Ukraine update: ‘Ask the Lord to intervene’
UPDATE: March 1, 2022
The devastation of war is readily apparent in the governmental heart of Kharkiiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. [ TWR photo ]
Warfare was growing more intense in Ukraine on Tuesday, March 1, reports Frank Stephenson, TWR’s communications director for Europe.
“Humanly speaking it is looking bleak, and the suffering is immense,” wrote Stephenson, who is gathering reports from the region in Bratislava, Slovakia. “This means we should even more pray and ask the Lord to intervene as only he can.”
In addition to continuing to call for prayer, TWR has set up a crisis fund for those wishing to provide direct help to our partners in the region as well as to support more broadcasting options into the Russia/Ukraine/Belarus region.
Media reports confirm Stephenson’s grim assessment. The BBC on Tuesday was reporting on a large Russian military convoy moving toward Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, as the Russian defense ministry threatened strikes on targets in the city. Five people died when Russia attacked a TV tower in the city, the network reported.
Conflicting reports have made the overall human toll impossible to verify.
All of our partners and contacts in the region have survived so far. But the war, in its sixth day, already has had profound effects on their lives.
On Monday, TWR’s Ukraine director* was delivering food and fuel to people in need. On Tuesday, he was digging trenches. Because he is not yet 60, he has been called to serve the Ukrainian military.
Another team member* traveled into Kyiv on Monday to distribute food and medical supplies. After spending the day witnessing the destruction and effects of war on the capital city, he returned to his home outside of Kyiv safe but exhausted and frustrated.
We’ve been telling you about a team member* slowly traveling away from danger with a handicapped child and his mother also needing care. The conflict caught up with them on Monday, and they had to spend the day in a bomb shelter.
The men on our Ukrainian team may have to stay in the country, but they are trying to get their families to safety, across the border if possible.
In Slovakia and other bordering countries, there’s continuing solidarity in finding practical ways to welcome refugees. That includes a TWR staff member* in Slovakia who is organizing a house for one of the Ukrainian families.
Those arriving will be processing the trauma of recent days. Stephenson reports about one young refugee who went into shock after learning that her temporary accommodation in Slovakia would be near an airport.
“This shows the dire consequences of war and violence that gets placed on the shoulders of the innocent,” Stephenson wrote.
Although Ukraine has suffered the attacks, the conflict is affecting believers and others in all three countries. For example, a family member of one of TWR’s Russian contacts* has been called up to military duty as the conflict escalates.
*Names withheld for security reasons
Please pray with us:
- Father God, we ask for your hand of protection on those traveling to find refuge. Keep them safe and give them the peace that only you provide.
- We pray especially for TWR’s Ukraine director, that he would have physical and mental strength as he digs trenches and as he is away from his family. May he be a light for Christ in the midst of darkness.
- We lift up the family whose travel has been slowed because of challenges of a handicapped child and an ill elder, and who remain in a danger zone in Central Ukraine. Oh God, would you supernaturally protect them and bring them to safety.
- We pray that you would enable our partners to continue broadcasting into the region. May these programs provide hope, courage and strength and dispense with fear for all who hear.
