Ukraine (MNN) — Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told all civilians living in the eastern Donetsk region to evacuate. He says the fewer civilians left in the area, the fewer the Russian attack can harm.
Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association says, “There are about 100,000-200,000 people still in that region, living in their basements. So now they’re asking for people to leave as well as renewing efforts to liberate everything in the Kherson region. So there is still quite a bit of conflict going on.”
Pastor Andre
But Christians continue bravely serving their neighbors in this region. SGA partners have given out over 6 million meals since the war began.
Mock tells a story from one pastor named Andre. Andre helped take in a family of four that escaped the fighting. “They hid in their basements, living in their basement at night, trying to get out to find water. For several weeks, there was nothing to eat.”
The family and several neighbors tried to escape the village in a van. Mock says, “They were shot at constantly. But they were protected by the military as they got through. And the pastor said he listened for more than an hour, with just their anger, their frustration, the destruction that they had seen.”
This family asked for hope and heard the Gospel for the first time.
Pastor Vladimir
Pastor Vladimir, over in the western parts of Ukraine, says 8,000 refugees settled in his village. He used to think creatively about how to engage people in conversations about Jesus.
That’s not a concern anymore. Mock says, “Now he’s got so many people coming to the church. He’s out every single day, sharing the Gospel with people, tending to their needs with food, hygiene items, and medical supplies. But they’re also handing out New Testaments.”
You can support these Ukrainian Christians through SGA.
The heard photo shows SGA partners distributing aid. (Photo courtesy of the Slavic Gospel Association on Facebook)
