PCCR News and Updates

Ukraine 🇺🇦 It’s been two weeks since I left Ukraine. And I miss it so much. I miss the smiles of welcome as we entered a village. I miss the hugs and tears as we told them goodbye. I miss seeing faces light up as we handed them a loaf of bread. I miss the wonderful tea we were given every time we went to Dronivka. I miss spending time with my team. I miss seeing crowds of people gathered around to hear the Gospel, sometimes with missiles flying overhead. Mostly I just miss being part of what God is doing in that country. My life is forever touched by the things I saw and the people I met there. I saw God working in ways that I had never witnessed first hand before. He brought me to a place of surrender in areas that I had never faced before. In the midst of war and chaos, He is working. His light shines brilliantly in stark contrast to the darkness there. Because of the conflict, there is an openness there that you don’t see in a lot of places. People are so drawn to the peace and joy of a Christian. Truly, the fields are ripe for harvest, and the laborers are few. - Written by one of our former volunteers #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Mississippi 🇺🇸 During our initial assessment, we found that the tornado had done extensive damage in the town of Rolling Fork. The town has about 1750 residents and well over half of the town was flattened by the tornado. We are currently helping with the cleanup efforts in the town of Rolling Fork, MS and there’s a need for volunteers, skid steers and dump trailers. Click on the link below for the signup form! https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/a408fbd9ca9749f5a9b1f22d61b866b6 If you’d like to help but can’t volunteer, consider donating to the work on the ground. https://plaincompassion.kindful.com/?campaign=1244972 #USDisasterResponse #Mississippi #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 Oftentimes, it’s really hard to know when to say yes or no to the requests for help. In the zones that we work in and everywhere else, the requests for food come flooding in and it’s our biggest challenge to assess the needs and distribute the food to the people that need it the most. All of our food distribution sites are in the red zones, which are worse off than the rest of the country. Statistically speaking, this is one of the worst food famines on the globe, and also the worst crisis Haiti has ever seen. Pray for the safety of our teams as they organize and carry out food distributions. Kidnappings and murder happen at a higher rate than ever, and God’s protection is very real to us. We are grateful that we can still go out and serve others, in spite of the condition of the country. To everyone who has helped, whether by donations, volunteering or praying: We are incredibly thankful for you. Thank you for standing with us to make a difference. This crisis is an opportunity like few others to bring the Kingdom of Heaven down to earth and impact Haiti forever, one person at a time. #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 It has been an interesting 6 weeks since the death of Pete Reed. I had been working closely with him, and when he was killed, I immediately stepped into several temporary leadership roles in the projects he was developing. With time, it became apparent I couldn't do this long term without living closer to the area where I was spending most of my time. As a result, I moved my family four hours east to a front-line city. We set up a small base and now have part of our team here. Most of my time is spent in meetings as we continue to develop the vision and projects Pete was working on. It is a joint effort of numerous organizations and individuals working together. Stay tuned for updates as things come together. #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 One of my highlights is being able to share the love of Jesus with the people we help. We’re not only showing them the love of Jesus in words, but in action as well. The help they receive shows them that God thought of them and cares for them when they need it most, and we are blessed to be a part of the work he does in Haiti. #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 I remember a trip when three of us went to Lysychansk last summer. Some soldiers were accompanying us and they were very hesitant to move forward, stopping frequently for smoke breaks along the side of the road. We realized that they were not interested in going in, so we just prayed and decided to go in on our own. We trusted God to get us and the supplies and medicines to the people who needed it, with or without military escort. God delivered, kind of like He did for Ezra (Ez 8:21-22). We weren’t ashamed to have the military escort, but they were not necessary to complete the mission. Then, the three of us were glad that the PCCR leadership gave us the autonomy make a decision and go on our own under, the Lord’s leadership and protection. ~From a volunteer #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 Part 2 - From Our International field directer: At one point, we went to the island where we are working. This is also a poverty-stricken part of Haiti. Their situation is probably even worse than the mountains. This isolated little island is off the coast and only accessible by boat. Boats are very expensive and there are hardly any jobs available. It makes is very difficult to survive. There are no cars and motorcycles on the island, some of the children don’t even know what that is. Here, we visited a village and distributed food to 105 families. Moving on, the next stop was a church in a neighboring village. At the church we held a small children’s program with around eighty children, they sang and heard the gospel. Afterwards, we handed drinking water, a pack of crackers, and a Children’s 101 Bible story book to each child. The past week has been a true blessing. It meant a lot to me to see the work here firsthand and to be a part of it. Traveling up and down treacherous mountain roads and through valleys. According to many people, this is the worst crisis they have ever seen. It became more real for me, when I saw how their livelihood is destroyed when their bean fields die in the scorching weather. And there is no hope for food to come because prices are skyrocketing as the gangs continue to hold the shipping ports hostage. Everything that comes through is heavily taxed by the gangs. Please continue to pray for our team and the work in Haiti. May God bless you and thank you for supporting our efforts in Haiti. #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 With the warmer temperatures coming, the stove project got wrapped up and food distributions are starting again, but on a smaller scale than previously. We love being able to do these distributions, preaching and pouring into the lives of the civilians that are stuck in the horrors of war. This is why we’re here: we have the opportunity to bless them and impact them for eternity. #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 Part 1 - From Our International field directer: A single gunshot breaks the silence as we are sitting on Andy’s front porch, waiting on the hygiene kits to arrive. These kits have just been transported through the worst gang-controlled parts of Haiti and the drivers had to pull over and wait for the fighting to end. We’ve been here for a week and I’m thinking about everything that happened during our stay. Earlier today, we had been in one of the prisons for a prayer service. What an amazing time of worship and singing! Afterwards, I shared from Matthew 14. About fifty people were present and they all were attentive and blessed by our sharing. In this prison, the atmosphere amongst the inmates is open and the Holy Spirit is moving them to repentance. People are confessing their sins and forgiving those who wronged them. They are repenting of the things that landed them in prison. It is wonderful to see. Yesterday, we took a trip up the mountain to do a food distribution. This part of Haiti has always been very poor, and now, a vast part of the country is suffering from a severe drought. In the past, this community relied on their animals as a source of income, but the animals are dying from starvation and thirst. I was shocked at all the dead vegetation, even the coconut trees are dying. In this area, we were able to bless 80 people with food. to be continued on Thursday ... PC 📸 - Josh Myer #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 In the recent weeks, there has been a steady supply of humanitarian aid readily available in Ukraine. In one of the towns, the major explicitly asked to shut down any aid coming in, because it destroyed the economy there. It wasn’t vital for survival, the local population didn’t need to work anymore, and local businesses suffer as a result of misplaced aid. This is a common problem, wherever disasters and aid meet. One of our goals is to stay sensitive to the ebb and flow of needs and as a result, we have greatly reduced the amount of aid we are moving, as well as insuring that it actually fills a need and doesn’t contribute to more problems for the country. The shift has allowed us to put most of our focus to other places. We are currently working on a medical initiative. There is a need for proper medical care and we would appreciate prayer as we walk through the dynamics and challenges involved. Thank you for your support! #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR

