Aid for Ukraine

Burnham Ministries International

Update on May 13, 2022: Every day, Grace Church provides shelter for a minimum of 45 people. These are the people from the community who are currently living in the church because it is too dangerous to stay in their homes. At least 85 local residents receive three hot meals a day from the church and nearly two dozen food packages are delivered to the community every day. Additional relief efforts include supplying medications, relief packages, distributing New Testaments and continuing to host weekly worship services and nightly prayer meetings.

Pastor Dmitry writes: “When the war began in Ukraine, the Lord opened great opportunities to preach the gospel. Thanks to the financial aid we are receiving from our brothers and sisters from the USA, we can help people in their needs and to tell them about Jesus. We are grateful to everyone who demonstrates love to the people of Ukraine and the community of Kharkiv. May the Lord abundantly bless you for your sacrificial giving. You are helping our local church continue to do God’s work.”

Update on May 3, 2022: All nine churches have received the funds we sent a little over a week ago to continue to assist struggling communities with food, shelter, medical supplies and more. Please continue to pray for the protection of the church and that God would strengthen the church members as they serve in these terrible circumstances. Pastor Vitaliy Sorokun serves with Burnham Ministries and is a pastor at Grace Church in Ukraine; he shares of an unfortunate occurrence that happened last week in Kharkov, where he serves.

Vitaliy writes: "On Wednesday evening around 6pm, two Russian missiles launched from a multiple rocket launcher landed and exploded by our church building. One missile hit a newly constructed residential building, causing significant damage. The other hit the garage complex nearby, causing fire. The pieces of the first missile and the soundwave caused damage to the windows and the roof of the church.

We praise God the people did not get hurt because they were all in the basement when the explosions occurred. This is already the third time missiles landed around the church causing damage. May the Lord protect us. At the same time yesterday, three missiles hit the playground at my apartment building. Once again, hundreds of windows were shattered. Thankfully, as I learned this morning, the windows of my apartment were not damaged. Please, continue to pray for this war to end."

Update on April 21, 2022: The Chapel has provided another $90,000 to Burnham Ministries, to be distributed in $10,000 increments to each of the nine churches previously identified (Grace Church, Central Church, Red Church, White Church, Osnova Church, Good News Church, Good Haven Church, Christian Life Church, and Narrow Way Church).

The funds are being used to provide food and groceries for refugees, meal delivery services, fuel for humanitarian aid trucks, evacuation assistance efforts, critical medications and safety supplies and financial assistance for those who have lost income due to war. Each church incurs costs upwards of $2,500 per week, or $10,000 per month. This latest gift from The Chapel will keep these efforts going in nine locations for another month.

Update on April 6, 2022: The Chapel's latest gift of $20,000 to Burnham Ministries was distributed to 9 churches, which are using the funds to provide relief aid to the believers and other in their communities. At one of the churches called Grace Church in Kharkiv (where Pastor Vitality and Pastor Dmitry serve), they are doing the following:

• Offering daily shelter to 60+ individuals, including pregnant women, students, and children
• Preparing 3 hot meals per day for sheltered individuals
• Providing medication for the community
• Providing round-trip hospital transportation for a man who requires dialysis treatment multiple times per week, during active shelling
• Delivering dozens of food packages throughout the community every day (these include a New Testament Bible, 2 pounds of pasta, 4 pounds of grain, 2 pounds of sugar, 3 cans of fish or meat, 1 liter of sunflower oil, 1 pack of mayonnaise, and whatever else is available)

Update on March 29, 2022: There are 63 people living in the basement of our church in Kharkiv as of today. The church provides hot meals, shelter, medication, water, toilets, and heating, and everything is free of charge to the people. The church is also helping 40-60 people in the community daily by visiting them directly, giving them meals and spiritual care. The church spends, on average, $500 per day to provide relief for the people living in the church and those they are visiting. When the humanitarian relief truck comes from the Western Ukraine, the church pays for the fuel, which is at least $1,000.

Several times a week Pastor Dmirty, who is serving in the local church daily, conducts morning prayer services for church members and the people living in the church basement. The people go up from the basement to the main sanctuary. The church members who decide to attend walk to church from the neighboring high-rise buildings under the sound of shelling. Russian troops have been shelling Kharkiv nonstop every day since February 24. According to the new statistics published by our mayor yesterday, almost 2000 high rise apartment buildings, 70 schools, and over 50 kindergartens have been destroyed by Russian troops.

