How to Help Ukraine
Plus, arriving to Sopot and ministering to refugees
We expected to be stuck at the border crossing into Poland at least all day. Had we left any later from Lviv than we did, we probably would have. Thankfully it took only seven hours from start to finish, and then we drove four hours to spend the night in Warsaw.
On Friday morning, we were horrified as we learned about the attacks on Kyiv — some occuring in our own neighborhood! We shed many tears as members of our congregation were sheltering in the institute’s basement and all of Ukraine was under attack. We are sick in our stomach over what is happening to this place and this people that we love so much.
We got on the road Friday afternoon and arrived to Sopot, Poland last night. Missionaries Molly Dawidow and her daughter Annabelle welcomed us with open arms and we are once again so thankful to be a part of the family of God and know we have a home wherever we go.
Preparing a Place
When we were making the tough decision to leave Ukraine, some mentioned that if we left for Poland, our presence could be very helpful for Ukrainian Christians who were evacuating. As we have taken these steps to get here, we are believing more and more this is true. The congregation here is ready to help in anyway it can, and they have a facility that can be used to house a group of refugees. We are already coordinating and making plans to host some Christians we know who are leaving Ukraine.
Since Thursday, over 100,000 Ukrainians have crossed into Poland. Many are still trying to make it to the border. They also estimate that 850,000 Ukrainians have been internally displaced because of Russia’s aggression. We are feeling the call to help those we can, and we are thankful to sense God has led us here for this.
(Special Note: If you happen to know members of the church in Ukraine who are looking to evacuate, please check with me first before sharing my information so that I can confirm we have the space.)
How to Help
Many people have contacted me to ask how they can give to help Ukraine. We are glad to share that Sunset International Bible Institute will be collecting the funds Stateside and partnering with UBI to get them where they need to go in Ukraine. We will be using these funds to help those in Ukraine, and to help provide some relief to those who are evacuating.
You can do so online using Sunset’s giving page here. (If you’d like to send a check, the address for that is also on that page.) Make sure to designate in the memo that the funds are for “GFR” (Sunset's Global Relief Fund). All donations made will go directly to helping Ukraine.
Click here to send help to Ukraine through Sunset and Ukrainian Bible Institute.
Keeping in Contact
Nearly 500 of you are now following us on Telegram. We will continue to post more frequent updates there, while reserving this email for bigger news and announcements. Natasha Maliuga also started a channel (link here) to keep people updated about the church and their family in Kyiv.
As a reminder, Telegram is similar to most chat apps, but it allows a user to create what are called “channels.” The channel updates will come to you just like any text conversation and allow you to get the news directly without all the other noise and ads that come with a platform like Facebook. To follow a channel, you need to have already downloaded the app and have set up your account.
Our channel is not public, so you need to click on this link to be taken to our channel where you can choose to “join” it and then you will receive notifications when we post. If you would like to share these channel with others, you can copy the following links.
Brandon and Katie: https://t.me/+SXBRIE2Gp1_OZvf6
Natasha Maliuga: https://t.me/+18mSQVZS9WdlNTcy
Glad you all made it to Poland safely! Praying for you all, as well as all our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.
- Amanda Berry (Holler)