Our missionaries in Ukraine and the surrounding countries continue to serve in various capacities.
In Ukraine, the eight men who remained behind have continued to shuttle citizens from the Chernihiv area. Over the weekend, they were able to evacuate 137 men, women, and children. The team was also able to lead a convoy of seven cars from Chernihiv to Kyiv—the drivers didn’t know the way to go, as normal routes have been cut off. Between those seven cars, the team was able to lead 75 people to safety.
Yesterday, the team made another trip to Chernihiv and evacuated 200 more civilians. Most of the evacuees spent the past few weeks sheltering in frigid basements in order to stay safe. When they arrived at our property outside Kyiv, they were given warm food, warm beds, and most importantly, the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ was shared with them. It’s incredible to see our missionaries serving the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the Ukrainian people.
Our teams in Eastern Europe continue to serve displaced Ukrainians on our properties. In Poland, they have had people coming in and out nearly every day—at one point, they had 130 Ukrainians on their property. As people find a more permanent place to stay, they’ve been leaving, only for more Ukrainians to come and stay while they regroup and figure out their next steps.
In Romania, our property is completely full. Of the 70 people staying there, most are connected with Word of Life Ukraine in some way. Last week, ten Ukrainian missionaries who were staying at Word of Life Hungary joined the Romanian team in order to translate and provide support; our Romanian team is also connecting and coordinating with different organizations and churches that desire to provide assistance. The team has been holding morning and evening prayer times with singing and Scripture reading—this has seemed to bring great comfort to the displaced Ukrainians, even those who are not Christians. These gatherings have brought about many opportunities to share the gospel with and minister to these precious people.
Ukrainian families are seeking shelter at the Word of Life property in Hungary nearly every day. Many of these families only stay for a day or two before moving on to Germany or Poland. Much of our Ukraine team, however, is still there, working on resolving Visa issues and providing support to the Ukrainian missionary wife who is hospitalized for complications with her pregnancy. Please continue to pray for her, her husband—who is still working to evacuate citizens with the other men in Ukraine—and for the team as they care for her.
The Word of Life team in the Czech Republic is working closely with the local authorities and has already received over 110 people from Ukraine, mostly groups. One of the missionaries from WOL Ukraine and a Bible Institute graduate have joined them on the property to help serve and translate, and several more Ukrainian missionaries will soon join them. The team in the Czech Republic has decided to open more space on their property in order to host more displaced Ukrainians for longer periods of time.
Please, Continue to Pray
- Continue to pray for our missionaries in Ukraine as they enter the war zone almost daily to evacuate citizens
- Pray for the Ukrainian missionary wife who is hospitalized with pregnancy complications
- Pray for our teams across Eastern Europe as they serve our Ukrainian brothers and sisters
- Continue to pray for peace and for Russia to withdraw their forces
