At the end of March, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) in Ukraine unloaded a container filled with medical supplies ranging from crutches and walkers to physical rehabilitation equipment and catheter units and more. The donated medical supplies had been sent by an organization in Maryland, U.S.

“They will be used by our Nazarene doctors in reaching out to needy people and sharing the Gospel with them,” said Bob Skinner, a missionary who has worked with NCM in Ukraine.

Crates filled with donated medical supplies, equipment and machinery have been helping to open doors for the Gospel in the Ukraine for a number of years.

When the Church of the Nazarene officially set foot in Ukraine in 1991, boxes of hygiene items sent to a local hospital piqued the interest of several physicians. When they discovered the donated toothbrushes, soap and toothpaste were from the Nazarene church, they decided to check it out. Both doctors, who were married to each other, began attending regularly with their three children.

All three of their children are now doctors, as well. Through the influence of these medical professionals, a number of their colleagues and even medical students have joined the church.

“One of the ways they expressed their love for God and people were to go on medical trips around Ukraine … and provide in these villages good medical treatment,” Skinner said.

An organization started by Nazarenes from Nampa, Idaho, College Church of the Nazarene, called Hands of Hope Northwest, began sending crates of donated medical supplies to Ukraine. The local churches in Ukraine distribute the supplies to nearby hospitals and clinics.

Now the church in Ukraine is partnering with several other suppliers of donated equipment in Ohio, Maryland, Arizona and Michigan. Equipment can range from sonogram and X-ray machines to syringes, scrubs, linen, basic furniture and mobile IV poles.

These donations have made deep impressions on the Ukrainian hospital and clinic staffs in a country where the government doesn’t always have money to provide its hospitals with updated equipment, Skinner said.

The staff respond to the valuable donations by offering free medical care to anyone associated with the Nazarene churches.

Many children have benefitted from free operations, including one child in need of a brain operation, and one who received spinal surgery. A baby had a problem with the ball and socket of its hip joint, so the hospital provided a very expensive operation for free.

Some areas where the Church of the Nazarene is now at work were first opened to the church through free medical shipments in concert with the JESUS Film and subsequent Bible studies, Skinner said. Sites include Volin, Vinitza and Zaparozhia, as well as areas of northwestern Ukraine.

Often, when distributing a medical shipment, the churches include Bibles, with the permission of the city’s mayor, the hospital director and the head of the State Health Department.

“We’ll distribute Bibles. Eventually they’ll come back and say, ‘We can read this, but we don’t understand it.’ So we set up Bible studies and invite them to church,” Skinner said. “Part of the reason why the church has grown so quickly – the people are open, but also this humanitarian aid opens all kinds of doors.”

In northwest Ukraine a storm destroyed homes and public buildings. The church was given permission to distribute used clothing and Bibles, which eventually led to the organization of two new churches in the area.

Humanitarian aid “opened up the doors of government leaders; the Bible, the JESUS Film opened the hearts of people,” Skinner said.

To read more about Hands of Hope Northwest, visit www.engagemagazine.com.