Project updates

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Bulgaria: Current progress

In Bulgaria, a project provides support to people in need in the form of donations in kind, food and financial aid.

At the end of March this year, several brothers from Speyer and Guntersblum traveled to Bulgaria to visit the churches and house groups there that receive support from Germany. In 2022, two young brothers from the church in Dondukovo were commissioned for diaconal service on a probationary basis. Our brothers also visited them and spent a blessed time together in prayer and instruction.

Our brothers in the city of Sapareva Banya were able to see for themselves that the missionary work is bearing fruit: Here, a small house group was formed through the spiritual work, which is now led by a local brother.

To advance the work on site, building materials were also purchased to facilitate the work for a group from the Seckach congregation who will be traveling to Bulgaria. The congregations in Bulgaria are increasing and growing through God's great grace.

Learn more: https://cdh-stephanus.org/bulgarien-2/

A ray of hope: Renovation of a destroyed house

A family from Kherson, Ukraine, suffered terrible tragedy. Their house was hit by a fragmentation bomb, damaging the windows and roof. The family has six children and is currently expecting a seventh. Thanks to a donation of approximately €1,000 from siblings, the bricks and window panes were able to be restored. After the successful renovation, the house was once again completely destroyed by fire during the war. The family is asking for help, financial support, and prayers so they can rebuild their lives.

Learn more: https://cdh-stephanus.org/strahl-der-hoffnung/

 

 

Disability support: Help for Jan

By God's grace, Jan, a young 32-year-old man from Russia, was helped. In 2018, Jan saved a man who was in danger of freezing to death. In doing so, he himself suffered severe frostbite on his legs.

Jan grew up in Ukraine but moved to Russia because of the war. After the incident, he had no means to obtain medication or treatment and hoped that the frostbite on his legs would heal on its own. However, instead of healing, gangrene developed, resulting in the amputation of his left leg above the knee. [Editor's note: Gangrene typically occurs when tissue no longer receives an adequate blood supply.]

After the operation, he was unable to find work to pay for his apartment. Since he has no parents, he was forced to live on the streets. The local Christian community provided him with shelter and food. The pain in his right leg worsened, necessitating its amputation as well.

Such operations are very expensive, and the local communities could not bear these costs. However, thanks to donations from brothers and sisters in Germany, the operation was successfully carried out.

Learn more: https://cdh-stephanus.org/barmherzigkeit-fuer-schwerbehinderte/

 

India: God touches hearts in previously unreached regions

Christian and Nina Hensel heeded God's call to bring the Gospel to people who might otherwise be unreachable. The family from Molbergen, with their three children, spent three months (from November 21, 2022 to February 20, 2023) on a mission trip to northern India, in a village near Aurangabad, in the state of Bihar.

Living conditions in this village are extremely poor. The inhabitants live in mud huts and try to survive through farming and animal husbandry. People live together with animals in these huts, which leads to widespread illness among the villagers. Most children have lice, little clothing, and sometimes don't even know what they will eat the next day. Often, rice is their only meal. Some children are so poor that they even roast rats over a fire to eat or go out into the streets to beg.

Many children don't go to school because they have to work hard in the fields with their parents. The existing caste system of Hinduism further complicates the lives of the locals. People from the lower castes are often exploited as slaves and forced to perform grueling labor. Some young boys and girls have to spend all day shaping clay stones and then laying them out to dry. Others ensure the stones dry by turning them regularly. This is the daily life of the poorest children in India. The Hensel family served the village—in cooperation with local missionaries—by distributing goods and food, which they also used as an opportunity to share the Gospel.

The villagers were greatly encouraged by the family's willingness to sacrifice, as they found it inconceivable that people from the West would voluntarily fly to this poor country to preach the Gospel. Please pray for the India project, that people may continue to hear God's Word.

Learn more: https://cdh-stephanus.org/indien/

Uganda: A mission group supports work

The Kellinger family is able to serve God again in Uganda, almost three months after the birth of their second son. They are already fully involved in the work on the ground. A few days after their arrival, a group of travelers reached the mission base in Kyewanise (Seeta-Lukinga). Between March 11th and 24th, 2023, 15 people from the congregations of Sottrum, Blomberg, Cloppenburg, Wurmberg, and from Canada traveled to Uganda. The purpose of the trip was to support the local people with clothing and food and to continue outstanding work on the ground.

The following tasks were carried out by the volunteers:

• Renovation of the former office and conversion into a medical center. After everything was plastered and installed, the donated medical supplies were sorted and placed on the shelves and in the cabinets. Three benches were also built to serve as a waiting area outside.
• The kitchen was moved to the new guesthouse. A new worktop was built and a new refrigerator/freezer was purchased.
• The school building received a new coat of paint and a roof.
• To ensure that no more wood needs to be purchased in the future, 2000 trees were planted on the property, which will serve as timber material for the mission in the future.
• Home visits were conducted to very poor families. They received clothing, food, and hygiene products. Through many conversations, our brothers and sisters got to know the people better and were able to bear witness to God's grace.
• On a Sunday, a children's festival was organized for the community, including a shared meal and games, which the helpers from Germany were able to bring great joy to the families.

Please pray for the entire project and those responsible, that God may continue to bless His work in Uganda.

Learn more: https://cdh-stephanus.org/uganda/