One of the missionary projects that our offerings support is Project Ruth in Romania. For decades they have provided a school for hundreds of children from preschool to 8th grade who live in poverty and have been overlooked. They also provide food and support to families, counseling for women, and training for ministers. But recently they have also started to directly serve refugees from neighboring Ukraine who have fled the Russian invasion. So it now includes a shelter that provides three meals a day, a place to shower, and access to nearby embassies. “This is not our ministry in terms of vision or strategy planning. This is all very new to us,” explained Mihail Ciopasiu, executive director of Project Ruth. “This is just a situation where we thought that if we had a building to host refugees, then we should do that. We should do it to show them that we love them just as God loves us.” Sadly, Romania has the highest rate of sex trafficking in all of Europe. Given how vulnerable the refugee women and children are after the long journey into Romania, there is a pressing need for immediate help and protection to avoid the potential of being kidnapped. It is another huge crisis that is unfolding as a side effect from the invasion. Ciopasiu begs, “Pray for the protection of these mothers and children.” To read more about this story and Project Ruth’s work now, click here.
Tragically, the dean of the Slavic Evangelical Seminary in Kyiv was among those shot dead by invading Russian troops. His body was left in the street for days, after he was trying to reach a ministry center for shelter. Read more about the life and ministry of Vitaly Vinogradov here.
This story does not necessarily have a religious connection, but perhaps it does. In the Bible, the first instructions God gave to humans were to tend the garden and care for the animals. To read touching stories about what it's been like for animals in Ukraine’s zoos and the people who care for them, click here and also here.