MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
April 14, 2024
MAI has engaged in response to the Ukrainian crisis since March of 2022. We are currently raising funds to purchase first aid kits, along with food for Internally Displaced People.
Your financial support is needed and greatly appreciated. You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
October 26, 2023
MAI has engaged in response to the Ukrainian crisis since March of 2022. The blogs below show the variety of relief work we have sponsored thanks to the generosity of our partners. We must continue to help as there are still many needs. This month, Dr. Bibiana Mac Leod, MAI’s Technical Advisor for Disaster Preparedness & Response, visited our partners on the ground in Ukraine. She met refugee families, visited with our local partners, and learned about pressing needs.
Watch the short video below to hear from Bibiana and learn more about this container home village.
Your financial support is needed and greatly appreciated. You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
September 12, 2023
MAI has engaged in response to the Ukrainian crisis since March of 2022. We sent aid to Poland, (funds to provide shelter to refugees), Slovakia, (through the purchase of a vehicle to transport goods and people across the border, being now used in Ukraine; we contributed to buy container houses, and provisions for churches to respond to the flow of refugees) and Hungary, (supporting an Ukrainian pastor, Leonard, living now in Hungary, who provides food and medical kits to local churches) through partnerships.
We invite you to consider MAI’s appeal to continue to serve our brothers and sisters, while helping those suffering the consequences of this war. Your contribution to MAI’s fund will help us support Pastor Leonard, provide resources to facilitate transportation through the Slovakian border to churches helping their people, and encourage pastors that have received thousands in their buildings.
Your financial support is giving hope through word and deed. There are still many needs. You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
July 14, 2023
MAI has engaged in response to the Ukrainian crisis since March of 2022. We sent aid to Poland, (funds to provide shelter to refugees), Slovakia, (through the purchase of a vehicle to transport goods and people across the border, being now used in Ukraine; we contributed to buy container houses, and provisions for churches to respond to the flow of refugees) and Hungary, (supporting an Ukrainian pastor living now in Hungary, who provides food and medical kits to local churches) through partnerships.
Pastor Leonard has a heart for those suffering the direct consequences of this conflict. He sends us pictures of those helped and those hurt on the frontlines, some of them difficult to look at. Our partners in Slovakia continue to cross the border to provide food, equipment, like generators, batteries, etc., and medical kits to strengthen local churches that are caring for those internally displaced and the wounded within Ukraine. Suffering continues. But they have not stopped. Should we?
We invite you to consider MAI’s appeal to continue to serve our brothers and sisters, while helping those suffering the consequences of this war. Your contribution to MAI’s fund will help us support Leonard, provide resources to facilitate transportation through the Slovakian border to churches helping their people, and encourage pastors that have received thousands in their buildings.
Dr. Bibiana Mac Leod, M.D, Disaster Response Coordinator
Your financial support is giving hope through word and deed. There are still many needs. You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
May 22, 2023
MAI continues to support partners serving Ukrainian people who have left their homes behind, some of them crossing borders and some moving to safer areas of their country, (Internally Displaced People, IDPs). We have committed support for the first half of the year to Leonard, an Ukrainian pastor traveling from Budapest, Hungary, to the Romanian-Ukraine border near Odessa and other border cities near Hungary, with provisions for families in need. We continue to help a church denomination in Slovakia, that travels into Ukraine to provide health care packs, food and other supplies to churches serving IDPs as well as sending provisions to the front lines.
Most recently, MAI was asked to help purchase containers that are used as houses in Uzhorod, Ukraine. A Slovak pastor is helping an Ukrainian church serving IDPs there. 3 of the 6 containers now available to refugees were purchased through contributions our generous donors have sent to our U020 fund.
In the darkest moments of our lives, God keeps showing up. Kindness from others encourages our partners´soul, and ours. Thank you for keeping these needs in mind. Please pray for those involved in this ministry and those on the frontline.
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
Your financial support is giving hope through word and deed. There are still many needs. You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
April 5, 2023
from Leonard Hanykovics, Church Partner, Ukraine Relief
First of all, I greet you in the name of the LORD Jesus Christ. Peace to you!
Thank you for praying for us! Thank you for helping our relief service in Ukraine. We will continue to bring aid to Ukraine, and through my colleagues who remain there, we will distribute the aid, and we will bring the Good News of the Gospel, every time. Where there is grief, there is comfort. Where there is hunger, we can help with food. Where there is illness, we can give medicine. It is very important to lead people to Christ in these difficult times, as only He can give HOPE. In the midst of the horrors of war, many learn that God is GOOD. Many people testify that they called on the name of God and were saved from certain death.
