The war in Ukraine passed its grim 100-day milestone on June 3, “…with no end in sight to the conflict that has sparked Europe’s biggest displacement crisis since the Second World War.” And many children are innocent victims of this crisis. On Tuesday, 6/28, UNICEF pointed out that nearly two of every three children in Ukraine have been displaced by fighting. The scale and speed of this dilemma has caused what UNICEF calls, “an acute child-protection crisis.”
As of June 28, more than 8.4 million refugees left their homes in Ukraine and headed toward other countries. Most of them fled to Poland. This figure does not include the number of displaced persons inside Ukraine.
On June 1, Children’s Day in many parts of the world, Kostiantyn Koshelenko, Ukraine’s deputy minister in charge of digital transformation, told the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine has mad it easier for people to adopt orphans. “A new digitized process allows a prospective foster parent to submit a request for an initial consultation in five minutes on the Diia mobile app. Applicants are to be contacted within 15 days to set up a consultation, which can take place online or in person.”
It hasn’t been determined whether the new process applies only to Ukrainian citizens or also to applicants from abroad.
Please pray that many godly prospective parents would open their hearts during these extremely uncertain times and provide loving forever families to needy orphans!
1. Pray that God would help these families gain access to excellent trauma care services that can assist them in processing the horrors of war they have experienced—physically, emotionally and spiritually.
2. Ask the Lord to provide for the multiple needs of these new families who are starting out under very difficult circumstances. May He give much wisdom as well as material supplies to those who are willing to reach out to the children who so desperately need them.
3. Pray also that the Lord would shield susceptible Ukrainian children from human trafficking and abuse—and that He would protect them from evil people whose intent is harm and not help.
Thank you for lifting up Ukraine’s vulnerable children to our heavenly Father.
Sources: The Refugee Brief, 6/3/22; Statista, 7/1/22; The Wall Street Journal, 6/1/22.