Russia’s War on Ukraine’s Civilians

Russia’s war in Ukraine has shattered civilian life in much of the country, leaving millions unable to return to their homes and millions more forced to live with damaged infrastructure, without access to food, water, health care, and other essentials.

How many Ukrainian refugees are there?
Nearly 6 million Ukrainians are internally displaced, while more than 8 million have fled as refugees to European countries. Over 40% percent of Ukraine’s population needs humanitarian assistance right now.

Violations of international law.
This war has been characterized by an immoral and illegal disregard for civilian lives. Since the beginning of the invasion in 2022, Russian authorities and armed forces have committed multiple war crimes: deliberate attacks against civilian targets, massacres of civilians, torture and rape of women and children, and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas. The list of atrocities has grown with each passing day.

How can you help?
Please stand with us so we can continue to impact tens of thousands of lives through HART’s extensive network of churches throughout Ukraine. Selfless pastors and church volunteers are working around the clock to meet the needs of their fellow Ukrainians and share God’s love with them. Your gift will help us continue to provide lifesaving support services to families whose lives have been shattered by this conflict.

Reading scripture saved two soldier’s lives

Part of my ministry is to serve the needy people in the conflict areas around my city of Kherson. Traveling from one region to another requires frequent stops at military checkpoints.

I make it a habit to always share something useful with the soldiers who are stationed at these checkpoints. Anything from essential first aid kits to food, fruits, or treats they rarely get.

However, the most important thing, of course, is the Word of God. During one of these trips, I met with soldiers at a checkpoint and, as usual, gave them Gospels. “Guys, just read it. This is a book of life,” I told them as I said goodbye and continued on my journey. This is one thing I know; every time you say goodbye, you don’t know if you will ever meet them again at this place. This is a war, after all.

Not long after, when I passed through this checkpoint again, the same soldiers came out to greet me. “We need to show you something,” they said excitedly. “Remember you left us the New Testaments?”

One of the soldiers showed me a tattered Gospel and filled me in on the details. “We were sitting at the checkpoint one night and were reading this Bible you left us, and then suddenly, there was a whistle followed by a 122-millimeter caliber bomb exploding nearby.

Its shrapnel scattered over a radius of 500 meters. We realized it was the end for us. Everything around us was hit, even this little book, but we survived without a scratch.”

The soldiers smile and shake my hand vigorously, and I cry. They had been just reading…Thank you, God, I pray.

Yevhen Bondarenko, Pastor, chaplain, and HART’s partner

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Dear HART, last year a large number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers were transported to our town. Because of your support, we managed to take care of one of the hospital’s departments, where about thirty soldiers were undergoing medical treatment. We bought them two electric kettles, a microwave, water bottles, clothing, underwear, hygiene products, tea, coffee, and sweets.

Because of this help, the hospital management allows us to fellowship with the soldiers. On the holiday of Pentecost, we treated them to sweets, gave them New Testament bibles and audio players with recordings of the New Testament, prayer books for soldiers, sang some songs for them, told them about Jesus Christ, and prayed for their salvation. Besides that, we continue to provide for the daily needs of individual service members.

With respect and love in Christ,Pastor Serhey

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Peace be with you, dear friends at HART!
On December 15, 2022, I began my official service as a military chaplain of the territorial defense forces of the Volyn region. This began a new stage of ministry in the life of our Bible Church.

Currently, the unit is performing combat missions to defend Ukraine’s border with Belarus. The material support for the battalion’s needs from the state is insufficient in many areas. Therefore, your support is an extraordinary blessing and evidence of God’s love. It has greatly helped in building relationships among the officers, and I pray that God will further use it to spread His Kingdom through the preaching of His Word.

[A chaplain’s role is to provide assistance for soldiers and their families. On the front lines, they help with food, clothing, and spiritual counseling, visiting soldiers in hospitals, and caring for their families.]

I ask you to pray for the sincere conversion of the soldiers to God so that their hearts are open to accepting God’s Word. Pray that God will give me the grace to preach the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and that there will be no difficulties and obstacles for the church’s ministry.

I thank God for your sacrifice and dedication. With respect and prayers,
Pastor /Chaplain Serhey

From sponsored children to brave soldiers

Dema and Sasha are two young brothers who were in our Child Sponsor Program many years ago. They attended Christian summer camps and attended church with their mother. Today they are brave young men on the front lines of the war defending their country. Both are fighting in very dangerous regions. Sasha was wounded recently and needs an operation to have shrapnel removed, but otherwise is OK. Dema called home last week to let his family know he is alive and well too.

Please pray for these young men and the untold thousands of other sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers who are in harm’s way right now because of this war.

Father died fighting for Ukraine

Roman (age 6) is a lively, active, and kind boy who likes making new friends and dearly loves his mother, Olena, and older brother Maksym.
Olena is a very loving and responsible mother.

Roman and his family occasionally attend church; through that, his father became a Christian. Roman’s father, once a drug addict, overcame his addiction and repented in 2022. He was 40 years old at the time.

Then tragedy struck this family. When the war broke out, Roman’s father was concerned about their safety and them to Poland while he, by law, had to remain behind. Six months later, he was conscripted into the army and was subsequently killed near the town of Bakhmut in November. Because they have not been able to locate and identify his body, he is officially considered “missing,” which means the family doesn’t have the right to receive financial state assistance at this time.

Olena and the children are having a hard time with the loss. They are all devastated emotionally and now financially as well. Olena is unemployed because she can’t keeping a job due to her grief. Her depression worsens, she cries constantly, and every day searches for her husband’s name on the list of ‘prisoners of war.’ She cannot accept his death.

Their financial situation is precarious as they rely on their father’s army salary to pay rent and purchase food. They paid rent in advance for the following two months, but beyond that, they have no idea how they will survive.

Roman and his family desperately need help. A sponsor’s commitment to supporting this family will help them stay afloat and show them how much God loves and cares for them. All it takes is one special sponsor to create lasting change in Roman’s life and that of his family.