(From YWAM Slavic Ministries) The psychological toll of the war in Ukraine is overwhelming. Nearly one third of the nation – 15 million people – may be in need of some sort of help. The things people are going through every day are producing stress that is unbearable. The Ukrainian government has now begun training trauma counselors, setting up mental hotlines and tapping foreign experts for clinical support.
Yet at the very beginning of the war YWAM staffers Sharryn and Ruslan, who are a part of our leadership team in Ternopil, caught the vision for this need among our YWAM staff serving in Ukraine. They set up a respite house in Poland where our staff and other pastors and ministry volunteers could come and be ministered to. What a ministry it has turned out to be!
Volunteer counselors have come from all over the world to give their time and expertise to the many who have come to be ministered to at the center. The stories that have been shared have been unbelievable. Pastors that have driven into war-torn areas to bring help and ministry – sometimes for weeks without a break – have come to be ministered to deeply. Our staff, many of whom are quite young, are seeing and experiencing things they never should witness. All of these are receiving help that is desperately needed.
There is a need for more counselors and many more will be needed in the months and years to come. Please pray for God to raise up workers in this field. Pray for the finances to keep this center operating as well as other retreats and gatherings that are needed for this ministry.
Many more counselors will be needed to help the many returning families and children from horrendous situations they are under today. Many thousands of children are separated from their parents; wives and husbands are in different countries. Many are in detention centers, orphanages and even prisons.
Please pray for these many needy people and children. Pray that God will heal their land, their minds, their families. Pray for an army of trained and equipped counselors to be raised up from all over the world and from within Ukraine itself.
Donations can be made via www.ywamslavicministries.org 100% of the funds will go to the needs in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees at YWAM locations in surrounding nations.