Kendrick United Methodist Church issued the following announcement on April 5.
From baking pound cakes to pounding drums in benefit concerts, United Methodists have been raising funds to help Ukrainians whose lives have been upended by the Russian invasion of their country.
There have been big individual gifts, too — notably $100,000 from a Korean American United Methodist.
In the six weeks since the Russian invasion began, the United Methodist Committee on Relief already has received more than $5 million for aid to displaced persons in Ukraine and refugees arriving in neighboring counties.
How to help
United Methodists and others wishing to provide humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people may contribute to United Methodist Global Ministries Advance #982450, UMCOR International Disaster Response and Recovery.
United Methodists who formerly served in Ukraine also suggest, as a way to get help fast to United Methodists working directly with refugees, Advance #14053A: Eurasia in Mission Together — Ukraine and Moldova.
UMCOR has so far distributed $2 million, helping to provide food, water, medicine, shelter, transportation and other services for those on the run.
The agency is preparing for a long-haul effort, given that some 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country and a prolonged siege would certainly swell that number.
“Humanitarian response for people displaced by war or natural disasters requires careful action to alleviate immediate suffering and also to lay the groundwork for the building of communities,” said Roland Fernandes, top executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and UMCOR. “UMCOR has an excellent track record in pulling together resources to cover extended needs.”
Fernandes personally accepted a $100,000 donation from an anonymous woman from the Korean Church of Atlanta, which is in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth. Bishop Young Jin Cho, interim pastor of the church, delivered the check on March 30.
The woman wrote Fernandes a letter noting that the plight of Ukraine reminded her of the Korean War, in which her father fled North Korea as a boy and received a helping hand in South Korea from a Methodist pastor.
“It is my family’s hope and prayer that this gift can extend the church’s reach for providing aid — just a little bit more,” she said of the donation.
Apart from her gift, the Korean Church of Atlanta has collected more than $37,000 for Ukrainian relief.
Original source can be found here.
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