Ukraine Refugee Effort by Latter-Day Saints Is Expanding. Here’s How Many the Church Has Helped This Year One Ukrainian mother wanted to stay and help her country while her husband fought for its freedom last March. But as she prayed, she knew she had to leave, writes Church News editor Sarah Jane Weaver. And so the woman crossed the borders of five countries in 11 days with her three sons, elderly father, sister and two nieces. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met with Olga Zabrodina in Germany on Sunday and consoled her when she choked up talking about her concern for her husband and how she misses him. “The church is all we have now,” she said. The moment is captured in a new video released by the church on Tuesday. Tucked away at the end of a video released Tuesday was this updated information about the church’s efforts to help Ukrainian refugees. To date, the conflict with Russia has displaced 18% of Ukraine’s population, more than 7.8 milllion Ukrainians have been displaced. “In 2022, the church has assisted more than 1.6 million refugees and internally displaced persons through more than 100 projects in 32 countries throughout Europe.” Church leaders asked members in congregations across Europe to open their homes to shelter refugees until they could establish themselves. “The Saints taking them into their home, it’s the gospel at its very best,” Elder Holland said after meeting with Ukrainian refugees and the German members who took them in last winter and spring. “It’s the gospel in action. And I’m moved to tears by their faith, and by the goodness of these German Saints, who’ve taken them into their homes and given them a new opportunity.” The video reminded me of Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé’s talk last April at the annual International Society conference at BYU. “Imagine the transformation that would occur in the world,” he said, “if every ward and community of which we are a part were made to feel like ‘the house of Jesus Christ’ — a place where our natural environments are preserved, a place where mutual love and service prevail, a place of unity and peace, a place where all can find acceptance and protection, and a place where our differences are overshadowed by our common values.” |