UKRAINE RELIEF UPDATE
HOW YOU CAN GIVE AND PRAY
Below is an excerpt from an update from International Ministries (IM) Area Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Liberia Charles Jones (3/11/22):
In response to the events unfolding in Ukraine, International Ministries sent an initial grant of $15,000 for our Ukrainian Baptist partners to help supply basic provisions like food, shelter, medicine, and hygiene items.
The office of the Baptist Union of Ukraine has been relocated to Western Ukraine, nearer to the Polish border. Leaders and staff meet there three times a day—at 9:00AM, 1:00 and 5:00PM—for prayer and coordination. The Union president’s prayer request was for good coordination as they try to provide evacuation and humanitarian aid to people coming through or trapped—since bridges around major cities, including the capital Kyiv, have been strategically blown up to slow the advance of Russian convoys. This also limits escape routes for Ukrainian civilians. The Baptist Union’s six regions in Western Ukraine (out of twenty-five regions in the country) are seeking to serve over one million internally displaced people (IDPs) coming through. He asked for prayers for safe travels for the drivers and vehicles bringing IDPs from their towns and then returning with goods and supplies.
Global servants in Hungary—Amanda and Jon Good, Carmella Jones, and Becky and Larry Stanton—are directly engaged in helping to provide relief for Ukrainian refugees.
Click here to see a video update on the Ukrainian Relief effort from global servants Becky and Larry Stanton.
GIVE
The work being done by regional partner (the European Baptist Federation) in collaboration with national partners (Baptist Unions in Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and other European countries) and the local efforts by IM global servants in Hungary can only be sustained with your generosity.
Donations to One Great Hour of Sharing can be made via your church; make the church check payable to Philadelphia Baptist Association marked “OGHS-Ukraine Relief” on the memo line and mail to PBA, 8711 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 1928.
PRAY
While our financial support will provide for physical needs, the need for prayer is paramount. Will you pray alongside our brothers and sisters? Here are some of the requests they have provided:
- Pray that the war will be stopped.
- Pray for God’s comfort for those who have lost family and their homes.
- Pray that Ukrainian Baptists are able to help those who are running from the war, particularly as it is still winter.
- Pray for a stable channel of cash flow to Ukraine so that humanitarian needs can be sustainably met.
- Pray that the power of the Holy Spirit will continue working within every Ukrainian Baptist pastor.
- Pray for the churches in areas surrounded by Russian soldiers—for the pastors and those who have stayed, that their hearts would remain open to surrounding people with Christian love and care.
Please pray for protection and provision for those who suffer, and for peace to be restored. And for our Baptist sisters and brothers and all peace-loving people in Russia, that God will give them courage to pursue peace.