A Letter From Slavic Christian Ministries
Dear Sanctuary,
I imagine that many of you have been wondering how you could support the people of Ukraine. Many years ago, a friend of mine, Ron Putman, used to attend our church from time to time. At one point, I even asked him to consider a position as executive pastor. Ron felt called to preach and do work with missions in Ukraine. Eventually he went on to be the founder and president of Slavic Christian Ministries. This morning he sent me the following letter to share with you. If you would like to help the people of Ukraine, I would suggest giving through Ron and Slavic Christian Ministries. Here's Ron's letter:
Dear Peter,
Thank you for allowing me to share a little about our ministry and the situation in the city of Kharkov, which is 20 miles from the Russian border. Our ministry has served Kharkov for over 20 years, where we have touched many lives within the city of Kharkov and around the state of Kharkov, which is currently one of the major war zones in Ukraine. It is a city of 1.5 million people and a region of about 4-5 million people. There are no other parachurch organizations I know of that work there besides us and the Southern Baptist, in a smaller way.
Over the years, we have served orphans, disabled children, engaged in kid's camps, drug rehabilitation, prison ministry, senior citizen, English evangelism, dozens of theology courses, refugee ministry, short-term missionary trips, and have our theological resources in 80 Christian colleges and universities in Ukraine and Russia. All told, we have served about 16,000 people, distributed about 23,000 theology books that I have written, and seen 1,200 people make first time confessions of faith. You may be keeping an eye on things in the news, Russia is in a full assault on Ukraine. The Ukrainian army is fighting hard and Russia has been in fierce conflict with the Ukrainian military all across the country. In our city of Kharkov, there is now fierce battles going on within the city with shooting and bombs near the Kharkov airport and throughout the suburbs. Four missiles landed one block from my mother-in-law's home, since she lives near a school that trains future military leaders. There is also fierce fighting in cities to the north and south of Kharkov and all around the country. In tonight's news (2/25), the Ukraine president stated that Russia may be making a stronger advance on Kiev and possibly the entire country. However, as of the morning of 2/26, the Russian army has been unsuccessful to take any Ukrainian city. But in the evening of 2/26 in America (2/27 in Ukraine), it was their largest battle so far, with huge fireballs everywhere outside the city and street fighting inside the city. On 2/28 and 3/1, Russia has begun bombing civilian locations and there are dead bodies in the streets.
The SCM board yesterday approved all Ukraine funds to go to war refugees, until further notice. This will include feeding people (children, orphans, and everyone else we serve and beyond), providing medical help, and relocation assistance, if necessary. Our relationships remain in place and ready to begin working with refugees once the banks reopen. We closed down our former refugee ministry a year ago, after integrating many people into the church, but plan to ramp it back up. To donate, please go here: https://www.slavicchristian.org/donate Thank your entire church for considering this request. Thank you for your prayers too!
In Jesus’ love,
Ron Putnam