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Above: United Methodist Bishop Christian Alsted prays with Alexandre, who is living in the gymnasium at the Onokivtsi Secondary School near Uzhhorod, Ukraine, after fleeing his home due to the war with Russia.

By Joey Butler, UM News

As soon as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainian refugees — mostly women and children — began arriving in neighboring countries. Some by train, some in cars with bullet holes.

“We didn’t know where we were going; we just went west,” said Anna, a refugee from Kyiv staying at a United Methodist retreat center in the Czech Republic.

United Methodists in Eastern Europe have been welcoming refugees since the beginning. Many offer shelter and basic daily necessities, in many cases hosting the refugees in their own homes. Others arrange to transport food and medical supplies back into Ukraine for those who cannot leave, and help refugees acquire legal documents that they may have left behind or lost while fleeing their homes. As the conflict drags on and more long-term needs arise, churches help children with school and help their parents find more permanent housing and jobs. When asked, the response is always that they will help as long as necessary.

In late May, a team from United Methodist News, the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries visited church refugee ministries in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and western Ukraine to share stories of the United Methodist presence in the wake of such tragedy and ongoing need.

The Rev. Jana Krizova, who helps coordinate refugee ministries for the annual conference of The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, said this ministry happened naturally.

“It’s in the Methodist DNA,” she said. “You see need and do something about it.”

