When Russia invaded Ukraine, Calvary Chapel fellowships and missionaries all over the country found themselves positioned to be first responders to the world's current greatest humanitarian crisis.
Sasha Andriyashina
Army Chaplain and Missionary from Calvary Chapel Kyiv
Sasha has been serving as an army chaplain for the last 8 years and keeps in touch with almost 1,000 soldiers with whom she has developed relationships. At least 100 of them have been killed since the war started, 25 of whom were good personal friends. Because of this, she has a great urgency to share the gospel with the men and women in uniform, and since she can’t be everywhere, she is recording videos and sending them to the commanders, who show them to their men. She also provides practical material help to soldiers. Sasha is a trained psychologist and holds weekly webinars to help displaced people and volunteer workers process the loss and trauma they have experienced. Anywhere from 20-60 people attend her webinars. Sasha also sponsors two families from cities near the frontlines who have been displaced by the war.
Calvary Chapel Chutove
Pastor Vlad Yarochenko
In the first weeks of the war, this church evacuated many people from the Kharkiv region who were living in areas that were being shelled or threatened by Russian occupation. For three months, they also operated a food ministry that baked and distributed 200 loaves of bread per day to those in need. They also searched the highways for escaping families who were stranded for lack of fuel and gave them fuel to continue on their way.
Calvary Chapel Pryluky
Pastor Oleksandr Honcharov
This church is doing lots of humanitarian work, from feeding people to assembling aid packages and delivering them to hotspots and needy areas. They also minister to displaced persons and others who have been affected by the war.
Calvary Chapel Poltava
This church serves as a hub for getting critical medications into the eastern parts of the country, into places like Izium and Kharkiv. They are also serving those who have been displaced by the war.
Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk
Pastor Ben Morrison
This church has been evacuating people out of hot spots along the frontline. They have also been providing short-term housing in their church building for hundreds of refugees and feeding around 2,000 refugees per month in their city. They are working to connect refugees with longer-term housing solutions both locally and internationally. You can keep up with what this church is doing here. To donate to Pastor Ben, click here.
Calvary Chapel Obolon in Kyiv
Pastor Ihor Malytskiy
This church is distributing aid to displaced persons from occupied cities and areas near the frontlines of the war. The church is growing, with more and more unbelievers coming to hear the Word of God.
Calvary Chapel Kaharlyk
Pastor Wayne Zschech
Early on, this church was involved in extractions, evacuations, and providing temporary shelter and food for those fleeing to safety. Then they responded to the changing needs and shifted their focus to getting food and other aid to churches in dangerous areas to empower them to continue their amazing ministries. While they continue to do this, they are now concentrating more on trauma care training and developing business ventures to attract foreign investors to Ukraine, with the goal of training Christians to generate sustainable income, creating jobs for internally displaced persons, and discipling employees.
Calvary Chapel Vinnytsia
Dima Polischuk
This church is collecting food that they pass on to needy places in the eastern part of Ukraine.
Calvary Chapel Ternopil
Pastor Zhenia Chekushkin
This church is feeding and housing about 60 displaced people on a constant basis. In addition, they help them find jobs and apartments and offer support through a clothing ministry and by distributing packages of groceries once per week. They also have a ministry to provide medicine to those in need.
New Horizons Lviv
Pastor Mike Pratt
On day two of the war, New Horizons Lviv opened a shelter that has helped over 600 people, and they have served over 4,500 hot meals. They have helped to evacuate over 1,000 people, and they are now sending 1 ton of food each month to a group of villages in southeastern Ukraine. They have a team working in war-torn cities to rebuild homes. They also have a team working in Poland and another team forming for Ukraine to provide emotional and spiritual trauma care. To learn more about what they are doing and how you can help, visit www.newhorizonsukraine.org.
Living Water Mukachevo
Pastor Joel Brown
Since the war began, Living Water has housed and cared for over 10,000 people, many of them refugees passing through on their way to other places. They are currently housing and caring for around 300 people each day. They are also partnering with a local hospital to help meet the needs of the maternity ward and NICU, which have been completely overwhelmed because of the massive number of displaced people in the city. Living Water is also serving as a base for many who are bringing in aid and doing evacuations.