Ukraine Update: TWR’s Ukrainian partners evacuate Kyiv area (cont.)

UPDATE: February 27, 2022

We’re honored and encouraged to have you, TWR friends and supporters, join us for these updates from the front lines of the growing war between Ukraine and Russia. Our ministry director for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus remains as closely as possible in contact with our associates there, and the recurring plea received from our brothers and sisters on the ground is, “Please pray!”

Thank the Lord, we have still received no word indicating that any of our team members in the region have been harmed or interned. Many – perhaps all – are struggling amid extremely challenging circumstances, and some are on the move to avoid military action.

The director* of our team in Ukraine expressed appreciation that TWR managed to expedite essential funding to him despite the wartime barriers. This also enabled his team to purchase food for distribution to people who are running out of supplies and very grateful to receive more. In Kyiv, the churches are striving to do all they can to help meet people’s material needs.

Having left the area around the capital city of Kyiv, which was reportedly encircled by Russian troops, the director was struggling to find gasoline to fill his car so he and his family could get on the road again at short notice if necessary. Exacerbating the difficulties they face is a strictly enforced 8 p.m. curfew, after which no one is allowed on the streets. Another issue lurking in the background is that the government may decide to call all men up to age 60 into the Ukrainian military. How such a call would affect our team members isn’t known at this time.

A Ukrainian team member who was allowed to use the ministry’s bus to transport his family and his invalid mother-in-law away from the intensifying action in Kyiv managed to find a satisfactory shelter for the group. Our contacts also report that one of the team members risked a trip back into Kyiv to check on the ministry’s studio, which so far is in good shape.

Another team member has a child with disabilities and is headed west across Ukraine seeking safety for his family. These disabilities mean the family will need to find special help and shelter wherever they end up.

Frank Stephenson, communications director for TWR Europe, said people and volunteers are ready to help families such as this one if they eventually cross the border into adjacent Eastern European countries. News reports indicate that over 100,000 people have already fled Ukraine, and the U.N. estimates that number could swell to 4 million if the fighting intensifies.

“I must say that the people of Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova are doing remarkable things, welcoming the refugees with open arms and practical help,” Stephenson said. “It really is moving. And this is especially so regarding Moldova, which is regarded as the poorest country in Europe. It goes to show that often those who have little are among the most generous.

Please pray with us

• News outlets have reported that Russia’s nuclear forces have been placed on high alert, but at the same time, the two sides appear to be moving toward peace talks. Please call on God to move in the hearts and minds of the leaders on all sides, pointing them to a better way, a way that will bring a lasting and just peace to this troubled region.
• Ask the Lord to bless our team members and their families in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, and especially for those surrounded by gunfire, missile strikes, rolling tanks and other fearsome instruments of war. May he keep them safe, let them feel your presence by their sides and provide for their daily needs, including transportation when it is needed to get them out of harm’s way.
• Please give sustained prayer for ministry co-workers in the war zone facing special concerns – the director struggling to buy gasoline, the team member with the sick mother-in-law and the one with a disabled child. Lift them up today, tomorrow and whenever you think about them as this crisis unfolds.