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A Hand With Which to Help My Ukrainian Neighbor

By March 2, 2022Ukraine

Post written by Leea Collard – A Hand With Which to Help

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Hello, reader! My name is Leea Collard, and I am a second-year law student at Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, VA.

This year, I have the pleasure of serving as a Law Clerk in the Center for Global Justice. Thank you for supporting this wonderful organization and for your heart to do Kingdom Work on the International Stage.

When I initially sat down to write this blog post, I thought I was going to write about how Sri Lanka’s failure to reform its Prevention of Terrorism Act is worsening the status of religious freedoms within its borders. When I initially sat down to write this blog post, the world looked different than it does now.

Things Change Suddenly

This morning, I received an Instagram DM from the daughter of a Russian pastor: “Pray for us. We are all praying so much for Ukraine. This is very scary.” The focus of this blog post changed in an instant.

During the early morning hours of February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. This invasion is the first time a major International Power has invaded a European neighbor since World War II.[1]

A Proxy War

For eight grueling years, Ukraine has endured a Russian-backed proxy war. As a result, its population is exhausted but prepared to fight to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty. After the first day of fighting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that 137 civilians and military personnel had been killed while 316 others had been wounded.[2] While these numbers are guaranteed to increase, so too, it seems, is the urban-based warfare that assuredly violates the principle of proportionality.

We Have a Hand With Which to Help.

While I am not an expert on the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict and do not pretend to be, I write this blog post with a heavy heart and one that is concerned for both the Ukrainian and Russian people. Like my blog post about how CGJ Blog Readers could help in the resettlement of Afghans into the United States, I write this post to provide you with resources about how you can help the Ukrainian people in their time of need:

  • Pray for Ukrainians and Russians alike. Neither wants to fight a territorial war.
  • Pray for Ukrainian missionaries who did not leave the mission field in the face of imminent danger.
  • Donate to Voices of Children. Voices of Children is a Ukraine-based aid organization that provides psychological support to children who have witnessed war.
  • Donate to Vostok SOS to provide immediate evacuation support and legal aid to Ukrainians attempting to flee their homes.
  • Donate to Samaritan’s Purse as it responds to growing refugee-needs and conflict-based injuries in Eastern Europe.
  • Donate to the Ukrainian Red Cross.
  • Encourage your Congressional representatives to prepare a plan to adequately and safely resettle Ukrainian refugees into the United States should the need arise.

This post, “A Hand with which to Help”, was written by a Center for Global Justice Law Clerk. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School. Or the Center for Global Justice.

[1] Paul Kirby, Why is Russia Invading Ukraine and What Does Putin Want?, BBC NEWS (Feb. 25, 2021, 2:21 PM), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589.

[2] Ukraine Death Toll: What We Know So Far, AL-JAZEERA (Feb. 24. 2022), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/russia-ukraine-invasion-casualties-death-toll.