Mission 823

09/01/2026

From our friends in Oleksandrivka Ukraine:

Important warning: Danger of gatherings of people and equipment due to the threat of enemy drones
In the current conditions of constant threat of shelling and attacks by enemy drones, the safety of every resident is our top priority. This issue is especially acute during mass events, distribution of humanitarian aid, or any gatherings of equipment and people.
Enemy reconnaissance UAVs constantly scan the territory in search of gatherings of people, civilian vehicles, or queues. Having fixed the gathering, the enemy can quickly direct kamikaze strike drones there or deliver an artillery strike. Vehicles with humanitarian aid or personal transport in queues become priority targets for the occupiers.
To avoid tragedy and save your life and the lives of others, strictly follow these recommendations:
1. Do not create large crowds at places where aid is distributed. Keep a safe distance from each other.
2. Vehicles should be left at a safe distance from each other and from the place of assistance (preferably in shelters or under the natural cover of trees, if possible).
3. In the event of an air alert or a UAV threat, immediately stop receiving assistance and head to the nearest shelter.
4. Wait for your turn in a dispersed manner, avoiding open spaces.
5. Strictly follow the instructions of local authorities, volunteers and security services organizing the process.
Remember: No humanitarian aid or material thing is worth your life and health. Be vigilant, take care of yourself and your loved ones!
Share this information with your neighbors and friends!

Важливе попередження: Небезпека скупчення людей та техніки через загрозу ворожих дронів
У нинішніх умовах постійної загрози обстрілів та атак ворожих безпілотників безпека кожного мешканця є нашим головним пріоритетом. Особливо гостро це питання постає під час масових заходів, роздачі гуманітарної допомоги чи будь-яких скупчень техніки та людей.
Ворожі розвідувальні БПЛА постійно сканують територію у пошуках скупчень людей, цивільного автотранспорту чи черг. Зафіксувавши скупчення, противник може оперативно спрямувати туди ударні дрони-камікадзе або завдати артилерійського удару. Автомобілі з гуманітарною допомогою чи особистий транспорт у чергах стають пріоритетними цілями для окупантів.
Щоб уникнути трагедії та зберегти життя собі й оточуючим, суворо дотримуйтеся таких рекомендацій:
1. Не створюйте великих натовпів у місцях видачі допомоги. Дотримуйтеся безпечної дистанції одне від одного.
2. Транспортні засоби слід залишати на безпечній відстані одне від одного та від місця видачі допомоги (бажано в укриттях або під природним укриттям дерев, якщо це можливо).
3. У разі оголошення повітряної тривоги або появи загрози БПЛА негайно припиняйте отримання допомоги та прямуйте до найближчого укриття.
4. Очікуйте своєї черги розосереджено, уникаючи відкритих просторів.
5. Чітко виконуйте вказівки представників місцевої влади, волонтерів та служб безпеки, які організовують процес.
Пам'ятайте: Жодна гуманітарна допомога чи матеріальна річ не варті вашого життя та здоров'я. Будьте пильними, дбайте про себе та своїх близьких!
Поширте цю інформацію серед сусідів та знайомих!

08/27/2026

"Confidential" 😎 Mission Debrief from Rick Melero, Mission 823 board member who accompanied us to the Ukrainian front and back in Ukraine August 2026.
"UKRAINE 2026 — WE DID NOT COME HOME THE SAME

18 days. Krakow into western Ukraine, east to Nikopol near the front lines, back west, then into the Carpathian Mountains. Four of us from the U.S. — me, Shawn, Davonte, and Boni — alongside an in-country team who I don't call "contacts" anymore. They're family.

Here's some of what we carried home.

THE ROAD IN
More than 20 hours of flights to reach Poland, a 17-hour bus ride to Ivano-Frankivsk, then another hour to base. Two full days of travel before the mission even started. Somewhere in there I landed on 1 Peter 4 — "arm yourselves also with the same mind" — and had no idea yet how literal that was about to get.

Also somewhere in there, an old joke got resurrected. Since my kids were little, any time I wanted to exaggerate a hardship I'd say "when I was in Vietnam." I have never been to Vietnam. That's the whole joke. By day two the whole team was doing it. Their suffering is real — the laughter was just how we carried the weight of it together.

UNDER THE NETS
Driving into Nikopol we passed under anti-drone nets stretched across the roads — not decoration, protection. Where the nets ended, our drivers hit close to 100 mph over potholed roads because nobody stops a vehicle out in the open in an active combat zone.

On the other side of those nets were 55 to 60 kids who live near the front lines. Many have lost parents, or have fathers in combat, or have been displaced. For about four hours we just let them be kids — crafts, games, hugs. A smile doesn't need translation. Neither does a hug.

That church also runs a bakery we helped fund years ago — feeding the community, still running. And Sunday morning, on the way to service, our drone scanner went off. We got out and ran into the woods until the warning passed. In America, Sunday stress is finding parking.

I ended up leading worship that morning — 50 minutes I did not plan on. Later, during lunch with the church leadership, explosions shook the building. The Ukrainians just said, "open the windows, so the pressure doesn't break them," and kept eating. I asked the pastor and his wife why they stayed, when leaving once already saved their lives. They said God asked them one question: who will remain here for the people of Nikopol? So they stayed.

