As people flee their homes in Ukraine, Triangle faith-based groups send help and hope
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The inescapable costs of war
From inflation to mental health, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be felt all over the world. How is it affecting the people in the Triangle, and how are North Carolina-based forces involved in the defense against Russian aggression?
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As fighting continues in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, much of the rest of the world asks, “What will happen to the civilians?”
The two-week-old war has sparked a historic exodus from the country as women, children and old men flee their homes near the Russian border under threat of shelling and artillery fire. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 must stay in case they’re needed to fight.
So far more than 2 million people have gotten into cars or onto trains and poured into Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova and the Czech Republic with fears for the future and only as much of their pasts as they could carry. Millions more are seeking refuge in distant cities in western Ukraine, taking shelter in church basements or the homes of family members, friends or friendly strangers.
“That’s a harrowing experience of insecurity and vulnerability,” said Father Jacek Orzechowski, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Durham, who fled his native Poland with his family in the 1980s. “I remember from when I was a child, during a time when there was a fear of Soviet intervention in Poland and a specter once again of a foreign invasion from the east. I can easily place myself in the shoes of people who are now fleeing for their safety.
“And this is not only a political and humanitarian issue, but a religious one as well,” he said. “As Christians, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.”
Where to find prayer services, how to help
Father Jacek (pronounced “YAY-sik”), and his parishioners will host a prayer service for Ukraine Monday evening, in conjunction with Saint Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Church in Cary as well as Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches across the Triangle. The event, open to the public, is a chance to express solidarity with the people of Ukraine and pray together for an end to the war.
Immaculate Conception and other area churches are collecting funds for charities that aid refugees, including Baptists on Mission, the international disaster-relief arm of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, based in Cary.
Baptists on Mission already has sent teams to Poland and Hungary to begin gathering and sorting food, blankets, medical supplies and other items for refugees displaced within Ukraine or leaving the country. More volunteers will go. The group is especially in need of those who speak Ukrainian.
“The refugees are devastated and distressed,” said Alicia Jones, who has been working for years in Hungary for Baptists on Mission, helping refugees as they come across the border to find temporary housing or transportation on to a safe place. “Many at the help center are in tears or on the verge of crying. Sometimes just a touch on the shoulder or a word in their heart language or even a kind word in English that they understand will cause many to burst into tears.
“Leaving their homes or seeing their homes destroyed is a pain so deep that it can hardly be put into words.”
Richard Brunson, director of Baptists on Mission, said the group has worked for years with the Ukraine Baptist Union, a federation of some 2,000 churches, and is using those channels now to provide aid. The needs are many, Brunson said; he fielded a request last week for first-aid kits for church members conscripted into military service.
Brunson said cash donations to relief groups are the best way to help. The money can buy supplies inside Ukraine where possible, or in neighboring countries. At the moment, he said, it’s difficult to get goods moved into Ukraine from outside.
An international response is needed
The Ukrainian Association of North Carolina estimates there are more than 19,000 people of Ukrainian descent living in North Carolina, most of them clustered in the areas around Charlotte, Raleigh and Asheville. The group’s website shows just over 4,000 people of Ukrainian descent living in Wake, Durham and Johnston counties in 2016.
Brunson and others say it’s unlikely that many Ukrainian war refugees will travel to the U.S. but that an international response will be needed to help them in the European countries where they land.
Michael Struett, associate professor and chair of the Political Science Department at NCSU’s School of Public and International Affairs, said that while it would be imprudent for the U.S. to get actively involved in the war in Ukraine’s defense, the government must contribute to the work to help refugees that is now largely being done by non-profits.
“The European Union has opened its borders” to refugees, Struett said. “It’s a huge humanitarian catastrophe, and the U.S. could do more to help our allies.
“We have never committed to defending democracy in Ukraine because it wasn’t tenable,” Struett said. “But the next best thing would be helping people relocate to free and democratic places.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 5:45 AM with the headline "As people flee their homes in Ukraine, Triangle faith-based groups send help and hope."
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