The Ukraine Crisis fund provides resources to Ukrainians, missionaries, and partners serving Ukrainian communities in a time of upheaval and unrest, compassionately sharing the gospel with hurting people.
Right now, the team is serving among Ukrainian refugees to meet physical needs and share Christ. Help us respond to this urgent situation with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ukraine Refugee Crisis Update
US missionaries working in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Moldova are on the frontlines providing relief to those displaced by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
ABWE’s team of missionaries have joined with more than 50 Eastern European partner churches to distribute more than 5,500 meals and other forms of aid to thousands of refugees pouring into neighboring countries.
“This crisis is affecting our missionaries in several countries and the costs are significant as we work to help refugees who have little-to-nothing,” wrote ABWE missionary Rich D. from a newly-formed refugee home, where he and his wife are caring for 30 displaced Ukrainian women and their children. “These families [can do nothing] but hope and trust in the compassion of others.”
To date, more than 3,000 refugees have received some sort of assistance from ABWE and its partners. Hundreds of people have heard a clear presentation of the gospel, and more than 200 Bibles and tracts have been distributed among the sheltering refugees. Funds have also been used to purchase a nine-passenger van and rent three others to provide transportation to refugee families.
“If a mother and her children flee Ukraine and arrive in Moldova or Romania, we house them, feed them, cloth them, and help with any medical needs. Then, if they need to travel to another country, we purchase their train or bus tickets . . . and work within our network so that they might be received by our partners in that country,” said Rich.
In response to the targeted attack on hospitals and blood banks, ABWE has ordered 1,400 pounds of medicine and medical supplies to be distributed in partnership with the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine (CMAU).
According to Miriam Wheeler, Director of Missionary Healthcare, medical supplies “are flown to Warsaw, then trucked to western Ukraine where CMAU volunteers will distribute them to the network of Christian doctors in Kharkiv and elsewhere.” A local pastor has volunteered to travel alongside the medical supplies and pray with patients during this time.
Within Ukraine, ABWE continues to work through national partners. Ukrainian staff from ABWE’s medical clinic in Odesa gather medication to send out to surrounding villages. Ukrainian pastors are providing care, transporting people to the border if they want to evacuate, and opening church doors to those searching for hope.
“Many people who have never attended church before are coming through the doors,” ABWE missionary to Ukraine Holly F. said. “Since the war began, they have seen three people accept Christ and many others are showing a greater openness to spiritual things.”
In addition to helping Ukrainians, the Ukraine Crisis Fund supports refugees from countries including Belarus, China, Nepal, India, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Nigeria—many of whom were living in Ukraine as students.
