FOREST, VA — This World Refugee Day (June 20), Virginia-based nonprofit World Help is recognizing and remembering the struggles of over 32.5 million people living as refugees worldwide. In Ukraine alone, over 8 million people have fled the war-torn country to neighboring countries. Most men had to stay behind, so women and children still make up 90% of Ukrainian refugees more than a year after the initial invasion.

Ahead of World Refugee Day, World Help’s president, Noel Brewer Yeatts, recently traveled to Eastern Europe to visit Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war. Yeatts and the World Help team learned about the difficulties many of the families endured: escaping Ukraine, being separated from their loved ones and adapting to life in a foreign country with no idea what the future holds.

One young woman named Victoria shared about how she and her 5-year-old son, Svetoslav, had fled after living for two weeks in a bomb shelter. Russian forces had bombed the Ukrainian army base near her house as well as her son’s kindergarten and the playground where he used to play. When they tried to leave the bomb shelter for even a moment of fresh air, they were immediately driven back inside by the site of enemy planes.

It was clear that Victoria and Svetoslav had to leave, even though it meant leaving Victoria’s husband behind. It was the only way to make sure their son was safe from the bombs.

Unfortunately, refugee children face many other threats once they escape the warzone — threats like malnutrition, lack of education, and a lack of stability that can increase the long-term effects of the trauma they have experienced.

“It’s impossible to imagine the horrors these children have seen at such young ages,” Yeatts said. “This war has changed their lives forever. They’ll never be the same. I just pray that we can make sure they get the help they need to outlast this war and come out stronger on the other side of it.”

For more information on donating toward refugee relief for families from Ukraine and other countries in crisis, visit worldhelp.net/refugees.

Media note: To arrange an interview with World Help President Noel Brewer Yeatts, please contact worldhelp@guardian.agency.

About World Help

World Help is a Christian humanitarian organization serving the physical and spiritual needs of people in impoverished communities around the world. Founded in 1991, World Help works to meet urgent needs in order to bring help for today and hope for tomorrow. To date, the organization has touched the lives of more than 80 million people in 71 countries through aid and relief, community development, and sustainability and education.

CONTACT: worldhelp@guardian.agency

Read more news on Christian Ministry, the Refugee Crisis, Humanitarian Services, Ukraine, and Russia on Missions Box.