POLAND — On Sunday, May 15, a DC-8 cargo jet left Poland on a special mission to bring 28 Ukrainian refugees to Toronto, Canada, where they will be able to reunite with family, friends, and other sponsors arranged by Samaritan’s Purse. These families fled from the horror of the conflict continuing to rage inside Ukraine, and they are eager to start a new life in North America. This small group of mostly women and children all had harrowing stories of escape from what one of them, Marina, called “a nightmare come to life.”

Ken Isaacs – Vice President of Programs & Government Relations, Samaritan’s Purse:

My name’s Ken Isaacs, and today I’m in Krakow-Vita, Poland, and behind me is Samaritan’s Purse’s DC-8 airplane, and we’re under really a new and exciting mission today. We’re bringing Ukrainian refugees from Warsaw, and we’re going to fly them to Toronto. So every week, with the DC-8, we bring over predominantly medical supplies. The rest of the load could be non-food items such as hygiene supplies, temporary shelter materials, water filtration equipment. This plane is bringing these kind of supplies in every week. The plane’s been going back empty, and for us to be able to identify a group of people through a Congressman out of Tennessee– Congressman Christensen– and he asked us could we help? So our legal team got on it, our program people got on it. We confirmed it– two thumbs up– and today we’re going to take the first load back, and a week from now we’ll be bringing the second load back. We’re greatly blessed today to be a part of this.

David Philips – Samaritan’s Purse:

It’s an incredible thing to see how God is using the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse to help the people of Ukraine in so many ways in their time of need. Here, helping people being moved from Poland to Canada, and we’re praying for them in Jesus’s Name that this would be a time where God would minister to them with His love as they’re able to move to a place of safety like Canada while the conflict is ongoing in Ukraine.

Volodymyr, Ukrainian Refugee:

Everything’s gonna be great. I think that we’ll manage, and big thank you to Samaritan’s Purse and guys. You’re doing a great job. Thanks all, and keep doing this.

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) program is committed to meeting the critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster. We stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever disaster strikes. The DART specializes in providing water, food, shelter, and medical care while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

CONTACT: Kaitlyn Lahm, news@samaritan.org

Read more news on Non Profit Organizations, Humanitarian Services, the Refugee Crisis, Ukraine, and Russia on Missions Box.