Samaritan’s Purse has deployed a team of disaster response specialists to Poland, Romania and Moldova to assess the various needs of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
As of Monday morning (Feb. 28), more than 500,000 people had fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, the U.N. Refugee Agency said.
“There is so much fear and uncertainty,” Franklin Graham posted to Facebook. “Many Ukrainians are fleeing their homes toward the west. These families need our prayers.”
Samaritan’s Purse is prepared to send an Emergency Field Hospital this week to assist local health care systems in neighboring countries along the Ukrainian border.
“Moldova, Romania and Poland are just not set up to handle this refugee crisis, so it’s going to take all of us working together to try to help these people,” Franklin told Fox News.
Over the years, Samaritan’s Purse has forged partnerships with more than 3,200 Ukrainian churches through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child. Approximately 660,000 gift-filled shoeboxes were delivered to Ukraine just a few weeks ago, and church partners were in the process of distributing the boxes to children when the conflict began. Samaritan’s Purse says it remains in contact with churches within the country.
In addition to humanitarian assistance, Franklin called for Christians to pray for “an end to this deadly conflict.”
“I hope that tens of thousands of churches and millions of families around the world will stand together in prayer, asking Almighty God to work in the hearts of leaders,” he said in urging a special prayer day on Sunday (Feb. 27). “… Let’s lift up in prayer those who are enduring these dark days filled with uncertainty, fear, hardship, loss and suffering. May they know the comfort, presence, peace and protection of God who is a ‘refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1).”
In a plea to Ukrainian church leaders, Valery Antonyuk, president of the Ukrainian Baptist Union, posted a video imploring pastors to encourage their congregations to unite in prayer.
“This is our weapon in times of war,” he said. “… Our country needs the church to be light and salt. The Lord is our Shepherd—we will not be in need. He will lead us even in such times.”
