When the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, we quickly deployed a team to Ukraine to assess the needs and find solutions. Initially, the biggest need was evacuations, especially orphans with adoptions in progress. After the Kiev region was liberated, much of the evacuation was done for the time being. Our team grew and we have several Ukrainians on our team, who have been incredibly helpful by translating, organizing and connecting us with the local authorities. Dnipro, one of the major cities in Ukraine, became our base. Dnipro is located just two hours away from most of the front-line activities. The team moved there and spent the remaining summer doing evacuations and distributions along the front lines. Over the winter, we partnered with Samaritan’s Purse to provide stoves and firewood to the same areas. 

Over the past few months, the need for active humanitarian aid in the form of evacuations and food distributions has steadily decreased. The front lines are more defined and are not shifting as much anymore. In order to make the best use of the resources available, we decided to pause our work there for three to four months, starting in December. This means we won’t have a team on the ground and operations will be minimized, but we will continue to fund the work our partnering military chaplain does there during this time. 

If there is a sudden crisis there within that timeframe, we can easily resume the work. We’ll continue monitoring the military movements and be ready to engage when the need calls for it while the work is on hold. In April, we’ll re-evaluate the situation and make a decision on which way to go forward.