Regarding the 2023 earthquake in Turkey, my colleague Chaplain Ruszlán, shared our aid where guns crackle and bombs explode. He said, “I am very saddened by the fact that such a great tragedy occurred as a result of a natural anomaly, an earthquake. So much destruction and death occurred. There is a lot of pain. However, in Ukraine, unfortunately, every day, the Russian army continues to destroy entire villages, entire cities. Russian soldiers kill children, grandparents, mothers, fathers, every day. The Russian army aims to destroy the whole of Ukraine. We cry together with the Turkish people, while the desolation still continues in Ukraine.”
In the city of Mukachevo, my pastor colleagues are also preaching the Word of God in Eastern Ukraine, while distributing food aid. I often see sunrises and sunsets on highways while delivering food aid. It is so good to see the greatness of God in nature. Please continue to keep us in prayer.
Sincerely and much love, Leonard.
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
Your financial support is giving hope through word and deed. There are still many needs. You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
August 8, 2022
MAI has been responding to the Ukrainian crisis by partnering with local front line workers and churches in Poland and Slovakia since March 2022. One of our partners, PROEM Poland, sent us the video update below sharing about their work over the past six months.
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
Your financial support is giving hope through word and deed. There are still many needs.
Give today!
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
July 7, 2022
Light of the world, salt of the earth. – Matthew 5:13-16
Medical Ambassadors International has launched a 3-phase plan to distribute relief funds for refugee aid, working through our connected network of churches and ministries on the ground in bordering countries. Initial resources have been sent from our emergency reserve fund, but now we URGENTLY need funds to send to those on the front lines of the response.
The latest update has been provided by our church partner in Slovakia.
More than four months of war have passed and we still face the reality of never ending needs and at the same time the reality of decreasing number of people willing to help. During the month of June, we provided short-term accommodation for 15 Ukrainian refugees. Our churches have been caring for 213 people housed in our towns by providing translation during Sunday services, inviting them into their community groups, meetings, and events, by helping them with papers, schools and jobs, by opening their hearts and homes.
Our ministry to the refugees during these weeks mostly lies in long-term care for them, helping in Ukraine through our partnering churches, and organizing summer camps for Ukrainian children. This summer there are two camps intended solely for Ukrainian kids: in Prešov (July 5-10) and in Hermanovce (August 1-5). Please, pray that they would be means of healing and refreshed hope.
Since the very beginning of the war, we have had a partnership with two churches (The Word of Life and Patmos) in this town of 37,000. We have been providing resources for them (vans, humanitarian aid, finances for renting apartments, etc.), enabling them to serve their fellow Ukrainians and distribute help to the areas where it is needed. Pastors Sasha and Misha have become our friends. When we visited them in June, we rejoiced over our effective partnership and their ministry to the needy, the broken, the displaced. Even during the war times, these churches dream of planting more churches in their town.
Thanks to cooperation with Medical Ambassadors International, some of us were able to participate in the seminar in order to learn how to help those who have suffered trauma. One of the participants said: “I have learned that often it is more needed to listen very carefully rather than give advice and evaluate their situation (no matter how good our intentions are). I am now enabled to talk to those suffering from some kind of trauma.”
Thank you for being channels of blessing and for enabling us to serve more efficiently!
Prayer requests:
- Summer camps and events for Ukrainian kids
- More supplies for our almost empty storages so we can keep sending help to Ukraine
- More people willing to help
- That in everything we do we preach Christ
- More long-term accommodation options and resources for Ukrainian refugees
Give today!
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
May 9, 2022
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2
Medical Ambassadors International has launched a 3-phase plan to distribute relief funds for refugee aid, working through our connected network of churches and ministries on the ground in bordering countries. Initial resources have been sent (Phase 1) from our emergency reserve fund, but now we URGENTLY need funds to send to those on the front lines of the response (Phase 2).
First Phase: We have released funds to a MAI staff member, Zuzana, who travelled to one of the Ukrainian borders to assess needs and provide immediate help to moms, pregnant women, and children.
Second Phase: Based on a needs assessment and requests from ministry contacts we are continuing to offer support of long term needs.
