Dear Church,

Please see below an update from the team working accross the British Isles North and South Districts working to match families and organise visas for those who are coming from Ukraine to escape the war.

"The team have been busy pairing hosts with guests, and this week we submitted our 100th visa application! 

 

We are now at a point where we have more Ukrainian referrals coming through than we have hosts. The situation in Ukraine has become more unstable in recent days and we have people contacting us daily in search of a home in the UK. 

 

We wanted to raise awareness of this, can we ask that you please announce again in your churches, community groups, and with any church connections. Anyone who is interested in hosting but has not yet been paired with a Ukrainian family, please pass on this email address. nazukrainetouk@gmail.com "

 

Please consider prayfully if this is something that you might be able be involved in and get in touch with the team on the email address above. We can also put you in touch with people at Trinity who have already been accepted as hosts and have families living with them. 

 

We are so thankful for those individuals and families who have already come to stay with members of our congregation. We thank God that we are able to provide this place of safety and refuge in this awful time, however we do not forget that this is an ongoing trauma for those affected and we wanted to pass on specifically for some of the needs of those now part of our church family.

 

- We pray for Ira, and for her family still in Dnipro, her son, his wife and her grandaughter.

- We pray for Ihor, Oksana and their daughter Oliviia. Oksana asks that we pray in particular for her parents who are currently in Vinnytsia having relocated from Mariupol and the trauma that they have experienced there.

- We pray for Vitalina and children Yeva and David as they are separated from her husband and their Dad who remains in Ukraine.

- We pray for Artem who is currently in Poland, that he will have a successful visa application and barriers would be lifted to allow him to come to Scotland.

 

We pray for protection for the families whom they have left behind, that God would strengthen them and heal them in these days, that they would know and experience the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. 

 

This week with one Ukrainian, I had a conversation about what it means to read Psalm 91 even in the midst of physical danger and threat, and so we pray that the truth of these verses would touch the heart of those caught up in this war and for us all in a very tanglible way right now.

 

Psalm 91

 

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

 

3 Surely he will save you

    from the fowler’s snare

    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes

    and see the punishment of the wicked.

 

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

 

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.”


 

Blessings,

 

Emma Jardine

Team Pastor