Photo: Yaron Schneider
It’s a devastating photo of the masses leaving Ukraine, made black and white so that it’s reminiscent of a holocaust photo from 1941. You may have seen it; it’s been going a bit viral. It’s a chilling reminder that history repeats itself.
I find myself deeply grieved that such a human tragedy has yet again emerged in our world. I find it hard to wrap my mind around how the ego of one leader has such a wanton disregard for the value of human life – all to satisfy his need to reestablish an empire that justly collapsed 30 years ago. He wants a lasting legacy. Sadly it will be a legacy of evil.
Such darkness is not just found in this Russian invasion of the Ukraine, it’s found all over the world. In Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan just to name a few of the major current world conflict spots. Power hungry, ego driven leaders are spilling human blood to satisfy distorted visions of personal aggrandizement. Centuries ago, the prophet Jeremiah lamented: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 1:17)
So how do we as followers of Jesus push back on this evil? How do we represent Jesus in the midst of such darkness? What can we do as individual Canadians, living so far from the conflict, without forgetting that we share a border with Russia? Let me offer a few thoughts:
(1) WE PRAY …
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). As we watch the kingdom of evil advance, we push back with prayer. We pray that lives would be spared. We pray for peace. We pray for a change of heart in Putin and those around him. We pray that Ukrainians will continue to stand strong and fight effectively. We pray that the nation of the NATO alliance would be effective in their response.
(2) WE GIVE …
We are blessed financially as Canadians. We can give to support relief efforts to Ukrainians. At Fort City Church, we, together with our larger Alliance Church family our supporting relief efforts through our Polish Church partners. We are having an impact on thousands of refugees. (see the video below).
Would you consider giving to our Ukraine Relief fund? You can find it listed here: https://fortcitychurch.ca/give
(3) WE ACT …
While the majority of the more than 2 million refuges so far do not want to travel far from the Ukraine, as this war continues, as things potentially get darker and darker, we expect that some families will choose to come to Canada. The Canadian government is working to make that relatively simple. Would you help us at Fort City Church to care for one Ukrainian family? Could we support a family for a year? I think we can. We can’t help everyone, but we could help one family. It might take 60 to 80,000 dollars. Yeah that’s’ a lot.
Maybe you could be part of the team that makes this happen. Message me. Email me at: doug@fortictychurch.ca. And would you give? You can find our Refugee fund at: https://fortcitychurch.ca/give .
I’m sure you share my sense of horror and deep grief. Let’s do more than just watch social media posts that decry this evil tragedy. Let’s pray. Let’s Give. Let’s Act.
