UMCOR donors are helping refugees from Ukraine displaced by war Donors to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) are providing food, water, medicine, shelter, and transportation to Ukrainians and other refugees fleeing Russian invaders inside their country and to those seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
“As of April 4, UMCOR has allocated nearly $2 million to a broad range of local and regional refugee-related services, and other expenditures reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars are in planning,” according to Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries and UMCOR. “More than $5 million has been given for the Ukraine work to date. Gifts by mail or through local churches arrive more slowly but contribute significantly to the long-term work of meeting refugee
needs.”
“Humanitarian response for people displaced by war or natural disasters is always long-term and involves careful action to alleviate immediate suffering and also lay the groundwork for unfolding, often unexpected, events UMCOR has an excellent track record in pulling together resources to cover extended needs.”
The conflict in Ukraine may result in as many as 10 million refugees, according to various estimates. Dealing with even half that number of displaced persons is a major international humanitarian challenge.
UMCOR funds are helping local community shelters in Ukraine. Initial UMCOR operational grants are assisting the efforts of United Methodists in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania to welcome and care for the refugees, many of whom are women and children, leaving Ukraine. In addition, a grant to the Human Rights League in Bratislava is providing emergency legal assistance to refugees in Slovakia, primarily through services at the train stations as they arrive.
The United Methodist Church in Estonia will use an UMCOR grant to refit a campsite to house and provide emergency services to 40 refugees. As of March 30, an estimated 22,000 refugees from Ukraine had made their way into Estonia. Two camps related to The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic are also being equipped with an UMCOR grant to house refugees.
By Elliott Wright https://umcmission.org/april-2022/ukraine_support_update/
A PRAYER IN THE FACE OF WAR
God of Peace, We have run out of words. Our tears speak volumes as we watch the devastation, the death, the destruction. We don’t know how to pray right now. We don’t know how to hope anymore. Peace seems impossible in a world as broken as this one. Reconciliation seems a vague dream in the face of such violence and aggression.
Yet we are moved by the resilience of a people. We are stunned by the resistance of those who seem overpowered. We are heartened by the stories of generosity and hospitality by those who also have much to lose if the war were to escalate. Time and again we see those who put safety aside to act out of kindness, and we are emboldened. So, God who grieves and who weeps, teach us to pray again. To pray with hope. To pray with our hands and our resources as well as our words and our hearts. Teach us to hope enough to pray for peace even in the face of war. Teach us to trust in the resilience of the human soul and the grace of your Spirit and to pray without ceasing until we study war no more. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
Derek Weber, Discipleship Ministries https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles
United Methodists and others wishing to provide humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people in the wake of the Russian
invasion of their country may contribute to Advance #982450, UMCOR International Disaster Response and Recovery. This fund will provide direct assistance to those in Ukraine as well as assistance to Ukrainians fleeing to neighboring countries. Gifts to support the people of Ukraine can be made in the following ways:
- Online at https://umcmission.org/advance-project/982450
- By toll-free telephone: 888-252-6174
- By check made out to Global Ministries/UMCOR with “Advance #982450 Ukraine” written on the memo line, either mailed and addressed to Global Ministries/UMCOR, GPO, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY, 10087-9068 or given at or through any United Methodist church.
One hundred percent of all Advance contributions go to the designated cause. The United Methodist community in Ukraine, though quite small, is actively engaged in assisting neighbors in need. Global Ministries is in touch with the church’s leadership as well as with church leaders in countries welcoming those who are fleeing from violence in Ukraine.
https://umcmission.org/umcor/ukraine/
March 1, 2022 | ATLANTA