Prior to the war, for ten years I have operated as a non-residential cross-cultural missionary in Ukraine, in-country for about 8 weeks every year, and working there by video chat, messaging, and teaching via Zoom the rest of the time. We also ran seven national training conferences for church leaders.
Now, in the midst of the horror of Russia’s war against Ukraine, God has provided a way to support and encourage our Ukrainian students, friends, and colleagues who are now refugees in their own nation and abroad. They are using the resources they have to press in to the needs of those around them no matter their current situation.
ServeUkraine mobilizes the global Church in order to meet the urgent and ongoing needs of Ukrainians. We are focused on serving and supporting Ukrainians in ministry who are doing the work, colleagues and ministries we already have relationship with, and others, by God’s grace. We are committed to helping meet physical, mental, financial, and spiritual needs.
Since the war began 24 February, you and ServeUkraine…
- donated salary support for 45 seminary staff families
- bought a bus used to evacuate students out of Kyiv at the start of the war, and now for delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the region
- provided beds and bedding, microwaves, operating expenses, plus food for a month for the 200+ individuals and families displaced from the front in eastern Ukraine at the Morshyn Center (in conjunction with World Partners)
- paid for and facilitated 7 families and individuals to evacuate to Norway, Sweden, and the US
- supplied financial support, supplies, training, encouragement, and transportation for evacuated Ukrainian colleagues now in the US
- covered medical and dental expenses for displaced refugees
- purchased a commercial drone and four sets of body armor to support humanitarian aid workers in the field
- provided school fees for a young special need student whose family has now been displaced twice due to the Russian invasions since 2014
- replaced 100+ windows for 22 families in Irpin, where 70% of the buildings were damaged in the initial frontline stage of the war, and even
- replaced money scammed from and provided a stroller for Ukrainian mom and under-one-year-old displaced in Poland.
And right now, we are…
- purchasing 10 generators to be used and shared with families in need in Irpin (with Filadelfia Church)
- providing 300 heavy winter blankets for displaced seniors in Kyiv (with Bible and Life Church), and
- helping with travel costs for a Ukrainian family to send their son to the US college that is giving him a full scholarship.
Personally, in addition to establishing and running ServeUkraine, I…
- wrote two articles for Christianity Today on the conflict
- housed three sets of Ukrainian evacuees for six weeks total
- presented the Ukrainian situation to Arts/Mission leaders from all over Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria
- visited and encouraged current and former students displaced in Poland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom
- observed work being done in Warsaw and in Ukraine to help Ukrainian refugees
- spoke at worship and prayer evening with a student team at the Morshyn Center
- went to Ukraine and saw firsthand the work we’ve done in Irpin, and met with families there and other contacts in Kyiv
- taught second year students live at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in L’viv in September
- took part and helped with the Nashville Consultation on Ukraine in November alongside our friends at Mission Eurasia, and
- taught second year classes for the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary on Zoom in December.
We have seen over $110,000 invested this year in serving and supporting the urgent needs of Ukrainians in the first days of this ministry.
Thank you.
The needs continue and we will continue to gather and give support with a more intense ministry focus in the new year. More news coming soon.
Continue to pray for and stand with Ukraine as we look to serve urgent needs.
A blessed New Year to you!
Thanking God for your partnership,
Fred
The Heumann side... 