the thanks that we heard at the last distribution, but that one that touched me the most was a lady with her three small children, they were obviously suffering from malnutrition. When she received a parcel, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said “Mesi e Mesi Bondye”: “Thank you and thank you, God”. #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 This past week has been quite different as we've transitioned away from mostly running food distribution to doing more medical evacuations. Change is never easy, but I've enjoyed many aspects of the new work and what it entails. A few days ago, we got a request to evacuate a bedridden Babushka (grandma) from a front-line town near Bakhmut. The roads we had to take to get there were muddy and in terrible condition. Driving in, I noticed quite a few houses along that street were blown up, but thankfully, nothing had hit her home. It was a fairly quiet day for that town, but as we were helping the Babushka into the ambulance, there were a few explosions just down the street from incoming artillery. As we slowly bumped along the muddy roads to safety, it was sad to think that this lady had to flee from war in her old age… probably for the second time. There are so many just like her, who've been hoping they could stay in the homes they have lived in all their lives, but they are now forced to leave as the Russian military advances. Sadly, too many of them don't leave until it's too late. Continue to pray for the team as they work on the frontlines everyday, working to save lives and make an impact for eternity. #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 On Tuesday, one of the young men came to us after our prison church service and told us that ever since we started holding the Bible studies in the prison, he has felt God calling him and was struggling with the decision to follow God. He had a dream the night before, where he was in a church service and was taken straight up to heaven. He never felt so much peace before. On Tuesday, he got ready early, so he could attend church. He still fought the call and let the service go by without responding to the invitation, but before we left, he called us over and we had the privilege of laying hands on him and leading him to the Lord! This young man is soon to be free and asked for prayer to remain faithful after he is released.🙏🏼 #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

The first quarter of the year is past and it definitely just flew by. With it come changes to the operations… the work in Ukraine is taking a new direction. With most of the food distributions becoming increasingly unnecessary, we shifted our efforts to the medical needs along the front lines. Following the tornado damage in Mississippi and Arkansas, we deployed two teams and helped with the cleanup. The teams spent a little over two weeks on the ground, putting tarps on homes, cutting up trees and cleaning up debris. We’re looking forward to the next season and appreciate your continued support. You are a vital part of this organization and we could not do what we do without your help. Thank you! In this newsletter: - Ukraine: A shift of direction� - Haiti: A visit from our Field Director �- US Response: Our response to Mississippi and Arkansas Follow the link to sign up for the newsletter https://forms.gle/dh8RrEDmsxSbVGi57 or to read it, follow this link. https://plaincompassion.org/newsletter/ #Haiti #Ukraine #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #USDisasterResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 When we first started working in Haiti, we had no idea where it would lead to. People went hungry, prisoners were starving and children were going to bed hungry. Today, as I look back at all that has happened, the doors that opened for us… the relationships that have been built and all the people that we were able to help, especially those that have come to know Jesus. It leaves me in awe and all I can do is say: Wow! God is good and His plan is truly better than ours. He really does bring beauty out of ashes. #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 We drove over three hours today. About halfway to our destination, it started to snow. There was something calming about the trip this time, the sounds of war were muted and more distant. A calmness was present, while the harsh reality of war remained. We arrived at our second stop, this time we are in a basement. A dozen stray dogs greeted us when we pulled up. Twenty or more elderly people live here, beds situated side-by-side, with only tiny walkways between. Privacy doesn’t exist for them, and there is no end in sight. We are greeted with smiling faces, candy, and tea. They will not rest until you have a cup of tea. I often chafed at the music teacher who insisted that we learn to sing without books. I’ve never been happier for that teacher as I was several days ago. Chaplain Leonid led Amazing Grace, then introduced us to the group as “Americans” that had music to share. We sang “Just over the river…” six of us, four Americans, two Irish, four-part harmony. We sang in a dimly lit basement, under a blown-out building, thousands of miles from home. The language you speak means nothing in the grand realm of music and spiritual life. While I have no way to know the impact that song may have had to the listeners, it caused me to appreciate my music teacher from many years ago. I also didn’t care much for Bible memory projects. I met a man who has his Bible passages labeled (verb, adverb, noun….), with notes to the roots of various Greek words and meanings. Take any life question or problem to this man and he could refer to a myriad of verses and the root words, explaining it so that a two-year old could understand it. Why am I telling you this? Because my life has been changed in too many ways to count by these simple experiences. #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 Recently we ran into a man in town who was release from prison not too long ago. He was very excited to share how his life changed while he was in prison and how thankful he was for the Bible he received. He said that he wasn’t going to ask for a Bible, but while he prayed in his heart for one, he noticed a hand reach out and hand him a Bible. It made the difference that this man needed in his life and it impacted him for all eternity. Thank you for being a part of it! #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 Having been asked to share a few words, I’m struggling hardcore to find the right words. What would be most important to tell? What is something to leave unsaid, so that I can stay inside the 2,000 character limit for this social media platform or another? Furthermore: How can I write in a way that those, who have never experienced what I did, will be able to understand it and be inspired to do more? Words have a way of limiting, confining things that are meant to be felt and experienced. This work has eternal consequences, no part is more or less important. A driver, translator, EMT, medic, pastor, donor, administrator, staff member, someone packing a parcel, the truck driver: Everyone plays a role. Be it in Ukraine, Haiti, Mississippi, Arkansas, no matter… a soul saved, a life changed, a seed planted, it matters and the consequences are eternal. The conversations between partnering organizations. A time of prayer while a tank round whistles overhead. A song shared in a basement. Maybe it’s a marriage ceremony as artillery shells crash about. Maybe it’s a smile in the back of an ambulance heading out of Bahkmut. Maybe it’s a hug in the yard after a family portrait is found in the rubble. Or a text message from a friend made years ago on a prior PCCR project. Each person can be a part of this by contributing, as their skill sets allow, changing the world here and beyond….. Yes, you can make an eternal difference, no matter how much or little you can do. But only, if you contribute. ~written by one of our volunteers #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 “We can’t thank God enough for sending you to help! We look forward to the meal you bring each week.” “The highlight of the week is the church service you hold here each week. We look forward to it, you have no idea how much it has helped us through the difficult times we face.” Last week we had forty-four participants in our prison service, with more inmates wanting to participate. Continue to pray for the prison ministry and the work in Haiti! God continues to work even in the chaos! 🙏🏼👏🏼 #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR