An Update on Our Ukraine Response

Here is an update on our plans to partner with the churches in Poland to assist the Ukrainians who are coming to Poland. Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine.

If you’d like to join the relief effort, donate to the Global Emergency Response Fund (Ukraine Response).

Video transcript:

Hello. My name is Bill Finnemore. As we’ve all heard, the war in Ukraine has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their country. At the time of this recording. About 400,000 plus have fled into Poland. So in response to this, The Alliance Canada has put in place a plan to partner with our partner churches in Poland to provide for these traumatized people.

Having served with my wife, Diane, as Alliance international workers in Poland for 14 years, I’m very well connected with the Polish church leadership, and as part of the CMA plan to provide the much-needed support, I’ve been asked to be the liaison between our two churches in Canada and in Poland.

Last week when the invasion of Ukraine started, the flood of refugees began to pour into Poland. And we quickly heard from our leaders about the developing situation.

They told us of the massive endeavor to welcome and care for these refugees. And as a result, every possible location is being used to house and clothe and feed these people who have fled the bombing and destruction.

The vast majority who come are women and children, husbands and fathers have stayed behind to fight.

So our Polish leaders told me how church building, summer camps, private homes, any vacant buildings they can find are being used.

Church members are driving their personal vehicles to the Ukrainian border to pick up people. On Monday, one of my friends, Pavel, called me the day before he had been on the worship team at church on Sunday and then got in his car, drove to the border, about a five hour drive, picked up a young mother and two children and an older woman, spent the whole night driving back to Warsaw, took them to get registered and find a place to sleep. Then he went to work for the day as a dental technician. When he came home, he called me. I could tell you story after story like that.

As this first wave of refugees is flooding into Poland, the Polish churches have risen to the challenge of providing the resources needed. However, as the numbers continue to rise, they need our help. They’re being overwhelmed by the task before them. So with that in mind, The Alliance Canada has set up a way that we can give financially and distribute that help on the ground in Poland.

If you would like to be a part of this, you can give online at the address shown at the bottom of your screen. And these funds will go directly to the ministry arm of our partner churches in Poland.

As you watch the news and hear of the huge numbers of refugees, may I remind you that each one has a name and a story.

David, who himself was a soldier, wrote these words “Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will do this. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause, like the noonday sun.”

As I’ve had daily contact with our leaders in Poland, one of the things I’ve shared with them is this, that the light of the Gospel shines the brightest when the situation around us is the darkest.

And it’s time for the light to shine brightly in Poland. So would you prayerfully consider how you can be a part of shining that light? Thank you, and God bless you as we do this together.