Ukraine Update
Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, our missionaries and church partners in Poland began receiving messages from many people fleeing the country seeking help. Thanks to the generous support of many churches, FAIR’s Ukraine Refugee Crisis emergency appeal has enabled the care of thousands of refugees in Poland. The needs continue to be enormous and your ongoing financial and prayer support are vital. We wanted to share with you some of the ways our missionaries and church partners are caring for refugees.
Arka Bible Camp
Winter is usually a quiet time for the Arka Bible Camp located on the outskirts of Warsaw. But soon after the war started, the camp began hosting refugees who needed a place to stay while they worked on applications to find a longer-term home. With space for up to 70 people a night and a convenient bus stop for people to get to Warsaw, the camp soon filled up. Normally, the camp director and his wife take care of everyone who stays at the camp. But with the volume of people coming and going, it was becoming too hard to keep up so they prayed for help. Soon three Ukrainian women who loved Jesus and spoke both Ukrainian and Russian offered to help them out. But the problem was that these women also needed to get a job to help support their families and the camp didn’t have the budget to pay them. When our missionaries, Ben Taylor and Pierre Jutras, heard about this from the camp directors, they knew they were able to help. They made funds available for their salaries and also bought two dryers to help meet the huge need for clean laundry.
The Arka camp director said that when he heard that FAIR would cover salaries for the employees, he yelled out to one of the Ukrainian refugee volunteers, “You don’t need to find a job!” She looked up from her work and asked why. He answered, “God has provided.” She looked down again to continue her work with a smile on her face and repeated the words: “God has provided.” Not the Fellowship; not Ben or Pierre; but God!
Emergency Shelters in Churches
The pastors of two partner churches in the towns of Zamość and Hrubieszów, which are near the Ukrainian border, have led their churches through challenging times. One pastor joined his church community just weeks before the war started. The other pastor just switched to being a full-time pastor in March. Despite their new positions of leadership, they and their congregations have courageously stepped up to give refugees a place to sleep, food, hope in Jesus, and help to continue their journey.
One of the church members in Zamość is a widow with boundless energy and deep faith in Jesus. She brings a sense of welcome and peace to each family. When a refugee family arrives, she greets them all with a big hug, tells them that Jesus loves them, and gives a Bible to each child. This welcome and care has been instrumental for all of the mothers as they are filled with so much worry about their husbands back in Ukraine, and fatigue following the difficult journey.
One impact of the war is that utility prices have sky-rocketed. Both of these churches are facing utility bills that are ten times higher than before the war started. These utility costs would have been beyond what these small church communities could afford, but because of the generosity of so many Canadians, FAIR has been able to cover these increased costs for them so that they can continue to care for refugees.
Housing in Łódź
What would your church do when refugees in a vulnerable situation needed a safe place to live? This was the question one of our partner churches in Łódź has faced. This congregation has been caring for refugees ever since the start of the first war in Ukraine in 2014. Serving alongside missionaries from Ukraine, they have had a very active ministry for eight years.
Recently, they were introduced to some refugees who were either elderly or had disabilities which made them more vulnerable. To provide them with a safe place to live, the church purchased an apartment using the money they had been saving for church building renovations, in addition to financial assistance from FAIR. We are so inspired by their sacrificial generosity to care for refugees.
Ongoing Needs
Whether the war ends soon or continues for an extended period of time, the needs of so many people are enormous. Currently FAIR is working with five church partners in Poland, and an additional six church partners in Ukraine to provide support, food aid, housing, and prayer to as many hurting people as possible. Thanks to your ongoing generosity and prayers, this important work is continuing. Donations can be made through our website.