Ukraine Update: Turning to Hope
UPDATE: March 24, 2022
With the war in Ukraine in its second month, there’s evidence that Ukrainian people are turning to media to find hope.
Throughout this time of conflict and turmoil, TWR has consistently beamed the light of the gospel from our strategically situated radio transmitter in Eastern Europe. The reliable voice of radio continues cutting through the spiritual darkness – reaching millions of listeners in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and beyond.
Amid the bombardment of the war, visits to TWR360’s abundant Christian audio, video and text have increased 40% from the capital of Kyiv, according to data compiled by our TWR360 team. From Lviv, which has become a transit city for refugees leaving the county, visits have risen 32%. We have active contact with dedicated ministry teams in Ukraine and Russia. Both languages are among the more than 90 available on TWR360.
The number of users also has been on the rise, mostly in double digits, in other Eastern European countries, reports Frank Stephenson, TWR Europe communications director. Many of those countries are housing refugees from Ukraine, he points out.
Despite the massive wartime disruptions, our ministry partners in Ukraine continue doing what they can to produce relevant programming. In a recent Ukrainian recording, the speaker reminded listeners that the biblical story of Daniel “tells us that prayers do not go to waste, my friends. ... We have been crying out to heaven for the last three weeks, and all this time, heaven hears us, all our prayers.”
At TWR, we’re thankful for our media friends who are helping to get the word out, inviting more people into our efforts to support our partners and bring hope to the affected region. Mission Network News has provided several updates in its radio and online spots. Kinship Christian Radio, a network of stations in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, offers a list of agencies doing work in the region on its website, starting with TWR. The K-LOVE Radio network, in addition to posting about TWR’s work in Ukraine, used its Facebook pages to help in our search for Ukrainian speakers. These were sought to enable us to prepare additional content especially for the Ukrainian people during this traumatic season.
When considering the lives lost, the homes and businesses destroyed, the families split between those staying and those fleeing Ukraine, the adjustments facing refugees, it’s a given that trauma is widespread in the region. Our Ukraine TWR Women of Hope coordinator, whom we’ll call Svetlina, welcomed the possibility of being involved in producing programs on trauma therapy, Stephenson reports. Having fled from Ukraine and taken refuge in a Central European country, Svetlina is dealing with the process herself, she said.
Your prayers continue to make a difference in ways that are entirely known only in heaven. Your financial gifts to our crisis fund have provided food and other necessities for our teammates and their families in Ukraine. Your gifts also help us provide and distribute content to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Will you pray with us?
- Praise God with us that all our TWR Ukraine team members are still alive. They also are still putting content together! But some of them are in areas where the fighting is intensifying. Please continue to lift them up for protection and wisdom.
- Please uphold TWR’s ministry contact in Russia for upcoming ministry-related travels. Our contact shares that ministry is continuing in Russia on media platforms that haven’t been shut down.
- Pray for wisdom and insight for world leaders meeting in the NATO, Group of Seven and European Union summits as they seek to find a way to bring the war to an end.
For past updates and coverage of the situation in Ukraine,
visit our newsroom.