Thank you Chapel Family for your support and love for the church in Ukraine!

Update on March 16, 2022: Today we spoke with a Ukrainian pastor named Vitality, who is with Burnham Ministries, now in western Ukraine. He and his wife had fled from the city Kharkiv, which has been under terrible attacks. He shared that the city no longer looks the same as it once did. It is horrible what has happened to Kharkiv. He also shared at one time the city was being bombed almost 24/7 as he and other families hide in the basement of their church. One of the reason Vitality left to western Ukraine was to see his only daughter who is not in Kharkiv.

Vitality shared that there are a lot of people staying in Ukraine because they fear being a refugee without any home. The church that Vitality pastors is still standing and serving the people in Kharkiv. They have received much humanitarian aid from many places, and he asked for prayers of protection for the church and that the church would be a beacon of hope and love in Jesus’ name to all they serve.

Vitality is a key leader in the Baptist Union in Ukraine helping to support and equip around 2,500 churches. Our support to Burnham Ministries will help care for all those churches in need. There are churches in Ukraine that are not in the direct war zone areas that are in need of resources so that they can be mobilized to help the hurting churches and the people in the most devasted cities (like Kharkiv and Kyiv). 

Update on March 6, 2022: Jonathan Burnham shared with us that the support we raise and give to Burnham Ministries International will go to church care in Ukraine. They are actively working with key church leaders that are still in Ukraine helping to strengthen the Body of Christ. They are strong men and women of God in Ukraine who are filled with Christ’s love to continue to proclaim the Gospel in the midst of the war. Jonathan recalled to us that there are churches that have been established in Kharkov from the support of The Chapel many years ago (in the 1970’s) that are still continuing. They are working to encourage those churches as well as other churches in Ukraine with the support that is gifted from The Chapel

Burnham Ministries International

Ways to Pray

A damaged building in Ukraine

Supplies gathered to assist refugees

The Walthew Family

Update on May 3, 2022: Edward and Amber Walthew, our Chapel supported missionaries serving in Poland, joined us via Zoom for our Global Prayer meeting this past Sunday. They shared how they are continuing the work of resettling Ukrainian refugees in Poland. It is hard work and there are many logistics that they have to work out to care well for the refugees.

They have found that some of the Ukrainian refugees who have come to Poland feel lost, don't have the means to resettle well and therefore feel that they need to go back to Ukraine. Pioneer missionaries are working hard to prevent this and are trying to care well for the Ukrainians that seek refuge. Edward and Amber shared stories of how God is providing housing and how the funds we have provided are being used to help resettle refugees.

Update on March 11, 2022: More than one million people have crossed the border into Poland since the war began on the 23rd of February. Poles have opened their homes and have organized supplies and many have been overwhelmed by the reception they have received here. Refugees who come across the border receive a hot meal, sanitary and medical supplies, and other important items. 

It feels largely like organized chaos. The Polish government has done a remarkable job setting things up, but the sheer enormity of the situation means the government alone isn't able to handle the needs by themselves. NGOs, other organizations, and individuals have been doing a lot of work to care for refugees. There are even resources going around on FaceBook that provide some basic Ukrainian language help for Poles wanting to communicate with our neighbors. 

For us, it's all been very emotional. One day, we feel completely useless in the face of such need. The next day, we get a phone call asking for help picking people up at the border. Last week, Edward got his second such call. He left at 9:00pm and returned home at 5:00am.

Today, I (Amber) and our teammate, Megan, had a meeting with a local town council member who runs the hotel and sports complex where many of the refugees coming through Kolbuszowa are being housed temporarily. We told him we want to be helpful in any way he sees fit. He told us several ways we might be able to serve and we want to make ourselves available when and if he calls. We will probably be able to fill you in on more details once we know a bit more ourselves. 

Edward has gone on two border runs and, this afternoon after driving to Rzeszow to help the team there, he called me to say, "Beloved, I'm driving some people to Katowice." (Katowice is about three hours away.) Pray for a safe journey home for him and that the Lord will continue to help Edward as he serves through driving. Also, fuel costs about $8 USD per gallon at the moment.

Amber & Edward Walthew

Ways to Pray

Destruction in Ukraine