CREATING RESILIENT FAMILIES IN UKRAINE

Victoria is a mentor for displaced families in Ukraine – and a big advocate of Viva’s Resilient Families programme.

When the Ukraine crisis broke out in February 2022, we became involved in conversations with different organisations and networks seeking to respond quickly. One of these was Innovista, a charity focused on equipping leaders and with a wide network of partners in Ukraine and Moldova.

With them, we rapidly redeveloped our Covid Phone Mentoring programme into a new version that directly addressed the issues which families face during conflict – and ‘Resilient Families’ was born.

Victoria told our partner Innovista about a family where the youngest child, aged six, was really struggling –not eating, speaking and refusing to go to school.

She says, “Resilient Families had a profound effect on them as a family. It enabled them to ‘speak out’ and not keep secret what they had been carrying for almost a year. The session where we talked about mental health was very intense and the family discussed emotions and feelings for the first time.”

A smartphone app measures the programme’s impact. Our data shows the material is reaching a wide range of situations – some families who are still in Ukraine, some who are in Ukraine but left home, and some in another country. Many are separated from immediate family so Resilient Families is extra crucial for support. Please pray for many more people to access this Programme.

Article by Kezia M’Clelland, Viva’s Children in Emergencies Specialist

This June, join hundreds of thousands of people across the world in prayer for children.

The theme of our 2023 World Weekend of Prayer is ‘God’s world: our home’. The very first sentence of the Bible says, “In the beginning God...” Before time, God is “I AM”. It is God who brings order out of chaos and creates the universe. He sets men and women on the earth and commands them to care for it together.

We live in God’s creation: he has made it our wonderful home to look after. It is a beautiful home in which we have a duty to work together to deliver comfort, security and love for the children of this era and the generation to come. Our prayers will focus on praise for God’s creation, for actions to care for creation and for collective interventions to support children most impacted by climate change and pollution.

Go to www.worldweekendofprayer.com to download our resources including a four-page prayer resource, videos, song and PowerPoint presentations. You can also sign-up now to receive a prayer diary leading up to the weekend. Will you, your small group or church congregation join us in prayer this June?

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. (Romans 8: 19)