By Laura McKillip Wood
When the war in Ukraine started on Feb. 24, Christians in America and Ukraine quickly mobilized to support humanitarian efforts. Many have raised funds or collected clothing or household items or baby formula. Whatever the case, innumerable churches have responded to the need, including these two.
Pantano Christian Church
This large church in Tucson, Ariz., has long been involved in ministry in Ukraine. Campus pastor Glen Elliott and his family served in a city in southern Ukraine before returning to the United States in the late 1990s. Since then, he has maintained ties with the churches in Ukraine and with the Christian college started there, Tavriski Christian Institute. TCI is now working to provide massive humanitarian aid to regions in the south and east regions of Ukraine; it is sending trucks full of food, medicine, and other supplies to cities under siege.
Pantano has collected more than $120,000 to help TCI’s efforts and those of other Ukrainian organizations. In addition to financial support, the church has conducted prayer meetings, both in-person and virtually, and Glen has published regular updates on the situation in Ukraine at his blog and on social media; those updates have included many stories and quotes from people in Ukraine. Because of his long-term involvement with Ukrainian churches, Glen sees the big picture.
“In the midst of this horrific tragedy, it’s easy to miss how God was at work decades ago to raise up churches and a people who would actively be working to save both body and soul,” he says. “This war was no surprise to God. He was at work and he is at work through those who are faithful to him.” Learn more about Pantano Christian Church by visiting their website. To contribute to TCI’s work through Pantano, visit here.
Fayetteville Christian Church
George Taylor, the pastor of this church in Fayetteville, N.C., served as a missionary in Ukraine for 10 years. His wife, Ira, was born and raised there. They moved to the United States to serve in local ministry but have maintained close ties with Ira’s family and friends back in Ukraine.
The war has affected the couple personally, and they have tried to provide funds for family and friends to escape the intense fighting in Ira’s hometown. Fayetteville Christian Church has been helping with this effort and providing money for medicine and food to those still in Ukraine. The church has provided funds for at least eight people to travel to safer areas and continues to raise support through a churchwide yard sale and other fundraising efforts.
Not only is the church helping refugees, they also are providing financial support to a woman in Ira’s home city who is risking her life to travel around the city looking for medication and food for people in desperate need who are unable to leave their homes.
George says “it’s amazing” how brave people are right now. The church has held interactive prayer meetings, and a childhood friend of Ira’s who barely escaped the bombing of her home spoke at the church on March 20.
There is an underground network of people all over Ukraine who provide sanctuary for those escaping to the West, George says. They provide drivers, fuel, help with moving the disabled and elderly, and more.
“The Ukrainian Christians have been remarkable with their relief response,” he says. People have networked through social media and other messaging apps to help refugees travel from eastern cities to western ones like Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv, and sometimes on to other cities along the border. “These people are putting themselves in great danger, intentionally staying there to help people.” To learn more about Fayetteville Christian Church’s efforts or to watch the testimony mentioned, visit their Facebook page. To contribute to their fund for Ukraine, visit here and select “Ukrainian Relief Fund.”
These are just two examples of churches that have gone above and beyond to help those who are suffering. To contribute to these or other ministries, click on one of the links above or below.
• Mulberry International provides relief to refugees through Ukrainian organizations on the ground.
• IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service) — be sure to designate your gift as “Ukraine relief.”
• Mountainview Christian Church is collecting money to send to Tavriski Christian Institute staff on the ground doing relief work.
• Proem Ministries is welcoming, sheltering, and feeding refugees from Ukraine as they arrive in Poland.
• Love for Ukrainians provides humanitarian aid and relief for those displaced and impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, lives in Papillion, Nebraska, and writes about missions for Christian Standard.
(Ukrainian flag image ©Joel Carillet)
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