“It’s really light or death for many of these churches and families right now,” as the harsh Ukrainian winter makes living conditions even harder for families whose homes have no power to stay warm or even cook. “Many of these families are shivering in the dark,” shares Dave Donaldson, the co-founder of CityServe International. The ministry is actively bringing in generators and food to keep people alive as Russian forces continue to shell power facilities and cut-off supply routes.
Churches Making Hope Happen
Working with 1,800 Ukrainian churches, “These churches have become literal lighthouses,” empowered with electricity to help residents, and of course, the powerful life-giving light of Jesus. As daily life feels “very dark and desperate…at the same time, Jesus has been building his church and these churches are thriving. These pastors are brave – they refuse to give up their church. They refuse to leave. And a result, you are seeing thousands of people that are convening in these churches, worshipping, they have hope. They’re believing that this war will end, but ultimately that God is in control. He has not left them. It is his church. They are his people, and he is going to protect them. So, there’s a lot of optimism and hope in the midst of so much darkness!”
Critical Need
So far, two million meals have been provided for hungry Ukrainians, many living in damaged homes, or no homes at all. Some of the food is by way of hot meals cooked locally, other nutrition is pre-packaged food provided in partnership with No Child Hungry, which comes from the United States. Ivanka Trump has blessed the project, in one case paying for food, shipping, and handling at no cost to the ministry. “And we have another million meals that is in the pipeline that was packed by Grand Canyon University,” a Christian college based in Arizona, explains Donaldson.
Mental Health – Action Plan
As Dave’s team crisscrossed Ukraine, church leaders told him, “One of the greatest needs is to deal with the trauma” people are experiencing. “You have a lot of young women that are now widows…and many don’t even know if their husbands are still alive. You also have the elderly who have been traumatized and military who have PTSD.” To address this CityServe is planning a trauma conference in August to train Ukrainian pastors and community leaders for trauma counseling. “And with the help of leaders like Troy Duhon, who was the executive producer of God’s Not Dead and Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, we’re going to be building a Family Trauma Center in Kyiv that is going to help hundreds of thousands of these people that are suffering from the trauma.”
One Major Concern
“It’s one of my deep concerns, frankly, I call it compassion fatigue. This war has been going on for a year, so if we’re not careful,” things we see from the war zone, “will no longer move us to pray and to give. And I believe that’s one of the greatest threats to these people.”
Donaldson is also concerned about misinformation that can impact public opinion. From his heart, “If we do support these churches, I believe we’re going to see one of the greatest revivals in Ukraine – and then it’s going to spill out over into Europe.”
More To Learn:
- Creative Low-Cost Housing for Ukrainians
- Putin “Is Delusional” – What Dave Would Tell the Russian Leader
- And How CityServe Got its Beginning, a Personal Story from Dave’s Heart
In our complete podcast interview just below:
