How to Help Ukrainians with Disabilities
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Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, bringing violence, destruction, and terror to Ukrainians, Galyna, the Joni and Friends in-country coordinator in Ukraine, has orchestrated ongoing rescue and care for people with disabilities in and around the warzone.
Galyna joins the podcast to share how God has strengthened and equipped her and other Joni and Friends partners to serve vulnerable people in the midst of severe danger and devastation.
We asked Galyna, “What is it like to live in Ukraine in the midst of the war?” She responded with a sobering truth:
“You never know what can happen in the next minute or two minutes—you can die any time.”
For Galyna, the prospect of death has brought clarity about the value of “everyday life.” Whether in Ukraine or the United States, Galyna reminds fellow Christians to thank God for the simple gifts of life—getting up in the morning, going for a walk, even arguing with a spouse or child.
Do you thank God for your life every day?
Facing immediate, mortal danger, Galyna has turned to God every day to cope with anger, fear, and discouragement.
Entrusting her life and days to the Lord, she has found refuge and provided refuge for others.
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
Psalm 31:1–2
Leaning on God and his people, from Ukraine to surrounding countries to the U.S., Galyna turned her attention to the needs of others—particularly the people most vulnerable in times of conflict and crisis: people with disabilities.
When asked how she began organizing caravans of disabled people and their families, arranging their paperwork, and seeing them to safety across the border, Galyna recalled the first days of the war.
She says: “The biggest problem was what to do with people with disabilities: what to do if people cannot move, when they cannot leave the house easily. Because when the sirens sound, neighbors are first thinking about their families, about their children… If these people get stuck, they will be in a trap!”
Galyna remembers going into the streets when the attacks first began. She watched people preparing: making roadblocks, putting sand into bags, cooking and delivering food. She felt God tell her to stay in Ukraine to be involved in the evacuation of people with disabilities.
Whose needs can you put above your own today?
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Philippians 2:3–4
Galyna led her first evacuation caravan—bringing people with disabilities and their family members and caregivers to safety—on February 27, 2022. In the weeks and months to follow, she and other Joni and Friends partners have rescued hundreds more. Every evacuation came with complex logistics, uncertainty, and danger.
Galyna shared: “The [evacuation] very process was really complicated. On the one hand, we cooperated with the organization in Germany, and they provided the transport, but the transport would come just across the border and just wait for the people on the Ukrainian side of the border, but not going to our city any further into Ukraine because for the reasons of safety. They were afraid to go further.
We needed accessible vans for people with disabilities. And usually it takes three or four hours to cross the border just to come through all of the procedures at the Ukrainian Polish border.”
Across the border, partners prepared to receive refugees as they crossed out of Ukraine. People needed hotel rooms, food, and basic supplies.
Galyna said, “If you are in a wheelchair and you travel for 48, 72 hours, it’s exhausting. You get sores, problems with blood pressure and urinary systems—with everything. That can kill you.”
When a group crossed the border into the care of partners on the other side, Galyna would say a prayer of thanks to God, return home, and start the process again…
As the war continues, Galyna, Joni and Friends, and partner organizations commit to the long road ahead, rescuing and caring for people with disabilities in Ukraine and surrounding nations. The work is far from done.
How can you help people with disabilities in Ukraine?
First and foremost, you can pray for the people of Ukraine, and for people like Galyna and her team who risk their lives daily to shepherd and protect the most vulnerable. Ask God to stop the Russian violence, atrocities, and abuses.
You can also step in today, acting as the hands and feet of Jesus by providing funds to meet practical needs of Ukrainians still at home, and those who have fled.
For $100 you can send Ukrainian refugees with disabilities the long-term support they require: safe housing, food, hygiene products, medical care, and trauma recovery therapy.
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:48
Weak Woman, Strong God
Dr. Sutherland joins the podcast to share how God has sustained her through suffering and taught her to rely on his strength in her weakness.
