Imagine telling your children that your country is at war.

Imagine seeing the fear in their eyes every time you hear an air raid siren.

Imagine hiding with them in a bomb shelter, hoping and praying that it doesn’t get hit.

Yana and her husband don’t have to imagine. This was their reality.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Yana and her husband feared for the safety of their children. They decided that Yana would take their two children and flee their hometown of Lviv. But Yana’s husband stayed behind. As Yana boarded the bus with her children and only a few possessions, she said goodbye to her husband through the window, uncertain if she would see him again.

Separated from her husband, Yana and her children arrived in Poland. Through the generous efforts of volunteers, they were given shelter and basic supplies.

But Yana found her biggest comfort in the pages of God’s Word.

“The Bible is always important for us, especially now,” says Yana. “It can give us hope because we know it will be a time when we won’t have any crying, any suffering, any death, any wars . . . This hope helps us to be real humans and to continue supporting one another.”

Praise God that Yana experienced God’s peace through his Word! But there are millions more like her, searching for hope in difficult times.

Sharing the Hope of God’s Word with Hurting Ukrainians

According to the United Nations’ Refugee Agency, more than 6.5 million Ukrainians have left Ukraine. Like Yana, many of them are mothers who have fled their homes with their young children.

These Ukrainian refugees need the Bible’s message of hope. That’s why American Bible Society is working to share Scripture resources that provide spiritual strength for hurting Ukrainians.

Through our global partners, we are helping to provide Bible Societies in Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and other neighboring nations with Ukrainian Bibles for children and adults. We are also providing a Bible-based trauma healing resource called God is With Me: A Family Guide to Living in Hard Times to help these families know God’s comfort even in the midst of war.

4 Ways You Can Pray

Your prayers are bringing the hope of God’s Word to Ukrainian refugees. We can’t forget about them. Now is the time to be persistent in our prayers for the Ukrainian people (Luke 18:1.) Here are four ways you can pray today.

• Pray for refugees who have sought shelter in neighboring nations. Pray that they would find a new rhythm and feeling of home in a foreign land, and that they would be blessed with community and safety in the church.
• Pray that an end to this war would come swiftly. Pray for those who have lost loved ones through the brutalities of war.
• Pray that refugees would find comfort in God’s Word and resources like God is With Me: A Family Guide to Living in Hard Times. Pray that God would be near to them as they face these uncertain times.
• Pray for Bible Societies, churches, and volunteers working to bring resources to meet the physical and spiritual needs to Ukrainians in crisis. Pray that financial and prayer partners will give generously so that Ukrainians can experience hope and comfort through the message of Jesus Christ.