The
Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) churches in Ukraine and Poland have become places
of refuge and relief for Ukrainians who flee their homes for safety and
humanitarian aid at the churches.
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| An Adventist church in Poland where Ukrainian refugees sleep [Photo courtesy of the Trans-European Division |
According
to Adventist Mission’s director for Ukraine, Leonid B. Rutkovskiy, Ukrainian
churches are full, with 50-100 people arriving at each church every night since
armed conflict erupted on February 24, 2022.
“People are
entering our church buildings, seeking a safe haven for themselves,” Rutkovskiy
told Adventist Mission yesterday 15 March 2022.
Rutkovskiy added that due to the need to take care of thousands flocking churched, Adventist pastors have not sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
“All Ukrainian pastors have remained in
Ukraine and everyone is working and doing what they can do,” Rutkovskiy said.
Meanwhile, the SDA Trans European
Division (TED) reports that the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) in
Poland is working with local churches to find shelter and aid for Ukrainian
refugees.
“The Adventist
Development Relief Agency (ADRA) in Poland is working in cooperation with the
local church and a large number of volunteers to show solidarity with refugees
from Ukraine” TED News reported a last week.
Dejan Stojkovic,
the Trans-European Division Youth director visited several Adventist churches in
Poland where refugees were hosted and worshiped with them on Sabbath, according
to TED News.
Marek Micyk,
Polish Union Conference Youth director commented that “those people that are
coming, we do not know them yet, but we know already that we are family. The
family is getting bigger.”
The same stories
are told in other countries such as Bulgaria where Ukrainian have sought
refuge.
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| A church in Poland serving as a storage room fro donations for Ukrainian refugees. [Photo courtesy of Polish Union Conference] |
There
are currently over 2 million refugees in Poland including those that came to
this country in 2014 after the takeover of Crimea and the beginning of the war
in eastern Ukraine.
According to the
UNHCR data on yesterday 15th March 2022, there are over 1.8 million refugees who
have entered into Poland since the war begun in February.
The statistics
detail that Poland has 1,830,711, Romania 459,485, Republic of Moldova 337,215,
Hungary 267,570, Slovakia 213,000, Russian Federation 142,994 and Belarus 1,475.
The Adventist church in Ukraine has resorted to the Hope in Crisis initiative to solicit funds to afford food and shelter for Ukrainians who are flocking Adventist Churches and transport to take them to places of safety.
The Adventist Church has 784 congregations in Ukraine and a membership of about 43,300, according to the latest statistics in the official Adventist Yearbook.
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