I’m used to St Matt’s folk giving more than I hope they will, but I was still surprised when they gave over $12,000 for Ukrainians over two Sundays,’ said Reverend Ian Powell of Wanniassa.
The parish leadership could feel the concern for Ukraine in various prayer meetings so thought we should find a way for wealthy and secure Canberrans to give aid to the desperately needy. (This became especially obvious when about 50 folk turned up for a prayer meeting specifically for Ukraine.)
So we used Facebook to get suggestions about the best organisations to get help to the neediest in Ukraine, and with minimum overheads.
After a couple of weeks’ research we decided to give through Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ardfa.org.au) and through Logosdor (logosdor.com), who have turned their extensive Ukrainian sports ministry network into a network for loving those fleeing carnage.
Ian explained, ‘I confess it feels a little uncomfortable talking about the giving from our church but we thought other churches might not have realised how so many Christians really want to help, but don’t have a straightforward way to do so. All it needed was an in-church explanation, boxes with the Ukraine flag at the doors and money able to be given electronically with the word Ukraine included. Easy.’
And as our Master says ‘it is more blessed to give, than it is to receive’.