NEW UPDATE FROM ZUZANA: “We are thankful to God for enabling us to plant the seeds of the gospel into the lives of many and also to encourage Ukrainian believers in the midst of the worst crisis of their lives. In April, we were a transition place for 122 people and we welcomed 192 people for long-term stay. Every morning we have a devotional time for the families staying with us. During each of those mornings, at least one born-again Ukrainian Christian attends to help make our message clearer to our Ukrainian guests and give a clear gospel presentation. We are renting a few apartments for Ukrainian refugees. The owner of one of these apartments decided to offer us another of his apartments to use. Ten minutes after he gave me the keys from the apartment, a lady from our church called looking for accommodation for a Ukrainian family. If she called 10 minutes earlier, I would not have a place for them. But God timed it perfectly! By God’s providence, right next to our church building, there is a building where about a hundred Ukrainians are housed. God has opened the door for us there. One time when we went to visit them, they asked me whether I was a pastor. They told me they organized for themselves an Easter church program with songs and poetry and they would like me to preach there. We are thankful for this opportunity given to us.”
Prayer requests:
For more people willing to rent out apartments they own to Ukrainians (some are afraid).
For people involved in this ministry who are extremely busy and tired.
For complicated family situations of many who fled from Ukraine.
For job opportunities fit for moms with young children.
For overcoming the language barrier and for more translators.
For continued financial support.
Give today!
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
April 12, 2022
Medical Ambassadors International has launched a 3-phase plan to distribute relief funds for refugee aid, working through our connected network of churches and ministries on the ground in bordering countries. Initial resources have been sent (Phase 1) from our emergency reserve fund, but now we URGENTLY need funds to send to those on the front lines of the response (Phase 2).
First Phase: We have released funds to a MAI staff member, Zuzana, who travelled to one of the Ukrainian borders to assess needs and provide immediate help to moms, pregnant women, and children. She purchased clothing, diapers, propane gas and assisted with transportation costs to fleeing families.
Second Phase: Based on a needs assessment and requests from ministry contacts in Poland, we are offering financial help to two organizations providing housing and assistance to 200+ refugees in Poland.
Give today!
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
March 28, 2022
Around four million people have been forced to flee Ukraine in less than four weeks, seeking refuge in neighboring countries and onwards across Europe. An estimated 90% of them are women and children.
Medical Ambassadors International has launched a 3-phase plan to distribute relief funds for refugee aid, working through our connected network of churches and ministries on the ground in bordering countries. Initial resources have been sent (Phase 1) from our emergency reserve fund, but now we urgently need funds to send to those on the front lines of the response (Phase 2).
First Phase: We have released funds to a MAI staff member, Zuzana, who travelled to one of the Ukrainian borders to assess needs and provide immediate help to moms, pregnant women, and children. She purchased clothing, diapers, propane gas and assisted with transportation costs to fleeing families.
Second Phase: Based on a needs assessment and requests from ministry contacts in Poland, we are offering financial help to two organizations providing housing and assistance to 200+ refugees in Poland.
Give today!
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
New Prayer Requests and Updates, as of March 28, 2022
Sent from Zuzana, MAI Missionary in Slovakia serving refugees with her church
- CB church is actively connecting with Ukrainian mothers and children. They created a mummy club and started Slovak language lessons. Each church has several families they are looking after. We help them with job searches, finding schools for children, legal documents and much more.
- CB church recognized that it is important to provide training for church leaders, volunteers, and families who are providing accommodation and assistance (training programs include: First Psychological Aid, Beyond Disaster and Healing the Wounds of Trauma).
- We are preparing and sending “Medic-KITS” to a partner church in Ukraine. These are medical backpacks for civilians and medical staff who are providing medical help in war zones and people who are coming from war zones.
- We are planning to bring medical and other humanitarian help to a hospital in Ukraine. Please pray for the hospital as they have over 100 people to help and are very short on supplies. I am meeting with the CEO of the hospital to discuss how we can help. Please pray for clarity and guidance as the Lord knows best what is needed.
- Please pray for me. This is my first disaster response through MAI and it is in my home country, therefore it is more emotional.
- I was asked to speak for local radio of “Jesus for everybody” to share thoughts about the psychological and emotional help during a disaster. I hope to speak a bit about the material we have at MAI. As those who know me know, I am not a public speaker by any means but if God could use a donkey I believe he could use me too. Please, pray for the right words, tone and message.
- Wycliffe is working on English translation materials from the American Bible Society and is happy to share all they would have with us.
- We are in the process of buying a car which will be one of the main ways to transport people and deliver humanitarian help.
