UKRAINE CRISIS
RESPONSE
People are in danger and seeking refuge.
Your support will make a difference.
How to Help
Pray
Please pray for people experiencing firsthand the crisis in Eastern Europe. Pray for those seeking shelter within Ukraine, those relocating to other countries, and those grieving the losses they have already suffered. Pray for those who are most vulnerable, including children, senior adults, individuals with disabilities, and those with health conditions who need medication. Pray for church leaders and churches responding to the needs around them. Ultimately, let us pray for peace. To send a prayer or note of encouragement, go to ncm.org/pray.
Give
Churches and individuals around the world can provide support through the NCM Ukraine Crisis Response Fund - Eurasia Region. Donations will go toward emergency support associated with transportation, shelter, food, water, and essential supplies. To support churches as they care for people within Ukraine and those traveling from Ukraine to neighboring countries, individuals can give today at ncm.org/ukraine.
Local Nazarene churches should give at fundingthemission.org. Use the "Write-In" contribution option and enter 137089 in the memo line.
To send donations by mail, make checks payable to "General Treasurer" and send them to:
Global Treasury Services
Church of the Nazarene
17001 Praire Star Pkwy
Lenexa, KS 66220-7900
Be sure to put 137089 in the Memo area.
Donate Crisis Care Kits
Your help is needed to provide Crisis Care Kits for Ukrainian refugees.
As millions of Ukrainians seek safe places to live as refugees in surrounding countries, receiving simple items like toothpaste, a comb, or band-aids become very helpful for their journey. Crisis Care Kits (CCKs) are designed to provide people with some of the essentials they were forced to leave as they fled.
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is partnering with Convoy of Hope to ship, store, and distribute CCKs to people who are displaced in Ukraine and surrounding countries. Most of the current stock of CCKs stored in our warehouses is already committed, and we need your help to provide more. Below is a link where you can find specific instructions on packing and shipping CCKs to one of our warehouses.
Please do not ship CCKs directly to Convoy of Hope. They will arrange pickups at our warehouses around the country.
If you are unable to package CCKs, please consider making a donation here to help cover storage and shipping costs of the kits during the distribution process. The cost is $12 per box, which includes six CCKs each.
Thank you for ensuring that Ukrainians receive the essentials they need while living in transition.
How to Pack and Ship Kits
Latest Updates
Fall 2022 - Program Update
July 28 - Update
In Poland, a local youth organization called “Lighthouse” conducts two English language summer camps for youth ages 11-18. The Church of the Nazarene in Poland partners with the Lighthouse team in leading the English teaching portion of the camps.
This year, Lighthouse opened up opportunities for Ukrainian young people living in Poland to attend the camp free of charge. Several young adults and youth from the Nazarene Sweet Surrender coffee house community in Poznań joined the camp both as leaders and campers. Missionaries Hayley and Andrew Tarrant and Jay and Teanna Sunberg came as English teachers and organizers. And this week, a team from Mount Vernon Nazarene University is serving as tutors and friends to the students.
Camps and other outreaches like these help Ukrainian students take a break from the reality of war in their homeland. Here they expand their English skills, meet new people, take time for recreation, and through the work of volunteers, experience the love of Christ.
June 29- Update
The ongoing invasion of Ukraine by a neighboring world power that began February 24, 2022, has displaced millions of residents from their homes. The number of Ukrainians living as refugees in other countries has swelled into the millions. Meanwhile, the number of internally- displaced Ukrainians—those who have fled their homes but remain in the country—is just as high. Altogether, more than 14 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine. This war has caused the fastest forced population movement since World War II.
With your help, Nazarene missionaries, pastors, and volunteers are partnering with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to help displaced people travel to safe areas, secure shelter, and acquire food and supplies. All over the world, churches and districts are responding with compassion for the Ukrainian people. You are a part of that compassionate response.
Read more about the impact of your giving and support here.
May 26 - Update
Three months into the war in eastern Europe, at least one in three Ukrainians now faces displacement. Of the 14 million people who have been forced to leave home, 6 million have evacuated Ukraine and another 8 million have sought refuge elsewhere in the country. The majority of families remain divided as most men, ages 18 to 60, cannot leave Ukraine with mothers and children as they seek safe, stable living conditions.
