Your gifts at work: Catechisms for Ukrainian Refugee Children January 19, 2022

This Christmas season in Ukraine, your donations to the LHF mission made it possible for the Ukrainian Lutheran Church to present a most precious gift to refugee children: Luther’s Small Catechism, written in the Ukrainian language.

The refugees have arrived in Kyiv from the Donetsk Oblast (region) that was occupied by Russians after they occupied Crimea. “Some of their parents were abused in different ways (e.g. severely beaten) by Russians and their cronies; some lived in the areas where Russians would launch missiles or simply shoot from artillery and all kinds of guns, destroying their homes and killing their relatives,” explained Rev. Slavik Horpynchuk, bishop of the ULC. “So these people, they took their children and fled to the free Ukrainian territories, including Kyiv. Some of them live in shelters, and some still do not have jobs, so we periodically provide them with food, clothes and so on.

“We invite them to study and sing Christmas carols together. We plan to start Sunday School with them. They know too much trouble in their life. They will know love of Christ.”