- Starting in May, CB church is looking at possibilities to welcome mission teams from around the world. At the moment they have people from Europe helping, but other churches in different countries have contacted them as well wanting to help. We are looking for the best use of our human resources (as it is very limited) and the best experience of those who invest their time and finances to help. At the moment we are looking for people who can speak Ukrainian, Russian or Slovak and are in a small team of 2-4 people. We are finalizing further information.
May the Lord bless you richly! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We can’t do this without you.
March 20, 2022
Around three million people have been forced to flee Ukraine in less than three weeks, seeking refuge in neighboring countries and onwards across Europe. An estimated 90% of them are women and children.
Medical Ambassadors International has launched a 3-phase plan to distribute relief funds for refugee aid, working through our connected network of churches and ministries on the ground in bordering countries. We are now moving into phase 2.
First Phase: We are releasing funds to an MAI staff member, Zuzana, who is traveling to one of the Ukrainian borders to assess needs and provide immediate help to moms, pregnant women, and children. She will be purchasing clothing, diapers, propane gas and assisting with transportation costs to fleeing families.
Second Phase: Based on a needs assessment and requests from ministry contacts in Poland, we are offering financial help to two organizations providing housing and assistance to 200+ refugees in Poland.
Third Phase:
- Ongoing support to CHE partners in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. MAI will strengthen pre-existing CHE communities and consider launching new CHE programs where there are none. Through CHE lessons, MAI can provide psychological first aid, trauma healing sessions and much more to meet physical and spiritual needs of refugees.
- There are medical facilities on the border in Slovakia that are attending to pregnant women and those in need. We are inquiring about the need for health professionals that could assist with their skills in specific areas of need. MAI will utilize our 1000 Days Program for pregnant women and children under two years of age. Focus is placed on maternal health, nutritional status, conditions of delivery, breastfeeding, weaning foods, micro-nutrients, emotional bonding, and spiritual formation of mothers.
The latest update from Zuzana, MAI Missionary in Slovakia…
Dear friends, thank you so much for your prayers, support and thoughts! Your prayers are holding up not only me, but the people I work with and the nations affected by this horrible war. The number of people going through borders is increasing every day. We are receiving people in greater needs than in the previous two weeks. People coming now are more tired and have suffered extensively from the war. Many are missing needed documentation for travel. Many are coming with medical needs and some with disabilities.
Training Volunteers
At the start, most of the people were using Slovakia as a transit country. At the moment we have over 12% of people who want to stay in Slovakia long-term. We are starting to experience exhaustion of volunteers and a shortage of people who can help with translation and understanding the cultural context. I was able to visit Kosice (East Slovakia) in the middle of the week to train the Disaster Response Leader and Disaster Response Team of CB churches (denomination of my Slovak church) in a systematic strategy for the overall team in Slovakia and Ukraine.
We agreed that I will help with training people in first psychological aid (volunteers, staff and interested church members), Beyond Boundaries (how to respond to immigrants who are planning to stay long term in Slovakia), Healing the Wounds of Trauma (for volunteers and those receiving families) and specialized training for teenagers.
Translation & Transportation
My church is already receiving members from Ukraine on short-term and long-term stays. I was able to help with a number of humanitarian requests going directly to Ukraine and also with a flat organized for immigrants. We were able to send clothing, shoes, dry food and medical aid. Medical help is coming without translation to Ukraine and people are not sure how to correctly use certain medical aid. We can assist with translations. Another need is a number of passenger vans, to transport people from Ukraine to the churches we partner with in Slovakia. From Slovakia, we can help with humanitarian aid which will be distributed by eager local drivers to even the most dangerous zones. At the moment CB is in process of buying one van, but the problem is that there is a shortage of these vans. Many organizations are looking for them too.
With more destruction in Ukraine, roads are destroyed. There is a need for 4by4s which can travel the damaged roads. Of course, these are expensive and with not guaranteed how long we will be able to use them as they can be destroyed by bombing. With the increasing cost of gas, we experience a higher cost of travel to and from Ukraine. Going from East Slovakia to the border costs $150 euros.
Supplies & Families Being Assisted
This week we were able to buy food and hygienic material for $4300 euros which will be delivered to the storage in Ukraine and distributed during the week to Kostopel and from there it will go to Zhytomyr , Charkov and Kyiv. So far CB church was able to help over 500 people and we are communicating with others.
These are only a few examples of real people, real stories and real families who are starting over with nothing. Please keep praying! Your prayers are greatly used by God. Unfortunately, as with any situation like this, there will be people who would like to benefit from the suffering of others. Increased vulnerability leads to increased human trafficking.*
Please, pray for wisdom, energy, hope, vision and joy in the situation which is often filled with sadness, pain, suffering and hopelessness.
