Displaying items by tag: traumatised children

379 children have been killed since the war in Ukraine began; 223 are missing; 7,013 children have been forcibly transferred to Russia. Six months of war have damaged 2,400 schools and destroyed 269. Most teenagers are anxious about returning to school. For Mariia Makohin, walking through the college gates was an act of bravery. ‘I was a little bit nervous because I don’t know what Russian terrorists will do nowadays. Every day we have sirens, and I don’t know if they will attack us when we are at school.’ The return to school routine introduced a new ritual: a practice run to the school’s bomb shelter in the basement. In schools across Ukraine, debris has been cleared, blood scrubbed off floors, and repairs made where possible as a generation of shell-shocked children return to their studies. Only half of Ukraine’s schools have reopened, due to extreme risks of bombings.

Since the USSR broke up, Ukrainians have experienced freedom and democracy, but more importantly they have experienced freedom to preach the good news, resulting in masses of people being saved and many church plants. Ukraine is also a door for the Gospel to other, surrounding nations. Pray for the door to stay open and fulfil the command to ‘go into the world and preach the Gospel’. Pray for the work of Operation Mobilisation in Ukraine as it connects humanitarian aid with those in need. Pray particularly for traumatised displaced children who are receiving small stuffed baby tigers, with a pocket that holds an mp3 player of 38 recordings in Ukrainian for 3- to 11-year-olds. The stories point them to Father God and Jesus, with an emphasis on trauma relief. Please pray for God’s anointing on a team of youth workers in Vinnytsia organising six-day camps for traumatised children during August.