Bringing the Hope of Christmas to Ukraine's Children

Christmas has a special meaning for children and their families. For so many of us, it is a time of safety, gifts, happiness and the warmth of being together with those we love.

For many Ukrainian children, however, the war has changed what childhood looks like.

Some have lost parents or other family members. Some have been forced to leave their homes, schools and friends, moving to another part of Ukraine in search of relative safety. Others have a mother or father serving in defence forces of our country. They are children growing up with air raid sirens, uncertainty and realities that no child should have to experience.

Every year, our team organises a special Christmas programme in Kyiv for children whose lives have been affected by the war, including displaced children, orphans, children from vulnerable families and children whose parents are serving our country.

Together with our church partners and volunteers, we create a warm and joyful programme filled with music, worship, activities and entertainment. We want to see children's hearts beating a little faster not because of the dangers of war or another air raid alert, but because they are excited by the music, the celebration and everything happening around them.

There is something very special about seeing that excitement return to their faces. For a few precious hours, they can simply enjoy being children again.

We give children's Bibles, practical items and Christmas gifts, and most importantly, we share the Christian message of hope and the love of God. We offer not only an event, but friendship - friendship with our team, connection with the church and the knowledge that they and their families are not alone.

And when the children return home, we want something of that Christmas experience to remain with them. Through the Bibles and gifts, they receive, through new friendships and happy memories, they can continue to be reminded that they are loved and that God has not forgotten them.

Where circumstances, resources and security allow, our Christmas ministry may also extend to communities in the East of Ukraine, where children and families continue to live very close to the realities of war.

You Can Be Part of Their Christmas

This year, after another long period of attacks, air raid alerts and the exhaustion that war brings, we believe it is especially important for these children to experience something different - care, joy, hope and the knowledge that they have not been forgotten.

War has already taken too much from their childhood. We want to use every opportunity to give some of that childhood back.

Your support can help us provide Christmas gifts, children's Bibles and practical care, create a joyful Christmas programme and share God's love with children and families whose lives have been deeply changed by war.

For us, Christmas is hope. It is light and warmth. Above all, it is the message of God's love.

Thank you for standing with us and supporting this important part of our ministry. Together, we can help these children experience the joy and hope of Christmas and remind them that they are not forgotten - by us, by those who stand with Ukraine and, most importantly, by God.

May God richly bless you for standing with the people of Ukraine.