On Tuesday, June 6, the vast and strategic Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine was breached, threatening hundreds of thousands of people across the region and potentially endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Water surged from the dam, unleashing flooding across the region, endangering around eighty settlements, sparking thousands of evacuations, triggering warnings of an ecological disaster, and heightening the need for Ukraine relief.

Charles Jones, IM’s Area Director for Europe, has made this appeal: “This escalation in the war and expansion of human suffering necessitate additional assistance for our partners as they continue to readjust plans and services during this ongoing tragedy.”

One of the many challenges of ongoing war is that some of the initial needs continue as long as the war continues. After some natural disasters, the damage and needs can be readily assessed. Immediate needs can be met, and longer-term planning can begin. Ongoing man-made disasters, like war, present a very different challenge, as many of the needs remain the same for an extended period. The devastation unleashed in the breaching of the Kakhovka dam mean that our Ukrainian partners are beginning again with addressing basic humanitarian needs of shelter, food, and water.

Additional relief is urgently needed in Ukraine. Persons wishing to support relief efforts can do so through their American Baptist church, through giving online, or by sending checks directly to International Ministries. Please designate your contributions “OGHS–Ukraine Relief” in the memo line of your check. Thanks for your gift.

Checks sent directly to International Ministries should be made payable to “International Ministries” and mailed to:

International Ministries
Attn: Gifts Processing
1003 W 9th Avenue, Ste A
King of Prussia, PA 19406

One Great Hour of Sharing is administered by the World Relief Committee of the Board of General Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA. The Committee facilitates American Baptist emergency relief, disaster rehabilitation, refugee work, and development assistance by establishing policy guidelines and overseeing the distribution of the annual OGHS offering received by churches. International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, works cross-culturally to invite people to become disciples of Jesus Christ and to proclaim, through both word and deed, God’s reign of justice, peace and abundant life for all creation