Samaritan’s Purse is partnering with local churches throughout Ukraine to distribute emergency food and essential items to families in need.
Samaritan’s Purse staff are helping to procure and transport large quantities of food and other essential items for families displaced by conflict in Ukraine.
Our teams are laboring around the clock, in collaboration with local churches, to purchase, transport, and distribute massive quantities of food and items such as hygiene kits, blankets, and warm clothing.
Each package or box or can is an opportunity to remind families in Ukraine that the Lord cares and has not abandoned them during their time of need.
The Church Steps Forward in Crisis
Through God-ordained partnerships established with an extensive network of Ukrainian churches, Samaritan’s Purse has been able to serve tens of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by conflict. We’ve been able to fill their stomachs, warm their backs, and remind their hearts of the saving hope that is found only in Jesus Christ.
A local pastor named Benjamin prays over Samaritan’s Purse staff and his congregation of volunteers before a day of distributions in Ukraine.
To meet such extensive needs, our Disaster Assistance Response Team is creatively maneuvering to procure food and other essentials both within Ukraine and in countries throughout Europe, as supply chain conditions have been strained by current hostilities.
Once purchased and brought into the country, local Christians selflessly transport the food and other essentials into areas of great need where they love and know well the communities who are suffering. Thanks to these courageous efforts by our brothers and sisters in Christ, families who have been cut off from food, medicine, and other necessities are receiving a lifeline of support in Jesus’ Name.
Salvation Church in Ukraine is no stranger to the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, as they’ve been partnering with Operation Christmas Child for more than 20 years. While unprecedented violence continues to unfold throughout their country, this local body of believers is now connecting with us in a much different way.
A displaced mother and her child attend a distribution of essential items conducted by Samaritan’s Purse in partnership with a local church in Ukraine.
When speaking of our work together, Pastor Dima said, “We have received donations from Samaritan’s Purse. Thanks to that, we are buying the food packages and distributing for the people in need. We think that this is the ministry of the church, to do what it does now. If the church is not needed at the moment of help, then the church is probably not needed at all. If we are good people in good times only, that is not the way it should be.”
In Ukraine alone, Samaritan’s Purse and our local partners have purchased and distributed more than 267 tons of food; nearly 3,000 blankets; over 9,000 hygiene kits; 100 clothing kits; 8,200 solar lights; and so much more. While the impact already has been significant, we have plans to expand our reach to provide hundreds of tons of food each and every week. Samaritan’s Purse stands committed to do all this while seeking out every opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Crying Every Day
Recently, a woman named Oksana* who fled violence in her hometown with her family said, “We need everything—because we have nothing.” She went on to share that this time in her life has been extremely difficult and that she cries every day. While her story is a heartbreaking one, it is not uncommon.
While attending a recent Samaritan’s Purse distribution, Oksana and her family were able to collect items they need to keep moving forward while also being able to connect with the local church and witness the body of Christ in action.
“We need everything—because we have nothing.”
While talking about the partnership between Samaritan’s Purse and his church in Ukraine, another local pastor named Benjamin shared, “We’re glad that we can be together—we can help and we can worship our God.”
Backpacks for Children
While all people trapped in conflict suffer, children undoubtedly are some of the most vulnerable. To remind these little ones that God has not forgotten them, Samaritan’s Purse has begun supplying displaced Ukrainian children with backpacks that include a teddy bear with the words “God Loves You” in Ukrainian, a ball, a knit hat, crayons, a sketch pad, and Gospel booklets printed in Ukrainian.
To date, we have packed and airlifted more than 4,700 of these backpacks to Ukraine, with many more to come.
A Call to Pray
Please continue to pray for suffering families in Ukraine. Pray as well for our faithful church partners and teams as they work together to meet both physical and spiritual needs.
Samaritan’s Purse teams and our local church partners are distributing food, hygiene, kits, clothing, and other items desperately needed by those fleeing violence in Ukraine.
