As people flee from Ukraine, Texas Baptist Men is doing what it can to help. Right now, that means sending money and supplies to churches acting as makeshift emergency shelters.
"Our partners are setting up churches to be welcome centers," says Rand Jenkins, Director of Ministry Advancement for TBM. "Where people can get food, have a chance to pray, get laundry done, have showers. Some of these are temporary, along the route. Some are longer term places."
Jenkins says the people fleeing the invasion need all the help they can get. All donations are going directly to fund the shelters and supply things like ration packs, hygiene kits, heaters, soap and toothbrushes.
"We can't take enough food, we can't take enough water, we can't take enough equipment. The best way is to get money to them to be able to use as they need," Jenkins says, adding that the situation is dire.
"There's a sense of fear," he says. "A fear for life. A fear for their country. There's this Baptist orphanage there ... and a hundred meters away, rockets fell. The kids were so scared they created signs on simple white paper that said 'BE CAREFUL. CHILDREN LIVE HERE.'"
Click here to learn more about what TBM is doing to support Ukraine, or click here to donate. Jenkins says it can feel like a helpless situation, but North Texans are not helpless.
"There are moments of hope, there are moments of despair," Jenkins says. "And that's where we, as TBM, and our ministry partners step in. To provide that help, hope and healing when there's just not much to be seen."
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