Women and children who fled their homes in Ukraine to escape the war with Russia are being hosted at the Poušť United Methodist church camp near Bechyně, Czech Republic. Some 19 guests from Ukraine are living at the camp. At center is Alžběta Opočenská, a staff member at the camp.
Katie Hills Uzoka (left) of the United Methodist Committee on Relief shares pictures of her family with mothers and children staying at the Poušť United Methodist church camp near Bechyně, Czech Republic, after they fled the war in Ukraine. At center in the purple shirt is Alžběta Opočenská, a staff member at the camp. Uzoka is director of international disaster response for the denomination’s relief agency.
The Poušť United Methodist church camp near Bechyně, Czech Republic, is being used to provide a home for women and children who have fled Ukraine to escape the war.
Natasha and her son, Artem, look at a flower she planted at the Poušť United Methodist church camp near Bechyně, Czech Republic, where they are staying. They fled their home near Odessa, Ukraine, to escape the war with Russia.
Natasha walks with her son, Artem, at the Poušť United Methodist church camp near Bechyně, Czech Republic, where they are staying.
The Rev. Jack Amick takes a turn on the garden swing at the Poušť United Methodist church camp near Bechyně, Czech Republic, with two girls who fled from their home in Ukraine to escape the war with Russia. Amick is director of global migration for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
A figure from The Jan Hus Memorial, a sculpture by Ladislav Šaloun, appears to point toward banners representing the Czech Republic (left) and Ukraine in the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic. Signs of support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian occupation are plentiful in the country.
Anna, who fled with her children from their home near Kyiv, Ukraine, to escape the war with Russia, sets the table for a meal at the Veselka United Methodist retreat center near Vimperk, Czech Republic, where they are staying.
Guests from Ukraine join with with Eduard Holtman (left) and pastor Zdeněk Neužil of The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic in praying before lunch at the Veselka United Methodist retreat center near Vimperk, Czech Republic, where they are staying. Holtman is a lay speaker at Agape United Methodist Church in Prague and regularly drives relief supplies to the Ukrainian border and Neužil serves as caretaker at the retreat home.
Polina (rear) hugs her sister, Valerija, after lunch at the Veselka United Methodist retreat center near Vimperk, Czech Republic, where they are staying. They fled their home near Kyiv, Ukraine, to escape the war with Russia.
Pastor Zdeněk Neužil of The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic visits with Ukrainian refugees Anna and her daughter Polina at the Veselka United Methodist retreat center near Vimperk, Czech Republic, where they are staying.
Ukrainian refugees Jeva (right) and Polina enjoy a hike atop Mářský Hill in Svatá Maří. Czech Republic. Pastor Zdeněk Neužil of The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic, brought a group to enjoy the view after lunch at the Veselka United Methodist retreat center, which is housing families from Ukraine who fled the war with Russia.
A banner representing solidarity with Ukraine hangs from the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic.
Two United Methodist congregations, known collectively as Prague 2, share this building, just a few blocks from the Vlatava River, in Prague, Czech Republic. The Czech-speaking congregation is called Nové Město (New Life) and the Russian-speaking congregation is Agapé.
The Rev. Jana Krizova gives the sermon during a joint worship service of Czech- and Russian-speaking congregations at Prague 2 United Methodist Church in Prague, Czech Republic. Krizova helps coordinate refugee ministries for the annual conference of The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Children listen during worship at Prague 2 United Methodist Church in Prague, Czech Republic.
Maryna Tagunkova (front) and Eduard Holtman (center) join in prayer at Prague 2 United Methodist Church in Prague, Czech Republic. They are members of Agapé United Methodist Church, the Russian-speaking congregation that shares space with the Czech-speaking congregation. Holtman is a lay speaker at the church and regularly drives relief supplies to the Ukrainian border.
United Methodist Pastor Lev Shults brings a greeting to a combined worship service of Czech- and Russian-speaking congregations at Prague 2 United Methodist Church in Prague, Czech Republic. Shults leads Agapé United Methodist Church, the Russian-speaking congregation.
A banner expressing solidarity with Ukraine hangs from the Church of St. Salvator in Prague, Czech Republic. In the foreground are statues of the Madonna and St. Bernard by Matěj Václav Jäckel on the Charles Bridge.
János Hadju (right) and Istvan Pasztor pack supplies from the United Methodist Committee on Relief that were destined for people in Uzhhorod, in western Ukraine. Hadju is the son of the Rev. Elizabeth Hadju, pastor of Nyíregyháza (Hungary) United Methodist Church, where the relief supplies were loaded.
The Rev. Elizabeth Hadju (left) and Bishop Christian Alsted (right) pray with a group at Nyíregyháza (Hungary) United Methodist Church prior to their trip into Ukraine where they delivered relief supplies provided by the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
United Methodist Bishop Christian Alsted watches as a ferry crosses the Tisza River near Lónya, Hungary, about two miles from the border with Ukraine. Alsted visited with people staying in western Ukraine who were displaced by the war with Russia and with United Methodists there who are providing support.
The Rev. Oleg Starodubets (right) welcomes Bishop Christian Alsted to the Evangelical Methodist Church in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Starodubets and his wife, the Rev. Yulia Starodubets, were living in Kyiv when Russia invaded Ukraine. They are now working in western Ukraine to help people displaced by the war. The sign in the background says “God Bless Ukraine!”
The Rev. Jack Amick (right) of the United Methodist Committee on Relief greets the Rev. Oleg Starodubets at the Evangelical Methodist Church in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Starodubets is superintendent of The United Methodist Church in Ukraine.
Children play outside a former newspaper and book publishing plant in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. United Methodists are helping host families displaced by the war with Russia in the Soviet-era building.
United Methodist Bishop Christian Alsted prays with Olena and her 1 ½-month-old son, Bogdan, at the former Soviet-era printing plant where they are staying in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. The family fled Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. Bogdan was born after their arrival in Uzhhorod. His name means “gift of God.”
Artwork drawn by people displaced by the war in Ukraine lines a wall at the former Soviet-era printing plant where they are staying in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.
Ukrainian children displaced by the war with Russia play in a former office turned playroom at the former newspaper and book publishing plant where they are living in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.
United Methodist Bishop Christian Alsted and the Rev. Yulia Starodubets pray with Oksana, who fled her home in northeastern Ukraine after the Russian military destroyed her apartment building. Oksana told Alsted that there is nothing left there to return to. She is staying in a former Soviet-era printing plant turned shelter in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.
