Exploding shells are destroying homes and churches in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian security forces and pro-Russian rebels have been battling for control since March.
(Image, caption courtesy Christian Aid)
Ukraine (MNN) — Ukraine unrest continues as international investigators declare the MH17 crash zone unsafe for examination. Today is the fifth day investigators have been unable to investigate the crash due to fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukraine’s government.
At the same time, Ukraine’s government has a strategic town from rebels near Donetsk. But, the victory wasn’t without cost. Officials told the BBC yesterday that 19 people had been killed in government-separatist fighting over a span of 24 hours.
All of the unrest is driving more and more families west to Kiev in pursuit of safety and shelter. EFCA ReachGlobal Crisis Response says God is using that hunt for temporary salvation to point out a bigger need: the need for eternal salvation.
One of ReachGlobal’s associates in Kiev is Orthodox priest Father Nicolay and The Logos Center. The facility is now providing shelter for over 170 people who fled violence in eastern Ukraine.
“We got used to hearing the shots and hiding under babushka’s table,” one four-year-old girl described to a Logos worker.
Some of the 100+ refugees cared for at The Logos Center.
(Image courtesy EFCA)
The Logos Center is providing for all refugees needs: shelter, food and water, medical, spiritual. As they build relationships with displaced families, ReachGlobal missionaries gain an opportunity to tell refugees about Jesus Christ and His love.
“It’s time for me to get right with the Lord,” one woman told a center worker, following a particularly difficult interview with the press.
Can you help ReachGlobal and The Logos Center continue caring for displaced families? The center’s first floor was remodeled to accommodate the initial influx of refugees. However, there hasn’t been time or finances since then to finish the rest of the renovations.
Send financial support for this project here.
A fence is needed around the property to keep children safe while they’re playing outside. The center’s sewer system has been pushed to the limit–the facility is designed to accommodate 40 people at a time–and needs to be replaced. Finally, more space is needed for the center’s medical ministry.
“Right or wrong, we don’t wait until we have the facility finished; we address the need that’s there,” says ReachGlobal missionary Pam Dandre.
“It takes a lot of faith to believe that God is going to provide for the need that we’ve already started working on.”
