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The church from Poland drives to the border zone to meet the pastors and church leaders from the Ukrainian churches. There, they load a van with relief supplies. They have already done three exchanges and will continue to bring relief at least once a week.

The Lodz Baptist Church in Poland has had a partnership with churches in two small Ukrainian towns for a while. Now, the partnership is even more important as these small churches are in a war zone. The relief help sent across the border has an impact not only for the church members, but also for the people in the towns. Years ago, when the churches began their relationship, they couldn't have known that this time would come and that God would use them to bring help to the towns.

Here are excerpts from reports from Pastor Leszek Wakula in Poland:

Prayers and needs

Please pray for the relief help and that God would continue to use this difficult situation to proclaim the Good News to many.

The church needs to purchase a used van to make the deliveries to the Ukrainian churches. Currently, they are using a church member's van, but it is not in good condition or available at any time. When they finish delivering goods to Ukraine, they will give the van to one of those churches.

If you would like to donate toward this ministry of helping refugees from Ukraine, please click here. Thank you!

As Poland continues to receive refugees from Ukraine, Manna Ministries Worldwide partner Leszek Wakula reports on how donations help the refugees, who not only need a place to sleep, but also a way to do laundry and exchange currency.

Around 1.3 million refugees have entered Poland, with more continuing to cross the border, and churches are playing a key role in providing shelter and basic needs. Leszek’s ministry served around 70 refugees last week, many of them children. As he reports, the church provides meals, clothes, toys, SIM cards and data packages for their phones, and hygiene and pharmacy items. 

Another important way they help is connecting the refugees with local health care and with schooling for the children. They have seen the need for children’s programs and activities, in order to allow the mothers to look for jobs.

We may not think about all the obstacles a refugee faces – for example, where to wash clothes or exchange money to the local currency. The Lodz Baptist Church purchased a washing machine and dryer so the refugees have a place to do laundry. The church also helps them exchange Ukrainian currency, which is hard to do in banks that have been flooded with the foreign currency. The church purchases some of the Ukrainian money, and then sends it with provisions to partner churches in Ukraine for needs there.

Church members have been volunteering to help with activities, as well as transportation, cooking, grocery shopping, and more. Please pray for strength and endurance for the volunteers, for conditions in Poland where fuel and commodity prices have risen drastically, for the church’s work to be efficient and fruitful to bring love and peace to many Ukrainians. Finally, pray for peace!   

We thank God for the church’s service, and for your donations to provide the resources needed. If you would like to donate toward this continuing ministry of helping refugees from Ukraine, please click here. Thank you!

Manna Ministries Worldwide partner in Poland Leszek Wakula is seeking emergency support to help Ukrainian refugees on the Ukraine-Poland border, and in his town of Lodz, Poland.

Pastor Leszek and his church want to serve together with supporters to "show the heart of God and be His acting hand among those in need." The ways in which they – and you, through your donations – can help the refugees are:

• Church volunteers driving necessary supplies to the Ukraine-Poland border. Thousands of people are waiting to cross, with wait times of 24-48 hours. These supplies include extension cords, blankets, food, warm clothing, hot water bottles and pots, and sanitary items.
  
  
• Provision, help, and care at the Baptist Church in Lodz. The church is preparing to host up to 30 people for at least two weeks, perhaps longer. Supplies needed include mobile beds, bedsheets, blankets, pillows, and daily meals.
  
  

These are the biggest and most urgent needs, and they are ways to help the refugees directly. If you would like to support this urgent ministry in Poland, please click here to donate through Manna Ministries. Your entire donation goes to this ministry for refugees. Thank you!

As we wrote about in our previous blog post, Mustard Seed Academy (MSA) are schools that provide education and care for vulnerable children in Uganda. The “partners” approach allows for those who live and work in the community to keep the projects sustainable and growing, while receiving support, direction and accountability from partners in the U.S.

Since the idea for the academy started in 2003, MSA has grown to now serving about 600 children. The high school students have consistently received very good scores on national exams, preparing them for careers or continued education. However, the global pandemic has complicated education in the whole of Uganda, with school closings and government restrictions. Even though in-person classes were extremely limited, MSA continued to support the teachers and the students as much as possible, especially through food assistance. For Christmas 2021, children received a gift of ingredients to be able to make a Christmas dinner with their families.  

The academy looks forward to schools reopening again in the coming year, and is raising funds for a new school building and dining area. The school also hopes to welcome back to campus all of the students who stay in the dorms – some 200 students in all – where they live and study in an environment that supports their learning. Please pray for the reopening of schools, funds for school expansion, local churches that participate in services at the school, and for the students to have a desire to learn more about the Christian faith.

To support Mustard Seed Academy through Manna Ministries, visit our campaign page to donate!

We love to hear stories about how individual lives are impacted by ministries around the world. Real Partners Uganda (RPU), one of the organizations that Manna Ministries partners with and supports, shares the following story of one young woman whose life was changed. She attended Mustard Seed Academy (MSA), schools supported by Real Partners Uganda that provide education and care for vulnerable children in the town of Lukaya, Uganda.

Hadijah was one of the first students at Mustard Seed Academy. From the time she was very young, she became a member of the Rapha’s House family, because she had only a poor grandmother in Lukaya to give her care. Recently she finished her certificate with honors as a Laboratory Technician. Before she had even received her final exam results, she was hired by Mbarara University Hospital, earning more than any teacher at MSA. Last week, she received her first paycheck. She called George [the director of Tree of Life Ministries, RPU's Ugandan partner organization] to share her excitement and gratitude. She told him she was sending half of it to Tree of Life Ministries as a "thank-you." He told her how pleased he was that she was eager to pay it forward, and then told her that they would be sending it back to her to help with setting up housekeeping for the first time in her life.

Since then, she has been promoted and transferred to St. Francis Hospital, Mbiziri, where she has been put in charge of the supplies in addition to her lab work. [It was reported] that she emerged the best of 30 interviewees: "she is well-behaved, good at leadership and management, has nice English, is smart (appearance) and good at netball. These exceptional skills gave her the advantage."

Rapha House, where Hadijah stayed during her education, is a group home for orphans and vulnerable children who attend Mustard Seed Academy. Manna Ministries supported the building of the home, which was completed in 2012.  

This story is one example of what your gifts to Manna Ministries and its partner organizations around the world help accomplish for the Kingdom of God. As Real Partners Uganda puts it, "There are so many other amazing success stories! Thank you! Because of you, the students of Mustard Seed Academy have big dreams, and those dreams are becoming reality." To support RPU and its ministry, visit the campaign page to donate!

Real Partners Uganda (RPU) works hand-in-hand with its Ugandan partner, Tree of Life Ministries (TOLM), to fund and operate Mustard Seed Academy. RPU and its Ugandan partners are working actively to establish a self-sustainable learning community -- and to address the root causes of poverty in East Africa.