Volunteers with Russian Ministries I Care Assistance program (Russian Ministries photo).
Ukraine (MNN) — Could another Russian invasion be just days away? According to reports, NATO believes that could be the case as Russia has amassed more than 20,000 combat-ready troops and hardware along the eastern border of Ukraine. One NATO official indicates Russia could use a peace-keeping or humanitarian mission as a reason to invade. As the tension increases, Ukrainians continue to worry.
Western parts of the nation aren’t affected, but thousands have been displaced in the east. That kind of trauma has created the need for trauma training and and trauma counseling. Russian Ministries will be partnering with Dennis and Lydia Bowen of Ripe for Harvest World Outreach to help provide counseling to Ukrainian refugees and war victims. Dennis fills us in. “They asked us if we would come alongside and train some Christian leaders who would be doing counseling with people who are suffering from stress–in some cases, post-traumatic stress.”
Thousands of people have been displaced by the violence in eastern Ukraine. Bowen says this will be a great way to reach Ukrainians with the Gospel. “The fact that this will be offered in communities through churches means that people will be going to churches, calling pastors or other Christian leaders.”
That connection to the local evangelical church will allow Christians to share their faith.
This outreach is part of the Russian Ministries I Care program. For $50, I Care provides food and other needs for a Ukrainian family for a week. An extra benefit will be counseling.
Dennis says the training will “start off with a conference for church leaders to get people aware of what this problem is. From there we talk about going further and creating some training seminars and a resource kit for distribution.”
Support Russian Ministries efforts in Ukraine here.