Compassionate ministry volunteers responded by creating a place where displaced Ukrainians can acquire resources, maintain daily and weekly rhythms, build new social networks, and be immersed in the presence of God.
April 22 - Update
Who could have imagined at least 4 million Ukrainian refugees, a total of 7 million people, displaced from their homes?
I am one of them. Imagine.
This week, we had another chance to spend some time helping refugees at the Przemyśl border. Our Nazarene Compassionate Ministries team there has dwindled a bit, but a core group remains. The flow of refugees continues and so NCM remains.
March 31 - Update
For two nights, we had the immense privilege of hosting five brave men who were heading back to their home country of Ukraine. While many of the refugees we are housing and serving here in Bucharest are fleeing away from the heartbreaking situation in their home country of Ukraine, these men were returning home. They had been working in other parts of Europe and were going back to not only check on their families and homes, but also to fight for their country.
These men expressed such gratitude for the space provided for them. They even asked how much the accommodations would cost when they first arrived. We assured them that it was our absolute pleasure to host them (for free, of course) during this difficult time, and that we were here to help with whatever they needed during their stay and beyond.
They all agreed that even though we may not see them ever again, they would be sending their families to us (from Ukraine) to experience the same love and care that we were able to offer them. One of the men shared, “I’ve worked in Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Denmark, but I’ve never been treated like this, with so much love and care.”
March 23 - Update
Sergey and Irina Talalay, who first entered Moldova in 2008 as pioneer church planters, are leading the Moldovan church in self-sacrificial support for Ukrainians who have been flooding across the border since February 24.
In the first two days of the invasion of Ukraine, Nazarenes in Moldova hosted 36 people. By March 16, the small group of Nazarenes had assisted 700 people. And, although they’re working around the clock to help, and some church families have even given up entire apartments to displaced families, the church has no plans to stop giving anytime soon.
March 12 - Update from Dr. Carla Sunberg
March 11 - News Release
Violence in Ukraine continues to escalate as Russian attacks increasingly impact the civilian population. The number of Ukrainians who have fled the country now exceeds two million. Many describe the struggles they face, either within Ukraine or as they flee the country. Amid such crisis and uncertainty, Nazarene workers continue to serve the people around them.
As the majority of men ages 18-60 remain in the country, women bear the burden of migration, caring for young and old alike. Vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation, mothers are working to keep both them and their children safe. “These Ukrainian women are literally and single-handedly rescuing a generation out of a war zone with true grit,” reads a social media post by the Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region. “It is these women who are getting it done.”
Ukrainian Nazarenes seeking to serve within the country reveal how war robs them of the resources that offer a sense of normalcy. When Pastor Andriy in Kyiv searched for medicine for a friend with a heart condition, he found the one pharmacy still open in town lacked what his friend needed. “You have such days of complete disappointment when you are sincerely trying to do something, trying to help someone,” says Andriy, “But all the circumstances are against you.”
Pastor Volodymyr—the District Superintendent of Ukraine—and his wife Sylvia are traveling while caring for three senior adult women. Their journey is slow as they help the babushkis—grandmothers—walk, eat, and dress; they knew they could not remain in a city under siege. Sylvia expressed conflicted feelings after leaving the bomb shelter where they lived for ten days.
“Last night, I had 8 hours of sleep,” she says. “Today was the first day I didn't hear sirens. Today was the first day I had 3 meals in a while. Tonight, I will sleep in a warm bed.”
Meanwhile, she remembers others who struggled to find transportation out of the city.
March 5 - News Release
Even though more than a million people have already fled the country, hundreds of thousands are still vulnerable in Ukraine as the Russian Army continues to advance. Meanwhile, Nazarene churches and leaders are showing compassion and hospitality to communicate the presence of God in a time of upheaval.
