Ukrainian girls: 'Thank you for praying for us'
This video shows two girls in the Kherson area of Ukraine who have been sheltering from the Russian attacks. They thank others for being concerned about them. "Blessings to you all, as well," they said on March 8, 2022.
As the war in Ukraine continues, Pastor Andrew Moroz of Lynchburg, Virginia — a Ukrainian American who has family and friends still in Ukraine — told Fox News Digital that a woman named Ana whom he knows sent him a tearful message from a Ukrainian village just a few days ago, saying, "I don’t want to leave [my home]. Please pray. My heart is breaking."
The woman is traveling with her 83-year-old mother and is trying to dodge bombs and bullets.
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She and her family don't feel they are being "liberated" by the Russians — they are being "displaced," she said, from their home country, as Pastor Moroz relayed to Fox News Digital.
"Jesus reserved some of his harshest words for people who bring harm to children."
Moroz also said, "Before the [Russian] invasion, Ana was free to work; she enjoyed her friends and her church. Now ordinary citizens like her are being forced to leave. Russia is creating an international crisis and destroying lives."
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Moroz added that Ana and her family have been at the Hungarian border for at least the last 24 hours. What is next for them, no one really knows.
In this image, a grandfather carries a newborn child on March 6, 2022, in Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, where this family and other Ukrainians arrived after Russia launched an attack on their country. (Francesco Malavolta)
He also said he's received messages from people in Ukraine about the rising number of child casualties amid this war.
He told Fox News Digital, "Jesus reserved some of his harshest words for people who bring harm to children — see Matthew 18:6," for example, he said. (In that passage, Jesus says, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.")
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Pastor Moroz also said simply, "Pray for Ukraine. Pray for those who are grieving loss."
He said a friend in Kyiv "asked us to pray for her daughters and [for all the] women, children and individuals who are handicapped." On Wednesday, they were to be evacuated, "but the heavy shooting has been nonstop. They are [still] waiting in the basement of the church."
‘Faith communities’ are ‘fighting for what is right’
Rabbi Tuly Weisz, of Beit Shemesh, Israel, spoke to Fox News Digital on Wednesday from the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Christian Media convention in Nashville, Tennessee, this week.
"In addition to this being an enormous humanitarian crisis," he said, "the Jewish people are very concerned because there's so much history in that region. My grandmother is from Ukraine, originally."
A woman with blood on her face and hands walks outside a destroyed building on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. The Russians severely damaged a maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said. (Associated Press)
"I live in Israel, where there are literally hundreds of thousands of Israelis from Russia and Ukraine," the rabbi continued. "But in addition to that, there's a very interesting spiritual message [here]. Both Jews and Christians are looking at this [war] from a biblical perspective. A lot of rabbis are saying how this seems to be the war that is described in the end of days."
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Rabbi Weisz said he believes, despite this enormous tragedy, that the one "silver lining" may be that "different faith communities [are] coming into alignment, and together they are fighting for what's right."
He said his organization has raised more than $100,000 for rescue efforts in Ukraine. A team member, he added, is right now at the border of Ukraine and Moldova assisting the displaced.
‘Complete separation from what is right and good’
Shane Williamson, president and CEO of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, in Kansas City, Missouri, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, "Our thoughts and prayers extend to the entire nation of Ukraine. As the world watches the inconceivable act of aggression in the invasion of Ukraine, may the followers of Jesus commit [themselves] more than ever to the Gospel."
Gutted cars are shown following a night air raid in the village of Bushiv, 40 kilometers west of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, March 4, 2022. Russian forces have shelled Europe's largest nuclear power plant, sparking a fire there that was extinguished overnight. (Associated Press)
He said that "these types of aggressions spotlight the depravity that humanity can reach when sin has fully grown and gives birth to death (James 1:15)."
He also said, "This is a complete separation from what is right and good, the value of life, and the inalienable right for freedom."
"We are asking God to deliver Ukraine from evil. May he have mercy and heal this land."
Williamson said as well, "We are asking God to deliver Ukraine from evil. May he have mercy and heal this land. May he give Ukraine peace and the chance to develop as a nation that values truth, justice and freedom — rooted in the goodness of God."
‘Pray for peace … We all need Jesus’
Ed Vitagliano, executive vice president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Mississippi, shared a message about the "tragedy" that is occurring in Ukraine.
"This tragedy in Europe seems to have awakened many people to the reality of evil," he said Wednesday. "They see that human wickedness can be brutal and causes so much human suffering."
People all over the world are praying for the Ukrainian people — and many are aiding in humanitarian efforts. "The power of the Gospel is the true source of hope," said Ed Vitagliano of the American Family Association. (Getty Images)
He added, "In response, it is a good thing to see so many Christians in America heartbroken and praying for their brothers and sisters in Ukraine."
Vitagliano said his organization "encourages the church here and abroad to not only pray for peace in Ukraine and for the Ukrainians, but also for the Russian people. We all need Jesus — and the power of the Gospel is the true source of hope."
‘Focus of our faith is greater than even a mortal shell'
Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, "All across America and the world, the hearts of people of faith are breaking as the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people continue to unfold."
A woman walks outside in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. A Russian attack severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials reported. (Associated Press)
In addition, he said, "There is certainly an added degree of stress from the fear of the unknown and of certain real economic repercussions that have affected us directly, even in America."
Ginn also said, "At the same time, we at Southern Evangelical Seminary have heard and been encouraged by heroic stories of some of our own graduates who are on the ground lending medical aid and spiritual comfort to those whose world has been torn apart by this senseless act of evil aggression."
One community in New York displays this peace sign for the people of Ukraine in its town center. This image was taken in the lower Hudson Valley, New York, on March 9, 2022. (Fox News Digital)
"While political leaders look in vain for a credible solution," Ginn added, "Christ followers know that the focus of our faith is greater than even a mortar shell, much less some dollar amount shown on a gas pump in America."
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"Our hope," said Ginn, "our only hope, is not built upon military or economic might — but in the one who offers eternal peace and salvation, Jesus Christ (Psalm 20:7)."
To see two children sheltering from the Russian attacks this week deliver a message of thanks for everyone's prayers and thoughts, see the video at the top of this article — or watch it here.
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