Haiti 🇭🇹 The hygiene kits for the prisons arrived! It was challenging to get them shipped from Port-au-Prince too to the south, where the prisons are. The original plan was to to transport them by plane, but due to all the instability, Mission Aviation Fellowship has ceased operations in Haiti, leaving us no option but to transport by ground. Our drivers came up to heavy gun fire three different times in gang-controlled areas, forcing them to take shelter and wait for the fighting to cease, so they could make a run for it. One of the vehicles was stopped by armed gunmen who looked inside to see the load and then decided to let them go! All of this was during a 48-hour period that had over 80 reported kidnappings. But all of this was well worth it, when we handed the kits out to the inmates. The inmates were yelling Thank You! and clapping, so grateful and excited for the kits. One of the inmates particularly caught my attention. He held all the items that came in the kit in his hands and said under tears: “Thank you! You knew just what we needed”. One of the police officers sent me a message afterwards and told me “ You guys truly respect people. The things you gave were not worn out or dirty but new and fresh! I never seen this kind of love before”. Thank you so much to everyone who helped with making the kits and put in so much time and effort, it was well worth it! #Haiti #CrisisResponse #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #hope #PCCR

Ukraine 🇺🇦 I remember one instance, when we were on our way from Zaporizhzhia. I got a call from one of our contacts, asking for an evacuation. “I’m sorry to bother you, but a lady from our village got half paralyzed. We need to get her to the hospital. Can you help us, please?” This is a village along the eastern frontlines, where you can hear explosions, shellings and missiles being launched overhead... there is no cell service either. Our contact had to walk couple of kilometers uphill in order to call me. These situations are difficult, when we would love to say yes immediately, but can’t make a commitment yet. I promised to make some calls and see what we could do. We also scheduled a time for the next phone call. By God's grace, we found the right vehicle, along with a medic. They were willing to spend all day to transport this lady to the hospital where she could get treated for her condition. The following day, my phone buzzed with messages from these dear people. They expressed their gratitude for our help. "You were the only organization who were willing to help us. When I go to church, I'll light a candle and ask God's special blessings for you. You are our guardian angels. Thank you!" It is not the first time when people refer to us as angels. And it is nice to know that they see God's intervention in their lives with our presence and work.... #Ukraine #UkraineWar #InternationalCrisisResponse #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCrisis #Hope #PCCR