Elpis in Ukraine
UPDATE 2022-03-22: ICE, through its partnership with the Elpis Foundation, continues to assist in the relief effort in Ukraine. Multiple transports with mattresses, food and other relief goods have made it across the border from Romania to Ukraine. Most of the work is being done through the ProUcraina project in the cities of Chernivtsi and Ternopil. There, relief centers are providing food and lodging for refugees from other parts of Ukraine.
Plans are also underway to develop a refugee center in Romania and to provide a major shipment of emergency food/nutrition. As these details progress, we will update our supporters.
Information about how you can donate to support this work can be found at the bottom of this page.
You may have heard about the war raging in Ukraine, a war where separatist rebels in the eastern part of Ukraine want to secede from the rest of the country and align themselves with Russia. What you may not have heard much about is the real human cost to the non-combatants. As the two sides continue to bomb each other, thousands are people are caught in the middle. They end up becoming refugees in their own country as they see their family members killed and their homes, villages, and farms destroyed.
These Ukrainian refugees are being displaced from the pro-Russian areas, and are arriving in western Ukraine with little more than the clothes on their backs. They arrive on trains, but have no place to go, no one to help them, and no resources like food or money to stay alive. The elderly, the handicapped, and the orphaned children have the hardest time escaping the fighting. Hospitals are unable to get basic medicine to help the injured or sick, and relief supplies have a tough time making it into the combat zones.
ICE and Elpis are providing help to the Ukrainian refugees that are fleeing the war in eastern Ukraine. There is a large ethnic Romanian population in Ukraine, and Elpis is working through the ethnic Romanian churches in Ukraine to supply these refugees with basic necessities like food, shelter, and warm clothing for the winter. One man, who had diabetes, fled his home in the conflict zone without his medicine. After Elpis was able to provide money to buy his insulin, he started crying and said “Thank you. I know now that I will have another 10 days to live.” One Romanian church in western Ukraine is trying to modify their building to house up to 40 people, and they have a house they are trying to remodel to house 2 families.
Recently, Elpis launched a nationwide program called PRO-UCRAINA, which twice a year (Easter and Christmas) attempts to raise awareness for the Ukrainian refugees. They play a short audio clip throughout Romania on all Radio Vocea Evangheliei (Voice of the Gospel) stations and some other public or private radio stations that wanted to be a part of this. Not only do the donations raised from the campaign help the Ukrainians, but the awareness it creates also reaches the hearts of the Romanians.
The needs continue to be overwhelming. Please pray that God’s name would be glorified through His people both in Ukraine and Romania. Pray for peace and for the safety of those caught in the middle. And pray for the safety of the front line workers from Elpis and the churches in Ukraine.
Use the Following to Donate to this Project by Credit Card or PayPal
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(Note: Be sure to notate "ProUcraina" regardless of method)