Ukraine (MNN) — We talked yesterday about how the Jesus Film is being shared with Ukrainian refugees and providing spiritual hope. Today, we are sharing a report from Unto, Jesus Film Project’s sister ministry and the humanitarian outreach of Cru.
Al Goff, Unto’s President and CEO, says they have over 100 staff in Ukraine and several other large staff teams in neighboring countries. The ministry is equipping their staff to meet refugees’ physical needs in the name of Jesus.
The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine recently topped 2 million, and around half of them are children.
(Photo courtesy of Unto)
Goff says, “It’s quite overwhelming because many of those [children] are coming with only their grandparent or one parent with multiple kids. So this thing is huge and the countries adjacent to it like Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Poland, the Baltics, and Hungary are just being overwhelmed.
“Our teams are ministering in real ways providing food, shelter, tents when we can, providing clothing and other supplies. And one of the great things about Cru is almost all of these people are locals…. They have opened up everything they can do to help the refugees coming in. And I would tell you the wider Body of Christ is doing the same.
“They are helping the alien, they are helping the person that’s hurting, they’re helping the aged, [and] they’re helping the widow, which is the call of the Church.”
Around the world, the global Church is coming together to support Ukrainians.
Goff shares, “I’ve never seen such a worldwide prayer movement into one event like this. I’ve been a part of two prayer meetings where there has been at least 100 countries in a Zoom prayer meeting at the table — including countries that, themselves, have been through war like Iraq and Afghanistan. It is extraordinary what the Body of Christ is coming to do together in prayer.”
What You Can Do
Russian forces conduct bombings mostly between 2 to 4 am in Ukraine’s Eastern European Time. Whatever timezone you are in, please pray for Ukraine during that period of time!
(Photo courtesy of Unto)
Goff says, “The people are asleep, the Russians are out of the way, and they’re bombing all the positions and the residential areas. It’s a terror tactic so people can’t sleep and it’s frightening.
“Pray during that time…that God would protect people, that He would send the bombs harmlessly to the ground…. It’s amazing what could happen if the whole Body of Christ galvanized together and prayed specifically at that time of day. That’s what’s being asked by the Ukrainian people to us.”
Also, Goff suggests, “Find reputable agencies to give to. It is overwhelming the humanitarian world right now what is happening, and what’s interesting is there are probably 17 other major armed conflicts in the world…. Agencies like ours and other good humanitarian agencies need help — not only help in Ukraine, but to keep the other projects that we’ve got going that have been going longer than this.”
To give and support Unto’s ministry to Ukrainian refugees, go to Unto.com/Ukraine.
“This is probably going to be a long haul. I don’t expect this war to end in two weeks and the danger is our attention span goes away. So I would ask people to keep this in the front of their prayers for a longer period of time and continue to support agencies that are involved in this.”
Header photo of the Ukrainian flag, courtesy of Max Kukurudziak via Unsplash.
