FEATURE

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” Proverbs 19:17

Crates for Ukraine is back! We're thankful to the Presbyterian Church in America’s Mission to the World for once again inviting the OPC family to participate in the next iteration of Crates for Ukraine—known as 3.0—their third iteration of the Crates for Ukraine effort.

The aid from the "Crates for Ukraine: Winter Edition" has nearly run out and now the need for aid is even greater as the war continues on. As you may recall from the last iteration, CFU enables churches in the U.S. to send much needed humanitarian aid to L'viv where volunteers pair it with the gospel message and disperse it to Ukrainians all over the war-torn country.

OPC missionary Heero Hacquebord helpfully describes the goal of this effort, "We are praying regularly for the Lord to use the aid sent with Crates for Ukraine (and the whole process of collecting and sending aid in the U.S. and Ukraine) to build His church, to start new churches down the line, and to give individuals faith in Him. There are different approaches that Christian organizations take in trying to make such goals a reality. At this time our approach is focused on personal interaction (as much as possible) and giving people the tools to learn more about our church and its beliefs as they desire to do so."

The OPC Committee on Diaconal Ministries, promotes Crates for Ukraine 3.0 as a worthy ministry for OPC churches to engage in to demonstrate the love of Christ to brothers and sisters, as well as those not walking with Jesus, suffering in Ukraine.

This effort needs you—and don't worry, you don't need to have participated previously to join in this iteration.

Crates for Ukraine 3.0 is very much like the winter edition, with one specific change—each crate has a prescribed list of the exact quantity of items needed—a checklist, if you will. Like last time, the crates need to be filled and be delivered to an LDP—Local Drop Point. More LPDs are being added daily and the hope is to have at least one in every state in the US.

To encourage wide participation, the OPC CDM is offering financial aid to up to 20 eligible OP Churches (at up to $5,000/church) who would like to participate but need help with funding. Just fill out this form, but be sure to note the qualifications at the top of the form.

As you consider participating, you may find helpful a recent episode of The Reformed Deacon where the CDM administrator talks to an OPC CFU Winter Edition coordinator, Dave Askey, about his church's participation. Dave shares the peace he felt as the Lord led their church to take on this work of service together.

During the last iteration, seventy-two OP Churches from 16 presbyteries in 24 states delivered an amazing 307 filled crates as part of Mission to the World’s Crates for Ukraine Winter Edition (iteration #2). MTW L’viv team leader, Doug Shepherd, is hugely grateful for the OPC’s participation in the relief efforts here. He describes the OPC as “punching way above their weight class.” A report for the overall MTW CFU Winter Edition revealed that over 1300 crates were received! Praise the Lord for the connected church and for His work during this terrible time.

Find out more at Crates for Ukraine or by emailing: OPC Diaconal Ministries.

Please also consider praying that many would be saved during this unique service of love toward others.