Ukraine Archives

PC(USA) partner in Somalia: Conflict and climate change push millions close to famine

Posted February 6th, 2023

A devastating drought has displaced one million Somalis since January 2021, and more people are expected to flee as communities face the prospect of famine in 2023. First, the rains failed, then Al-Shabab, an armed group that controls large swathes of south-central Somalia, started to impose hefty taxes on local farmers like Fathi Mohamed Ali.

PC(USA) delegation to make solidarity trip to Eastern Europe

Posted January 20th, 2023

A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation will travel to Eastern Europe this month in a show of solidarity with people in and near Ukraine as the war with Russia continues to create death, destruction and displacement.

Laying aside ‘every weight and the sin that clings so closely’

Posted August 29th, 2022

This summer, together with his partner Troy, the Rev. Brian Ellison, executive director of Covenant Network of Presbyterians, crossed three countries off his bucket list with a visit to the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In Latvia’s capital, Riga, they visited the new Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which “tells the story of a healthy functioning democracy” in a country that was occupied from 1939-89 by first the Soviets, then the Germans and then the Soviets again.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and interfaith groups denounce ‘illegal assault on Ukraine’

Posted July 15th, 2022

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has signed onto an interfaith letter urging Congress to make “stopping the bloodshed” in Ukraine a top priority as reports of injuries, death, displacement and destruction from the war with Russia continue.

World Refugee Day comes as crisis is now worse than ever

Posted June 16th, 2022

In the past few months, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) Director the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus has seen the gravity of the global refugee crisis.

A hymn to help voice prayers for peace

Posted May 26th, 2022

The Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, a Presbyterian hymn-writer who has penned new lyrics to more than 400 hymns, has published her most recent hymn, “We Pray for Peace” to Finlandia, the tune for the hymn “Be Still, My Soul” and “This is My Song.”

PC(USA) joins in effort to ease humanitarian crisis in Yemen

Posted April 25th, 2022

Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with 23.7 million in need of help, including 13 million children.

Memorial Day is a day to remember and a day to mourn

Posted April 22nd, 2022

War is neither necessary nor romantic. The deaths that come from war are needless and tragic. Those who give their lives in war may be remembered and honored for their selfless sacrifice, but the wars which brought their deaths are not glorious adventures. Our entry into war may at times be unavoidable but must never be sought. We mourn those killed in war on Memorial Day as we grieve the pain of loss and deprivation.

‘The sensitivity of the people I met for these refugees was just really impressive’

Posted April 18th, 2022

Ellen Smith, World Mission’s regional liaison for Eastern Europe, has just returned from a visit with partners in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland to see first-hand how they are coping with the enormous task of caring for refugees fleeing Ukraine and how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can accompany them.

Racism impacts refugees of color in Ukraine

Posted March 31st, 2022

It’s been a little more than a month since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine on the morning of Feb. 24.