Hopkins April 2026 Update
On April 23-28 a team of 8 of us went to Baliklia Kharkiv region in Ukraine. The weather was cloudy, wet and cold around 36 degrees much of the time, with one day of warm welcomed sun.We visited 12 villages and two churches. The villages are church plants. Some villages were mostly older women and some had men and middle age folks.
The team did a great job up at 6:30am and in bed by 11 or 12pm exhausted.Both Samantha and Arina were on this trip and Evan my right hand man. Ronaldo, a pastor and Bazillion from our base also was with us along with 3 new people. Everyone did an excellent job sharing testimonies and two of the new guys shared testimonies and preached for their first time. These trips are special; you feel like you are doing exactly what Jesus called us to do. The new girl, Valya, had a special moment, as she was sharing her testimony she felt as did the team, God was speaking through her and it was a very emotional moment.
We prayed for the sick, fed the poor, shared the Gospel everywhere and built up the body of Christ. We also addressed corruption.
I personally got to see a military family I met 3 years ago; I have been praying for them the whole time. I told them that I have been praying for them all this time and then we as a team prayed for them. We were all in tears, especially the big military guy, they asked us to come back soon to share more time. I cannot express the very strong connection and love we all felt.
Both Samantha and Arina did an excellent job sharing and translation.
We did have a scare and our church in Lutsk was worried for us as communication is very important. The city of Baliklia was attacked and a few shaheed hit around 500-700 yard from us. The team ran and fell to the floor. They also attacked schools. We recently bought a drone and missile and rocket detector. If something is coming towards us we can get its signal and even see it. Technology amazes me. Drone nets cover much of the roads near the front lines, it is eerie.
Thank you all for your support / prayers we did feel covered. There were literally 10s of thousands of potholes many deep enough to stop you dead. God is great!The local church we work with went out of their way to thank us for being a big part in their ministry. We love and appreciate all they do. They are the true warriors staying through all this.
God's blessings and love,
James, Valya, Arina and Samantha and the 99for1ulkraine team.
The team did a great job up at 6:30am and in bed by 11 or 12pm exhausted.Both Samantha and Arina were on this trip and Evan my right hand man. Ronaldo, a pastor and Bazillion from our base also was with us along with 3 new people. Everyone did an excellent job sharing testimonies and two of the new guys shared testimonies and preached for their first time. These trips are special; you feel like you are doing exactly what Jesus called us to do. The new girl, Valya, had a special moment, as she was sharing her testimony she felt as did the team, God was speaking through her and it was a very emotional moment.
We prayed for the sick, fed the poor, shared the Gospel everywhere and built up the body of Christ. We also addressed corruption.
I personally got to see a military family I met 3 years ago; I have been praying for them the whole time. I told them that I have been praying for them all this time and then we as a team prayed for them. We were all in tears, especially the big military guy, they asked us to come back soon to share more time. I cannot express the very strong connection and love we all felt.
Both Samantha and Arina did an excellent job sharing and translation.
We did have a scare and our church in Lutsk was worried for us as communication is very important. The city of Baliklia was attacked and a few shaheed hit around 500-700 yard from us. The team ran and fell to the floor. They also attacked schools. We recently bought a drone and missile and rocket detector. If something is coming towards us we can get its signal and even see it. Technology amazes me. Drone nets cover much of the roads near the front lines, it is eerie.
Thank you all for your support / prayers we did feel covered. There were literally 10s of thousands of potholes many deep enough to stop you dead. God is great!The local church we work with went out of their way to thank us for being a big part in their ministry. We love and appreciate all they do. They are the true warriors staying through all this.
God's blessings and love,
James, Valya, Arina and Samantha and the 99for1ulkraine team.
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