Ukraine (MNN) — Last week, Ukraine’s forces began receiving shipments of rockets, missiles, and artillery shells. These munitions come from the US military aid package recently approved by President Joe Biden. The Ukrainian army has been depleted and desperate for aid.
Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says, “Some of the pastors that we work with also work as chaplains. In talking to the soldiers on the front line, there’s a sense of expectation that soon, there will be another offensive action by Russia, realizing that American arms are coming in.
(Photo courtesy of SGA)
“There’s a concern of fatigue, a lack of ammunition and weaponry to defend themselves, and a depleting of the soldiers. The reality is that this war is grinding on — and ‘grinding’ is probably a good word because so many lives have been taken in the fighting on both sides.”
Along the 600-mile front line, more Ukrainian villages have been emptied as people attempt to flee to safety.
Many are fleeing to the doorsteps of local churches.
“These churches literally are having buses show up of front line IDPs (internally displaced persons.) All of a sudden, they’re saying, ‘Here, you’ve got to take care of them for the next two months.’ They’ve got to figure out how to give them housing, how to find them a warm place to sleep, maybe a place to transition because you just can’t sleep in the church, and then food and all those other items. So SGA is trying to stand with the churches in that,” says Mock.
“We need to get food and medicines and even hygiene items to these churches because a lot of people are now being evacuated from the front line regions.”
SGA recently held a retreat for SGA-supported Ukrainian pastors and their wives. Many of these pastors say their congregations were initially emptied at the start of the war. But now, Mock says, “Those churches are filled up with new believers and new people looking for answers in the middle of the war.”
A Russian drone hit SGA-supported Pastor Vlad’s van while he was evacuating the elderly in an embattled city in Ukraine. Praise God for His protection and ask Him to guide the hands of the surgeon who will operate on Vlad’s leg, which was badly injured.
(Photo, caption courtesy of SGA)
Although the peril increases each day, these pastors stay. “All of them said as long as their congregation is there, they will be there and they will not leave.”
Please pray for pastors in Ukraine to be spiritually encouraged and equipped for ministry through SGA. Ask God to comfort war-torn communities and lead more people across Ukraine to embrace Gospel hope.
Mock says that is ultimately SGA’s mission: “We’re equipping the churches for the work of ministry so that the Gospel would go out in every circumstance that the Church faces.”
Learn more about supporting SGA in Ukraine.
Header photo courtesy of SGA.
