Yuriy Kulakevych, a leader in the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, says Ukraine’s churches were the first to respond when Putin attacked. While the government scrambled to mobilise defences, it was churches that began evacuating civilians from combat zones, offering them shelter in church buildings and members’ homes. Within two weeks, many churches had exhausted their funds buying gas to transport refugees and food to feed them. With trusting relationships already forged, existing financial agreements allowed the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) to transfer money directly to the churches and ministries in Ukraine, while many organisations were still arranging logistics. By the fourth week of the war, the WEA had provided $210,000 to Ukrainian church networks. The WEA is a church-focused alliance with a vision beyond the immediate relief efforts. They want to come alongside and strengthen the Evangelical communities in Ukraine and other countries as they serve people affected by the war.

While volunteering at our church’s free clothes closet, I interact with our visitors who struggle to put food on the table, pay rent or purchase basic needs. Although some of our shoppers allow their situations to define their lives, others share their stories of God’s grace. They express gratitude for our ministry and the ministries of others in our community. While volunteering recently, I met a woman who wasn’t just a recipient of our ministry. She volunteers to help others in need, sorting clothes, organising racks, and assisting shoppers. She admits she hasn’t always made the right choices but knows she can’t make it through life without her Saviour and Lord. She relies on our church’s hospitality while boldly sharing her stories of how God is working in her life.

The Trussell Trust needs people to raid cupboards for unwanted food to donate in the weeks before Christmas. Parcel costs have rocketed. Some food banks have seen the cost of a food parcel rise from £39 to £58. Many face a difficult winter with rising costs of heating and food. Food banks - many operating through churches - are expecting more demand than ever before, with volunteers giving out 1.3 million emergency food parcels over the next six months. The cost of providing vital food parcels to families in need has risen significantly as the cost-of-living crisis worsens. National Statistics data shows that the price of vital items usually included in the parcels has risen by 17% in a year. Lack of understanding contributes to food going to waste, or donations not being given. Trussell Trust have joined with Deliveroo takeaway service to ensure more donations get to the centres this Christmas.

Petrol bombs exploded at a Dover migrant centre causing 700 refugees to be transferred to Manston centre, a short-term holding facility for up to 1,600 people for 24 hours. But there were already 4,000 on the dangerously overcrowded site with some migrants threatening to self-harm and hunger strike and unrest spreading across the camp. Dozens of charities, sent an open letter to Ms Braverman (who had referred to the refugee crisis as an invasion) saying, ‘You refer to this country's proud history of offering sanctuary, so we ask you to make this happen with fair, kind and effective systems for refugees. Deal with the backlog in asylum cases, create safe routes, respect the UN convention on refugees, and give refugees a fair hearing, however they get here.’ The next day hundreds of migrants were moved to hotels  as the government was accused of presiding over a ‘shambles’. Meanwhile a group of migrants were reportedly mistakenly taken from Manston and stranded in central London, cold, hungry and without accommodation.