Local warehouse ups shipments to Ukraine

World/Ukraine Missions has sent over 114 shipping containers full of food, clothing, bedding, shoes, and survival kits to war-torn Ukraine this year, according to Jerry Moore, with the Holly Springs Church of Christ.

Most containers travel on ships to warehouses in Poland and then goods are moved across the border to help the country during a most emergent war situation.

World/Ukraine Missions was established to support orphanages in foreign countries, but now the effort is to assist Ukrainians both in the country and their refugees in Poland. The orphanages supported are in the western portion of the country and children have been moved to a safe location and are still being supplied by the mission.

Very little food is shipped from the Holly Springs warehouse, Moore said. Food is shipped from warehouses in Columbus and in Montgomery, Ala.

Moore said these warehouses are providing food that will go out of date in two months. It takes just a few weeks to get food to Ukraine.

Lots of warm clothing and coats are going out now to help Ukrainians stay warm this winter when temps can dip down to minus 5 or minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.

The heating systems in the country are the old-style radiator heaters that require water to generate steam. The shelling of the infrastructure, including water plants, by the Russians this year has compromised the water supply. Wood will be used for most heat this winter, he said.

Some things that will provide comfort to individuals are survival buckets that are filled with enough toiletries to last one person one month. Shoes, toys, warm clothes and coats are going to help people survive this winter, according to Becky Bryant who is spending her retirement years working at the Holly Springs warehouse that is supported liberally by the Church of Christ.

Building back after the war will be the most difficult task, Moore said. He expects the fighting will eventually end, with Ukraine bearing the brunt of the damage to buildings and infrastructure.

Moore said he has been studying Russia’s president Vladimir Putin for over 10 years, and Putin has been saying he was going to move in to take Ukraine since 2012.

“In his mind he believes he is saving Christianity – the Russian Orthodox Church for humanity,” Moore said. “He’s seen outside churches as a threat to the Russian Orthodox Church.”

“In his mind it’s political and also religious,” Moore said.

Ukraine has served as the `bread basket’ of the world for centuries providing grain. Since the invasion, some grain has gotten out of Ukraine, but only about half of what the country usually ships, he said.

Other critical materials, such as neon used for drills that make computer chips needed for the automotive industry, also come from Ukraine.

“That’s why you can’t get new vehicles because of the chips,” he said.

Moore said he believes Putin took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic as a window for opening the attack on Ukraine in February.

“Our job is to fulfill that promise in Matthew 25,” Moore said, “to try to feed and clothe the people. It is strictly humanitarian.”

A church and owner of a business is finding stuff like clothing, Moore said.

“Over 2,700 brand new coats sitting in a warehouse were donated by a company out of Corinth,” he said. “Its huge. Most everything in Holly Springs comes from all over

Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama. Churches, businesses, politicians, community leaders are helping us. It is a huge Mississippi effort.”

A proclamation by Gov. Tate Reeves and lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has done a lot to garner support for the efforts of the state of Mississippi.

“We are a sister state with the Khmelnyskyi Oblast in Ukraine,” Moore said. “They have helped us get the stuff over there.

“This started out to support orphanages in foreign countries, and continues to do so in other countries and in western Ukraine (about 2,500 children) and I hope to be able to do that when the war is over.

“It’s gonna be a nightmare, that’s what it’s going to be,” he said and explained the nightmare is that Ukraine already had so many orphaned children. “But this war is going to drive that number up dramatically.”

Moore said he believes the war will end with a truce.

“That’s when the work will begin,” he said, pointing to the time when it will be safe for large groups to go in and help rebuild Ukraine.

Matthew 25:35-40

“For I was an hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me. Then the righteous answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.” — Holy Bible