What I saw at the Ukrainian border
I recently returned from a visit to Poland and the Ukrainian border (June 16-23, 2022).
I visited with three other members of our National staff. Our objective was to observe what has occurred on the ground with the partner churches and agencies we’ve been working with to evacuate thousands of refugees over the past few months. Our teammate, Luc Tétreault has already visited on two other occasions to help coordinate and support the work.
Our Fellowship International missionaries, Pierre and Hanna Jutras, and Ben and Krista Taylor have done a remarkable job of representing our Fellowship of churches on the ground in Poland – giving of themselves in selfless and sacrificial ways. A big shout-out to the Taylors and Jutrases!
We spoke with the Ukrainian Baptist Union President and Vice President to get some understanding of the situation among their Baptist churches. We learned that 450 of the 2,500 Baptist Union (BU) churches are located in occupied territories. Two-hundred-and-fifty BU pastors (of a total of 2,000) are without a church because their members have had to flee the area due to the war, and 40 church buildings have been destroyed or severely damaged. The Baptist Union is seeking to supply a modest “salary” of $300 per month to the affected pastors and to try to reunite pastors with their families. In the occupied territories, new civil authorities (Russian allies) are picking up pastors and taking them away to be beaten. Many pastors in this area have had to flee which means they have been separated from their families for months.
Our team heard many stories of loss, trauma, and desperation, however, among the Ukrainian believers we met, we also noted their steadfast faith and hope in Christ. In many ways our emotions moved quickly from sorrow to inspiration while we heard refugee stories. Like the grandmother who spent a month in a public bomb shelter with 100 other citizens listening daily to the bombs dropping. She has nothing to go back to – her house is destroyed. Or the mother who almost lost her 15-year-old daughter on the train station platform in the flood and panic of refugees boarding the train. Or the young Christian mother and wife who sullenly asked for prayer for her young husband who recently was called up by the Ukrainian Army for service. One missionary mentioned to me that 200 Ukrainian soldiers were dying daily and many more are being maimed and injured. An especially moving moment was listening to a small congregation (50-60) of Ukrainian refugees sing a familiar hymn in their own language – there was stirring melancholic sound in their singing – you couldn’t help but weep. This war is horrific and heart-breaking.
Our team met with church and mission agency leaders whom FAIR has been in partnership with while evacuating and caring for refugees in the opening months of the war (February – May). The heroic and selfless efforts of our partners was inspiring. We met Daniel and Lydia of Camp Arka – whom Pierre and Hanna Jutras know well – who took in 950 refugees. We met Pastor Yanick and elder Sergei whose church in Łódź is caring for 50 Ukrainian refugee families. A short-term missions team from our Fellowship Pacific Region served this church in Łódź in the early days of the refugee evacuation.
We spent time in Zamość (60 km from Ukrainian border) with Pastor Sylvek whose church took in 750 refugees. Ben and Krista Taylor have been especially busy serving this church with Ben transporting refugees from the border to churches to be housed, and also transporting food and supplies to church hostels in Poland and into Ukraine to other church partners.
Hrubieszów is just several kilometres from the Ukraine border. We visited a partner church in this town that has evacuated and cared for 650 refugees. Luc, one of our teammates, had served refugees at this church on previous visits to Poland in recent weeks.
We also visited with mission agency partners who have been instrumental in purchasing and trucking food and supplies to refugees throughout Poland and into Ukraine.
FAIR has supplied funding to these evangelical local churches and evangelical mission groups to ensure food and supplies get to where they are most needed. I was constantly impressed by the resolve and compassion but also fatigue emanating from the leaders we met. Our own Fellowship International missionaries have been remarkable. Poland has been incredibly hospitable and the small evangelical Church in Poland (0.02% of the population) has been “punching above its weight” for months. I’m hoping Poles will take notice and curiously seek out why these evangelicals sought to care for so many refugees.
Please pray with me that the Polish and Ukrainian (7-8% evangelical) Church will be refined and revived through this ordeal. Thank you for giving. Our Fellowship family has been generous with over $1.2 million donated already, but we need you to give again. To meet further needs on the ground, we will need further funding – please consider giving to FAIR’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal by going to fellowship.ca/UkraineRefugeeCrisis.