Many Ukrainians who were displaced by the war with Russia fled to the city of Uzhhorod in western Ukraine, near the border with Slovakia and Hungary.
United Methodists are helping support a shelter for Ukrainians displaced by the war with Russia in this former Soviet-era printing plant in Uzhhorod in western Ukraine.
Children play outside the Onokivtsi Secondary School near Uzhhorod, Ukraine. United Methodists are helping support a shelter there for Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia.
United Methodist Bishop Christian Alsted prays with Oksana and her children, Constantine and Emily, in the classroom turned bedroom where they are staying at the Onokivtsi Secondary School near Uzhhorod, Ukraine. The family fled Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine after Russian forces attacked the city.
Oksana holds her son, Constantine, in the room they share at the Onokivtsi Secondary School near Uzhhorod, Ukraine. The family fled Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine after Russian forces attacked the city.
The gymnasium at the Onokivtsi Secondary School near Uzhhorod, Ukraine, has been turned into a dormitory for single persons who fled their homes elsewhere in Ukraine due to the war with Russia.
Clockwise from top, left: The van driven by refugees who escaped the war in Ukraine was hit by shrapnel as they fled. The family is now safe at the Veselka United Methodist retreat center near Vimperk, Czech Republic. A box for offerings hangs from the sanctuary door at Nyíregyháza (Hungary) United Methodist Church. A Ukrainian child displaced by the war with Russia cradles her pet mouse at a shelter in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. A refugee from eastern Ukraine shows the remains of a Russian missile that landed in his yard.
Tibor Jakusch (right) and Robert, who fled the war in Ukraine with his family, load supplies provided by the United Methodist Committee on Relief for refugees who are staying at the United Methodist Dorcas church camp in Debrecen, Hungary. Jakusch pastors a house church for some two dozen Roma families living in the Debrecen area. Robert is a lay pastor in the Roma Community in Debrecen.
Children who fled the war in Ukraine play at the United Methodist Dorcas church camp in Debrecen, Hungary, where their families have been given shelter.
Children who fled the war in Ukraine play at the United Methodist Dorcas church camp in Debrecen, Hungary, where their families have been given shelter.
Eva, who fled the war in Ukraine, unloads donated food and sanitary supplies at the United Methodist Dorcas church camp in Debrecen, Hungary.
The Revs. László Khaled (left) and Üllas Tankler (second from left) pray with the family of Robert, Renatta and their children in the small cabin they share at the United Methodist Dorcas church camp in Debrecen, Hungary, where they are staying after fleeing the war in Ukraine. The family is among many Roma who have found a place of welcome at the camp. Khaled is superintendent of The United Methodist Church in Hungary and Tankler is the European/Eurasian representative of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
Manuel, Moses and Renatta are staying with the rest of their family at the United Methodist Dorcas church camp in Debrecen, Hungary, after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The Revs. Rares Calugar (left) and Samuel Goia talk on a balcony at the United Methodist Hotel Hanul Fullton and community center in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The church bought the hotel, which houses refugees from Ukraine in some of the rooms, while others are used to house charity nongovernmental organizations and some are rented to help fund ministries of the church. Calugar is superintendent of The United Methodist Church in Romania and Goia is pastor of Way of Faith United Methodist Church in Micești.
Lynda (left), who fled fighting near Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Juko, who is Romanian, work together at the United Methodist Hotel Hanul Fullton and community center in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Despite not sharing a common language, the two women work together each day to clean rooms at the hotel, where Lynda and other Ukrainian refugees are staying.
Maria (left) and Daryna, who fled the war in Ukraine, have set up a business making embroidered baby blankets and other fabric items in a spare room at the United Methodist Hotel Hanul Fullton and community center in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Daryna irons a baby blanket while Maria monitors the embroidery machine in their sewing shop at the United Methodist Hotel Hanul Fullton and community center in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The women fled the war in Ukraine.
Katie Hills Uzoka (right) of the United Methodist Committee on Relief looks over baby blankets made by Daryna (left) and Maria, who fled the war in Ukraine, at their sewing shop in the United Methodist Hotel Hanul Fullton and community center in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Uzoka is director of international disaster response for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
Sergei, who fled the war in Ukraine, washes cars at a business in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to help support his family. The family is being supported by the United Methodist Church in Romania.
The United Methodist Church in Romania is helping find temporary homes for refugees from the war in Ukraine in neighborhoods around Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
A woman pushes her daughter in a stroller past the monastery for the Church of the Assumption in Cornești, Romania. The United Methodist Church in Romania is providing support for refugees from the war in Ukraine who are staying at the monastery.
The Revs. Rares Calugar (left) and Jack Amick speak outside the Church of the Assumption in Cornești, Romania. The church has opened its monastery to house refugees who fled Ukraine and United Methodists are helping provide support there. Calugar is superintendent of The United Methodist Church in Romania and Amick is director of global migration for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
Vladimir Trofimovich (right) and Sergiy Mikhailovich from the Kharkiv, Ukraine, region, describe the damage done to their homes by the Russian military. They are living temporarily in the monastery for the Church of the Assumption in Cornești, Romania. The United Methodist Church of Romania is helping provide support there.
Alla Nikolaevna (right) talks with the Rev. Rares Calugar of The United Methodist Church in Romania and translator Alexandra Aishpur about fleeing the Donbas region of Ukraine after the Russian military invaded.
Translator Alexandra Aishpur helps explain the image on the cell phone belonging to a refugee from eastern Ukraine who had a Russian missile land in his yard. A group of seniors from the area have taken refuge at the monastery for the Church of the Assumption in Cornești, Romania.
The Rev. Rares Calugar (left) of The United Methodist Church in Romania shares a light moment with Sergiy Mikhailovich (center) and Vladimir Trofimovich, who fled Ukraine to escape the war.
The Rev. Jack Amick (center, with back to camera) of the United Methodist Committee on Relief leads a prayer for refugees from Ukraine who are living at the monastery for the Church of the Assumption in Cornești, Romania, where The United Methodist Church of Romania is helping provide support. The Rev. Rares Calugar (left, rear), is superintendent of The United Methodist Church in Romania, and translator Alexandra Aishpur (left, front) joined the prayer.

Mike DuBose is staff photographer and Joey Butler is a multimedia producer/editor for United Methodist News. Contact them at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.

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