WHAT WE DELIVERED
$30,000+ in medical supplies to two hospitals inside an active war zone. A mobile water treatment plant we helped fund — now producing clean drinking water around the clock for a community that had drilled 300 feet and still couldn't drink what came up. A second plant is already secured for 2026, though the site was too damaged to even prepare on this trip.

Standing there drinking a cup of water I'd helped fund from Florida — that's when "provision" stopped being a word and became something I could hold in my hand.

WHAT WE DIDN'T SEE UNTIL LATER
We knew the east was dangerous while we were in it. We didn't understand the scale until we were driving away and I started reading the regional attack reports. More than 100 attacks in the Nikopol district in a single day. Nearly 1,000 attacks across Zaporizhzhia in one 24-hour period. We were inside all of that, mostly without knowing it. Looking back, I don't think we avoided the lion's den. I think we walked through it, covered.

THE MOUNTAINS
The Carpathians were a different world — forests, cabins, safety. At our youth camp, about 55 kids, many displaced, many carrying real loss. They were still kids — laughing, joking, clinging to any adult who made them feel safe. War wounded their stories. It didn't take their childhood.

I preached on David — the years he spent in the field between being anointed and becoming king. Don't waste the field. Then Davonte, 24 years old and someone I've watched grow up in my church, preached his first sermon days later on faithfulness, after struggling all Saturday to even get his notes together. Watching him find his voice was one of my favorite parts of this whole trip.

Our translators that week were Sasha and Liana — the kids of close friends. Years ago I told them if they learned English, they'd earn a tablet. Sasha did. He's in university now, and he translated for me while I preached. His sister Liana said watching him inspired her to learn too. Seeds you plant take years. They still grow.

PEOPLE ARE NOT PROJECTS
I got to see Dima, a Ukrainian brother I've stayed in touch with for years. He told our whole team something that stuck with me: lots of missionaries come, serve, and leave. I was the one who kept checking in — week after week, month after month. That's when it hit me. You can count dollars and gallons and sermons. You can't put "he knew we hadn't forgotten him" on a spreadsheet.

THE LAST MORNING
On our final day, on the way to buy shirts before catching the bus, we came across a car accident — a van flipped in a ditch, the driver pinned by a shifted engine. Our team and some locals rolled the vehicle, freed him, and Bonnie (our ER nurse) went straight into work mode until an ambulance arrived. Ukraine had one more assignment for us before we could leave.

WE DID NOT COME HOME THE SAME
We saw pastors who stayed when leaving would've been easier. Kids who'd lost everything and still laughed. A young man finding his calling in real time. Nine years of friendship turning into brotherhood. And somewhere in the middle of artillery, sickness, a roadside rescue, and way too many jokes about a war I was never actually in — God was there. Not always dramatically. Sometimes just around a table, with the windows open.

We'll tell the rest of it in person — stories, photos, the whole thing — September 12. If you want in, message me."

— Rick Melero

08/27/2026

While Mission 823's Camp Willow Park is undergoing massive upgrades, your partnership allowed us to sponsor children that would normally come to our facilities. Your generosity enabled us to rent other facilities in the region so that kids who are suffering because of the war in Ukraine can find peace and healing in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine.

Children of War Find Rest in the Ukrainian Carpathians | Kids Matte...

08/27/2026

While Mission 823's Camp Willow Park is undergoing massive upgrades, your partnership allowed us to sponsor children that would normally come to our facilities. Your generosity enabled us to rent other facilities in the region so that kids who are suffering because of the war in Ukraine can find peace and healing in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine.

Children of War Find Rest in the Ukrainian Carpathians | Kids Matte...

08/25/2026

Karina's Terrifying Story from Kherson Ukraine | Kids and War
Since February 24, 2022, life in Kherson has meant living under occupation, bombardment, displacement, and the constant fear that simply going to work, walking down the street, or taking a bus could be your last journey. Today, Russian FPV drones hunt civilians from the sky in what survivors call a “human safari”—turning ordinary moments of life into moments of survival. This is Karina’s story.

Karina's Terrifying Story from Kherson Ukraine | Kids and WarSince...

08/24/2026

Adoptive Father and Pastor in Ukraine Leads Youth Camps for Kids
Pastor Ivan Burla and his wife Mariana are parents to 8 adopted children. They have been serving as Family Type Home parents for many years and have cared for countless children. That work extends to hundreds of children who have experienced the trauma of war in Ukraine. This camp supported by Mission 823 served 55 children and 25 counselors to bring healing to children whose parents serve on the front lines, children who have lost parents to the war, child refugees and kids who come from underprivileged families in Ukraine.

Adoptive Father and Pastor in Ukraine Leads Youth Camps for KidsPa...

08/24/2026

Since 2014, all of our camps for kids in Ukraine have involved learning trauma and how to help children of war. We have a long way to go and the learning curve is steep and wide:

A guide for trauma responsive camps helps leaders create safety, choice, connection, and faith-rooted care for children carrying deep wounds with dignity.