CHRISTIAN UKRAINE COLLABORATION
On 19th and 20th May 2022, 72 Christian leaders from 22 European countries, including 15 from Ukraine gathered for 24 hours in Krakow to consider the Ukraine war and refugee crisis. They were called together by a platform called Christian Ukraine Collaboration that had emerged during the early weeks of the war as leaders of Evangelical mission agencies sought collaborative responses to the situation.
Christian Ukrainian Collaboration seeks to enable organisations, denominations, and churches to collaborate for the benefit of serving, supporting and reaching Ukrainian people. The desired outcome of the Krakow gathering was to serve as a catalyst for long-term collaboration enabling a wider sharing of resources, experience, and success. The core team desired to see greater unity and partnerships developed for managing the challenges of the current crisis and to clarify sustainable long-term needs into the future. The core team involved leaders from Lausanne Europe, European Christian Mission, Greater Europe Mission, Josiah Venture, Forum Wiedenest, PROEM and Refugee Highway Partnership.
Why did we hold the Christian Ukraine Collaboration gathering?
During the early weeks of the crisis, mission agencies and churches were responding mainly through denominational and organisational structures, but greater collaboration was needed to handle the complexity and scope of the massive humanitarian crisis. In addition, the majority of the funding and energy was reactively responding to short-term relief, rather than pro-actively preparing for long-term needs.
“The desired outcome of the Krakow gathering was to serve as a catalyst for long-term collaboration enabling a wider sharing of resources, experience, and success”
This strategic meeting was initiated to build trust and vision for sustainable long-term collaboration. The top five countries receiving the majority of refugees, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia, were at the time overwhelmed and leaders admitted they had surpassed their capacity for handling the flow of mostly women and children with high levels of trauma. They had an honest plea:
“There is a need for an umbrella to gather our resources and experiences so we can collaborate. In Poland, we have realised how the task is too big. Our Polish resources are over and our people are on the edge of exhaustion. Financially, we are at our limit. The work that we are doing is just a drop in the bucket. If we don’t cooperate in Poland and on a much larger level, we will not be able to meet the task ahead of us. Creating a national platform for cooperation and an international platform is the next step. We see the need and we are truly asking for your help! We don’t want to compete with each other, but we want to be good stewards of what resources you can bring, from your countries, your churches.” (Rafał Piekarski, PROEM Ministries)
“A vital part of the gathering was hearing the perspective of the Ukrainian leaders”
The current crisis demands a multi-disciplinary network capable of ministering to the multi-layered needs of individuals, families, community and nation. For this reason, the Christian Ukraine Collaboration invited to the Krakow gathering leaders from the business and financial world, educational specialists, anti-human trafficking advocates, mental health care professionals, church planters as well as pastoral and theological leaders to represent these sectors and to encourage local churches and Christian charities to consider sharing their experiences and resources.
Focus and Outcomes of the Gathering
Many of the leaders attending the Krakow Christian Ukraine Collaboration gathering had never met before, even within the same country as geographical, organisational and denominational differences previously prevented some groups from cooperation. A vital part of the gathering was hearing the perspectives of the Ukrainian leaders and enabling their connection to the European and Western evangelical world.
The programme for the gathering had multiple opportunities to explore the possibilities of collaboration by countries and regions and by areas of special interest. The 72 participants were asked to select one of five core ministry areas based on their experience and interest, to develop strategies for sharing resources regionally:
Relief and Rebuilding: coordinating and prioritising resources (financial and humanitarian) to be wisely shared among churches, ministries and leaders in Europe and Ukraine for short and long-term needs.
Emotional Well Being and Families: equipping mental health care training and trauma care for families among churches and Ukrainian leaders in Europe.
Establishing Community and Integration within the Local Church: developing healthy models of community within existing churches and Ukrainian communities.
Empowering & Equipping Leadership: developing resources for Ukrainian leaders to restart and resume ministry and mission inside and outside of Ukraine.
Communication & Coordinating Partnership: establishing a network with key resources for core ministries needed for serving, supporting, and reaching Ukraine.
Within each of the five Core Areas, Working Groups were formed to break these areas into manageable sub-groups. The Communication and Partnership group was tasked with connecting the other four core areas and working groups together into a meaningful platform.
Conclusion
The Christian Ukraine Collaboration gathering in Krakow achieved the desired outcomes, but even more importantly, it fulfilled most of the expectations expressed by participants prior to the Krakow meeting. These included: (1) building new partnerships and friendships built on trust, (2) networking for receiving and sharing resources, (3) finding financial sources and funding for sustainability, (4) identifying specialised training, (5) discovering and discerning long-term strategy, (6) joining collaborative groups with action steps and ongoing work, and (7) seeing the beginning of a new collaborative movement/network in Europe.
In the months following the gathering, it has become clear that the greatest priority is a digital platform to facilitate communication and collaboration, and this is currently under development. Three Ukrainians have also joined the core group to strengthen the voice of those inside the country in future initiatives. A follow-up event for Ukrainian-based ministries is being planned for November 2022.
Matt Paschall is European Director of Refugee Highway Partnership
Jim Memory is Co-Regional Director for Lausanne Europe and Director for International Partnerships for European Christian Mission