October 26, 2022: Samaritan’s Purse is committed to help Ukraine over the long haul and is currently transitioning our relief efforts from a temporary Disaster Assistance Response Team to a permanent country office. Part of this transition means our efforts also shift to better support the displaced people of Ukraine.
As conflict continues to rage across Ukraine, the need is constantly growing for families and the elderly who remain within the country’s borders. At the churches we have partnered with to distribute food, hundreds of people line up for help (pictured above). One of our partner churches was overwhelmed by the demand for food, and the pastor thanked Samaritan’s Purse for supplying additional groceries. “You are doing God’s work here,” he said.
With municipal water service damaged and cut off in many cities, Samaritan’s Purse has been drilling wells and installing water filter systems at churches. One small church where we set up a water system now draws hundreds of worshippers every Sunday. Among them is an elderly lady who said she had never attended church until she came there for water. Now she has come to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. Jesus said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
With winter fast approaching, Ukraine turns bitterly cold and snowy, and war damage will make it worse. Many families and elderly people will be facing the cold weather in houses with bombed-out windows and holes ripped in their roofs. Samaritan’s Purse is providing clear plastic to seal windows and heavy-duty tarps to patch roofs.
Our teams on the ground are also preparing to purchase and distribute things like blankets, warm hats, and solar-powered lights to help them through the long, dark nights. One of our local church partners has given us a list of 5,000 families who need wood-burning stoves to heat their homes. That’s a huge order, and it’s just the start, but we are trusting the Lord to provide.
Samaritan’s Purse has deployed our Emergency Field Hospital to a recently liberated area in Ukraine. Our facility opened Oct. 3, and we are already treating patients and performing surgeries. Our DC-8 aircraft is scheduled to bring more medical supplies this week.
The Power of Partnership
Poland
In Nysa as part of the ‘Ukraine Refugee Assistance Project’, we are supporting the resettlement of 200 Ukrainians seeking refuge from conflict. This includes rental accommodation, food, school supplies as well as repairs and renovation to an old church building to become suitable housing for families. In addition, the ‘Poland Project’ in partnership with an evangelical church in Nysa is providing accommodation including essentials like cleaning, clothing and utilities to 30 Ukrainians seeking refuge.
Slovakia
In partnership with Charita Apostolskej cirkvi na Slovensku, this project is supporting 40 Ukrainians who are seeking refuge in Slovakia with local language classes to assist them with resettlement in the country.
Italy
Project ‘Missione Possibile’ is providing 150 Ukrainians seeking refuge assistance with transport from Poland to Italy, where they are being provided with accommodation, first-aid and assistance for ongoing medical needs. Once settled they will be provided food and essentials, local language classes as well as assistance with resettlement documentation. In addition, we have partnered with Italian NGO Comitato Amministrazione Doni Missionare (CADME) to transport enough food and medicine to support 1,000 Ukrainians arriving at the border.
Spain
Partnering with US-based NGO El Buen Samaritano, together we are housing and feeding over 1,000 vulnerable Ukrainian people seeking refuge from conflict in Blanes, Spain. Those receiving aid include families and children orphaned by the ongoing conflict.
“Someday, when this war is over, we want people to remember that it was the church that cared for them and helped meet their needs in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Franklin Graham, President, Samaritan’s Purse
Your partnership with Samaritan’s Purse enables us to continue our work in Ukraine and across Europe, bringing the hope of Christ to the Ukrainian people.