By John Dobberstein, Editor
For Brandon and Katie Price, the Russian invasion of Ukraine jolted them out of their sense of familiarity working at a church organization in Kyiv, and into a future of danger and uncertainty.
On Feb. 24, the couple got word that Ukrainian air space was closed and explosions were happening outside their city.
“We immediately got up, rearranged our bags and headed out,” with their young son in tow, according to the couples’ social media posts, noting that they could hear shelling in the distance as they left town. After sitting in line for 7 hours ata border crossing, they made it safely into Poland.
For the congregation at Broken Arrow Church of Christ, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has produced not just a lot of prayer, but concern for the many Ukrainian families the church has been supporting since the mid-1990s.The Price family is one of many the church has supported spiritually and financially as they’ve taught and establishes churches in Ukraine.
Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, the church started a mission program and some members went over to Russia to help establish churches. After some difficulties that emerged they began to focus their efforts on Ukraine.
The began taking groups of people from the congregation and some other area churches and going to Ukraine to teach. Eventually they started forming relationships with specific preachers and Ukrainians and started supporting their works individually so they could go out full-time and “teach other people about God and about the Bible,” says Nathan Lee, a deacon at the church who serves on its mission committee. Lee acts as a liaison with the ministries and families in Ukraine.
The Broken Arrow church also formed a relationship with the Ukrainian Bible Institute, which is supported by the Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, Texas.
The group of Ukrainians that the church is supporting now is spread out in different areas of the country. In 2014, after the outbreak of conflict in the Donetsk region, they saw a big need for humanitarian aid and helping refugees. Some of the Broken Arrow church’s supporters in Ukraine rented an extra flat to use a distribution point to hand out food and supplies torefugees displaced from their homes.
The church is currently supporting 7 different families or individuals in Ukraine, as well as the Prices. Five of the families are working in church leadership or as preachers for churches in their cities, one in an areas that Russian annexed and the rest across Ukraine.
“They work with individual congregations and try and teach people and meet their needs in whatever way that they can. And some of that is humanitarian, physical needs, but a lot of it is about building up a church and teaching about the Bible – and just trying to reach people in that way on a spiritual level,” Lee said.
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The Price family is working at the Ukrainian Bible Institute, which trains Ukrainians to go out and teach and preach to others and develop the religious community and support networks. Some other UBI students have gone to work in orphanages or humanitarian organizations. Lee says there is one family that came to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2014 and joined his church.
The Prices have continued to watch the Ukraine conflict from Poland, sharing updates on social media about their congregations. Some members of their church in Kyiv havebeen living in basement of the Institute to escape danger.
A few days ago, two parents of a girl in their church’s youth group who were not regular attendees arrived and decided to be baptized. “This is a silver lining on a dark day, and we praise God for how He worked in their lives to bring them to this wonderful place,” the Prices wrote in a post.
Three people working at their organization’s church in Mariupol were caught in gun crossfire several days ago and were hospitalized with injuries but believed to be in stablecondition. News reports on Wednesday indicated Mariupol had been bombed non-stop for hours and a humanitarian catastrophe likely evolving. Kharkov, where the Prices used to live and work, was also heavily bombed this week.
The Prices have been helping Polish citizens prepare welcome a welcome facility for refugees arriving from Ukraineby cooking meals, making beds and installing a shower.
“We have felt such an overwhelming spirit to help from the Polish people, and we are so thankful to be working alongside them,” the Prices wrote.
The events that have unfolded are surely emotional for the congregation, Lee says, but they are focusing on hope, prayer and support rather than weighing in on how the war should be solved.
“A lot of people have been involved in that and have personally been to Ukraine and have seen the people there and experienced that culture. And especially for thosemembers it hit harder for them,” he said.
“We’re just praying as a congregation and we’re praying as individuals for resolution. We just feel for the people there.”
Those wishing to send monetary support for relief support for the Ukrainians can go to the Sunset International Bible Institute’s web page at https://www.sibi.cc/give.
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