*There are reports of traffickers targeting parentless children fleeing Ukraine, and many of such children are currently unaccounted for, following the hasty evacuation of orphanages and foster homes. In some countries, specialized anti-trafficking NGOs are disseminating leaflets to refugees, warning them of the risks of accepting transportation and accommodation from strangers, and informing them how to seek help and report suspicious cases to the existing national helplines for trafficking victims. https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/human-trafficking-experts-states-must-urgently-protect-refugees-fleeing-ukraine
How You Can Help
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
March 14, 2022
While many residents in the central and eastern portions of the country have relocated to western Ukraine and away from the front lines, more than 2.8 million Ukrainians have left entirely, making it the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The amount of people on the move constitutes “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Commissioner Filippo Grandi.
Sending Emergency Relief
Medical Ambassadors International has launched a 3-phase plan to distribute relief funds for refugee aid, working through our connected network of churches and ministries on the ground in bordering countries.
First Phase: We are releasing funds to an MAI staff member, Zuzana, who is traveling to one of the Ukrainian borders to assess needs and provide immediate help to moms, pregnant women, and children. She will be purchasing clothing, diapers, propane gas and assisting with transportation costs to fleeing families.
Second Phase: Based on a needs assessment and requests from ministry contacts in Poland, we are offering financial help to two organizations providing housing and assistance to 200+ refugees in Poland.
Third Phase:
- Ongoing support to CHE partners in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. MAI will strengthen pre-existing CHE communities and consider launching new CHE programs where there are none. Through CHE lessons, MAI can provide psychological first aid, trauma healing sessions and much more to meet physical and spiritual needs of refugees.
- There are medical facilities on the border in Slovakia that are attending to pregnant women and those in need. We are inquiring about the need for health professionals that could assist with their skills in specific areas of need. MAI will utilize our 1000 Days Program for pregnant women and children under two years of age. Focus is placed on maternal health, nutritional status, conditions of delivery, breastfeeding, weaning foods, micro-nutrients, emotional bonding, and spiritual formation of mothers.
How You Can Help
MAI has created a Crisis Response Fund [U020] so we can respond.
You can give to this fund below and remember to type ‘Ukraine’ in the note/comment area.
March 6, 2022
Most of the people fleeing Ukraine are headed for Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. Multiple sources report that people are waiting over 24 hours in long lines at congested border crossings in freezing temperatures, with no food, water, or toilet facilities. Many men ages 18-60 are forced to stay behind because of military conscription.
Zuzana, MAI staff member, sent the prayer request below.
Dear Friends of MAI,
Currently, I am in central Europe in Slovakia, my home country! Originally, I was planning to spend relaxing time with my family and friends after 2 years since I saw them last time. Nevertheless, God has a different plan for me at this time. I know all of you are praying for the situation in Ukraine, please continue. I am living 4-5 hours from the border and my church is already taking immigrants to our own homes.
Slovakia is acting as a transit country, though many mothers with children hope to reconnect with their husbands or other family members once they can leave Ukraine. Today in church we had the first immigrants from Ukraine, and we tried very hard to make them feel welcome.
This week I will travel to the border of Ukraine. I will meet some of my friends and people from my Slovak church who are working at the borders. Thank you so much for your prayers of peace, safety, wisdom, and guidance from God. I also have very good friends from Ukraine living in Slovakia for many years. Their closest family is still in Ukraine. Please pray for them too!
Join us in prayer.
Father God, King of all nations, we cry out to you now for the people of Ukraine. We ask you to rescue those who are vulnerable from the hands of their enemies that they may live without fear before you all their days [Luke 1:74-75].
We pray for the people of the Ukraine and the people of Russia; for their countries and their leaders.
We pray for all those who are afraid; that your everlasting arms hold them in this time of great fear.
We pray for protection of the most vulnerable refugees from being targeted by human traffickers or becoming victims of other forms of exploitation.
We pray for all those who have the power over life and death; that they will choose for all people life, and life in all its fullness.
We pray for those who choose war; that they will remember that you direct your people to turn our swords into ploughshares and seek for peace.
We pray for leaders on the world stage; that they are inspired by the wisdom and courage of Christ.
Above all, Lord, today we pray for peace for Ukraine.
And we ask this in the name of your blessed Son.
Lord have mercy.
Amen
