Like so many others, we are very aware of the developing situation in Ukraine. We believe God is good and that He reigns in Heaven, but it can be hard to make sense of things, to understand them and to know what we can do as individuals and as a church to help. This page shares our response as a church, and also gives some links for individuals who want to pray and to give.

Gold Hill’s refugee response

As a church, we are seeking to work together to be part of the welcome to Ukrainian refugees. There are three parts to our response:

1. HOST

There are a number of people and families in our church who have already signed up to use their home to host families who have had to leave Ukraine. We encourage people who are able to pray about it and sign up if you feel it the right thing to do. If you are able to host a Ukrainian family you can sign up to express your interest and get more information from the Sanctuary Foundation website here. If you’re doing so and part of Gold Hill, do let one of the leadership know so we can support you.

2. HELP

Not everybody can host people in their homes, and for some it wouldn’t be right. But there are lots of ways we can practically help those who are. From cooking, to giving lifts, helping with practical needs and lots of other things, there are many skills we have that can help out. We are going to be linking up offers of help with places where that help is needed. So, again, please get in touch if you have things you can offer.

3. HUB

We also plan on using the Hub (our building) to serve Ukrainian refugees coming to our area. Our hope is that it can be a safe, welcoming and friendly place for many who are being hosted in our region (by people in our church and by others) to come and be together. We have plans developing for hosting language classes for conversational English, as well as ideas and plans for weekly meals and social times. If you feel you could help in any of this, please speak to one of the leaders. Look out for more detailed plans over time.

As well as joining with our response as a church, we encourage everyone to pray and to consider giving if they can. Here are some details about how you can do that.

Praying

We believe that God moves in response to our prayers. We are giving time when we meet together as a church to pray for the situation, but also encourage everyone to give space and time in their lives and their families in prayer.

As you read news reports or see footage of what is going on across Ukraine, in Russia and in neighbouring nations, turn what you are seeing and hearing about to prayer.

We also specifically recommend prayer information from BMS World Mission to fuel your prayers.

Giving

There are many ways to give, and we encourage everyone to decide how they will do so. We are aware of families, streets and communities local to us who have connections with people in or near Ukraine and finding ways to get helpful goods and supplies out there. Most places are now not taking items but asking for financial help instead. All of these initiatives are fantastic, and we encourage anybody who can to get behind these opportunities.

We are also encouraging giving through BMS World Mission. They are a great organisation who have a campaign running to raise funds and distribute them in ways that will make a real difference. We took offerings on Sunday 6 March2022, and have been able to send on over £8,500 to BMS, and a huge thank you to everyone who gave. If you would like to give financially still, we recommend doing so directly to them by clicking here.

We will update this page as and when there are other ways we are encouraging people to get involved in support of Ukraine.