As the crisis escalates in Ukraine, workers in the Church of the Nazarene there are seeking shelter for their own families while they also work for the safety and provision of others. Pastor Nabil of Odessa is housing refugees in both the church and his family’s home. Andriy, a pastor in Kyiv, has helped coordinate deliveries of food and supplies, such as diapers, to single mothers and children. Pastor Sergei is making continuous trips to the border, transporting refugees while navigating volatile areas. Pastor Svetlana is caring for her congregation that consists largely of disabled members, delivering food and seeing to their basic needs.
Nazarene workers in neighboring countries are also ministering in creative ways. Leaders in Moldova, Hungary, Romania, and Poland are helping at the border, translating, making food, and creating space for refugees in their homes.
Rafi Habib is a pastor and the coordinator of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in Poland. Originally from Syria, Rafi and his family became refugees seven years ago when they were forced to flee conflict in their home country. After arriving in Poland, Rafi and his mother, Lena, planted two Arabic-speaking Nazarene churches. Now, he is at the border welcoming Ukrainian refugees with food, water, supplies, and a warm smile.
March 3 - Update
Yesterday, a group of Ukrainian mothers and children, Nazarene church members, arrived in Poland after evacuating with the help of Nazarenes on both sides of the border. They are safe and have lodging provided by a partner organization. Pray for the safety of their husbands and elderly family members who could not leave.
February 28 - Update
Nazarenes in Europe have mobilized to respond with compassion, working around the clock to meet the needs of people who have been displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, churches gathered yesterday in person and online for worship and encouragement. As many community members seek safety in underground shelters, pastors and church members are there with them providing counsel and spiritual support. When possible, they are providing food, supplies, and transportation. Church leaders in Ukraine are also working to coordinate evacuations and providing other assistance for people in need.
In Moldova, Nazarene churches are receiving refugees. One church is sheltering 18 people and assisted another hundred people in smaller ways. “Of course, our situation cannot be compared to what the people in Kyiv are experiencing,” says one pastor. “But for the last three days my wife and I have not slept more than three to four hours.”
Nazarene churches in Poland are meeting refugees at the border as well as assisting those who arrive in Poznan. There, a team of volunteers and pastors is cooking meals, providing food and basic necessities, and helping people find shelter.
In Romania, churches have prepared their facilities to serve as safe spaces for refugees, and are gathering supplies that families will need while they stay. Pastors are working to help mothers with children travel to other locations in Europe and, when possible, covering the cost of their transportation.
In Hungary, a small response team of Nazarene pastors and volunteers has formed. The group has delivered food and water to the women and children of four villages after many of the men there joined the army. Stores in these villages are mostly empty, and now there is a shortage of drinking water. Pastors prepared one of the church properties in Hungary to host several families. The district in Hungary is collecting funds for refugees who come to the area.
To support these churches as they care for people within Ukraine and those traveling from Ukraine to neighboring countries, give today: ncm.org/Ukraine
February 25 - Update
With war breaking out in Ukraine this week, an official with the United Nations has reported that 50,000 people have left the country in two days. In response to this growing crisis, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries will help mobilize churches in the region to meet the needs of those for whom violence and displacement have become a sudden reality. Within Ukraine, there are 15 Nazarene congregations and six child development centers that care for 125 children. The Eurasia Region Church of the Nazarene shared these points to guide the global church’s prayers:
- Pray for an end to violence, for the preservation of all life and a lasting peace.
- Pray for the international community to respond with wisdom.
- Pray for the people of Ukraine, especially those who are most vulnerable.
- Pray for Ukrainian church members and children who attend Nazarene child development centers, for their safety and protection.
As people called to be peacemakers, we also urge individuals to contact their elected representatives to advocate on behalf of Ukraine; we encourage them to work for peace and the preservation of all life.
February 24 - Update
As partners in the global mission of Christ, we bear witness to the unity of the church that transcends borders and cultures. Even when conflict erupts between nations in which the church is present, we follow Christ first and foremost. The current crisis developing on the Eurasia North Field, as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, is impacting many of our sisters and brothers in Christ and their communities.
In response to this growing crisis, we will be working to mobilize Nazarene churches in the region to meet the needs of those for whom violence and displacement have become a sudden reality.