The following is copied and shared with permission and reflects a deeply personal  perspective forged amid the daily suffering and sacrifice caused by the war in Ukraine.  This update is offered to inform and encourage your prayerful support for all who are affected by this tragedy.

If you would like to help us with humanitarian aid efforts you can donate through our  website https://ipministry.org/donate/. The needs are growing as we keep helping thousands of people to move west within Ukraine and also helping those who want to leave the country temporarily. We need funds most of all for gas, but also for food and various supplies (medical, bed linens, mattresses, etc). Thank you.                        

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Update from Maia:

Day 40 of russian invasion.
Today our inability to focus on anything, to function, to work is very similar to what we were experiencing in the first days of the war. This mixture of grief and anger is hard to describe, it’s definitely paralyzing. What happened in Bucha, Irpen, and Gostomel, that violence and violation happened to all of us, Ukrainians. This morning I couldn’t bring myself to write anything. I just did a couple of reposts of thoughts that I could relate to.

But then Sasha, Briana, and I went for a walk and we saw people feeding birds by a lakeside and that simple scene reminded me that we don’t live in the world of russian murderers and rapists, the world where leaders of powerful countries stand by watching the rape and shaking heads with concern, the world where evil has the upper hand. We live in a world that opposes the world of darkness. We live in a world where people are ready to die for their land and for their freedom, in a world where people take care of each other in times of crisis, in the world where people feed birds on the 40th day of the war, in the world where a young woman rescues disabled dogs from a shelter in Irpen during fierce fighting (in the same Irpen where russians were raping girls, killing men, looting and destroying houses), in the world where people who evacuate leave their keys to their neighbors so that their house plants would be watered. We live in a world where we want to grow flowers and raise kids. We don’t want another country’s land but we won’t give up on our land either.

Light will overcome the Darkness.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

When this war started 40 days ago there was still snow on the ground. Many people who fled their bombed homes left only with clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet. I know I have an emergency backpack by my door (in case I have to run) – it doesn’t include any clothes or shoes.

A week ago the number of refugees and internally displaced was around 11 million. No doubt the number has grown as people manage to get out of Mariupol, Chernihiv, and some “hot” places in Eastern Ukraine. Half of that number are children.

We want to help internally displaced families to get spring shoes for their kids as the weather is finally getting warmer. We found several places in Ukraine where we can buy tennis shoes for $10-15 a pair. If you want to be a part of that you can donate through our ministry International Partnerships (which is a network of churches around Ukraine) https://ipministry.org/donate/.

You can also donate for food (for the internally displaced) or for fuel. One of our churches in Avdeevka is planning to start evacuating people who are willing to leave as Donestk region administration is requesting civilians to evacuate – russians are focusing on creating hell in that region.
We are requesting your special prayers for Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Odesa regions, Pray that the Kherson region will be freed from russian occupation.

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Please share these updates with others. I have added direct links to our email, our website, and to the IP Ministry Journal on YouTube to the bottom of this page. Your prayers are precious to us. Thank you!

In Christ,
Brandy Ezzell
International Partnerships