Cohen tells a national security industry conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin will mount a counteroffensive, but having a frontline on Russian soil adds new problems.

Russian church partners are helping people who’ve been displaced by Ukraine’s ongoing incursion in Kursk. “While the dynamics of this conflict are constantly changing as the battle lines are changing, the response of the Church is unchanging,” Slavic Gospel Association’s Eric Mock says.

Church partners provide families with food, medicines, hygiene items, and – most importantly – the hope of Christ.
(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Churches are providing families with food, medicines, hygiene items, and – most importantly – the hope of Christ. More about that here.

People are “coming to these churches in tears, in shock… maybe their house has just been destroyed. Maybe they left behind everything, not knowing if they’ll ever return to what they had before,” Mock says, adding that material loss often underscores spiritual need.

“When all human aspects of hope have been taken away, people often see the only hope they have is to throw themselves on the mercy of God.”

An older woman named Nina recently approached SGA church partners in despair. She left all her possessions behind when she had to flee the incursion and then found out her home had burned to the ground. Believers consoled her and pointed to Jesus, who saved Nina’s life so she could hear the Gospel.

“She came to the church the next morning, and she was smiling,” Mock says. “She said, ‘I am no longer without hope, for I have found hope in Jesus Christ.’”

Pray that God will give SGA church partners the strength to feed people, console them, sympathize with them, and point them to the One who gives eternal hope.

Through SGA, you can help bring the hope of Christ to suffering people on both sides of the war. Click here to contribute to SGA’s Ukraine Crisis Fund.

“It’s easy to be focused on the fighting and the difficulties and even choosing sides. Let’s choose God’s side. Let’s proclaim the Gospel,” Mock suggests.

“No raging of man, no ugliness of war, can strip the hope of the Gospel from God’s children.”

In the header image, SGA church partners prepare meals for newly displaced people from the Kursk region. (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

The August 6 incursion has boosted morale among Ukrainian forces. “Recently, in a move that meant to change the dynamics of the conflict, the Ukrainian army entered Russia in the region of Kursk,” says Slavic Gospel Association’s Eric Mock.

“It was a surprise to everybody, including the people in that region.”

Ukrainian officials now claim to control over 90 settlements in western Russia. “A vast number of internally displaced people who were in Russian territory there are now displaced and heading north and eastward away from the conflict,” Mock says.

They’re heading straight into towns where SGA partners with Russian churches to hold Christian summer camps for kids each year. Believers quickly switched gears to meet the new needs on their doorstep.

“In a matter of hours, we were able to help them purchase local aid to distribute to hundreds and hundreds of displaced people coming through” the region, Mock says.

Through SGA, you can help bring the hope of Christ to suffering people on both sides of the war. Click here to contribute to SGA’s Ukraine Crisis Fund.

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

“This is a significant support requirement in Ukraine as we distribute aid and continue to assist those who are risking their own lives to help people in need. But now the same is true on the Russian side,” Mock says.

“People who have lost everything are coming to these churches. They’re hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and coming to faith, and you can see their faces wholly transformed.”

Header photo courtesy of SGA.