The All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (AUUAECB) reported that approximately 5,500 Baptists have been displaced in Eastern Ukraine as a result of the conflict in that country.
A letter received by the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) from AUUAECB gave a graphic description of life in Eastern Ukraine. It said more than 100,000 Ukrainians are displaced from their homes, with thousands more wounded. “Bridges and supply lines are destroyed. Roads and streets are blocked with checkpoints. Cannonade from explosions is heard every night. Many apartments and cars are destroyed. Tanks are plowing through the city streets.”
The BWA was told that local churches have been mobilized to provide assistance to the displaced and are collecting and distributing donations to assist those injured. Campsites are housing families and orphans. Assistance is being given to families that lost loved ones in the ongoing conflict. Health facilities operated by Baptists and other Christian groups are attending to the wounded.
American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) joins the Baptist World Alliance and AUUAECB in requesting prayers for Ukrainian Baptists, and all those in Ukraine who are affected by unrest in the region.
Ukrainian Baptists are appealing to Baptists and the international community for donations and prayer.
A BWA resolution adopted in Izmir, Turkey, in July, “promises to continue to pray for peace and reconciliation among the people of Ukraine and their political leaders, and to support our brothers and sisters in Christ in Ukraine in the challenging days to come.”
American Baptist Churches USA is a member organization of the Baptist World Alliance. The BWA, founded in 1905, is a fellowship of 231 conventions and unions in 121 countries and territories comprising 42 million members in 177,000 churches. Its priorities are nurturing the passion for mission and evangelism, promoting worship, fellowship and unity, responding to people in need, defending human rights and justice and advancing relevant theological reflection.