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AS THOUSANDS LEAVE THEIR HOMES IN UKRAINE, SAMARITAN’S PURSE IS MEETING MEDICAL NEEDS AT CRITICAL POINTS ON THEIR PATH.
They often spend just a few nights in a new location before it too becomes a target of the war and forces them to travel onward. Others have settled in cities further west or chosen to cross the border with only the possessions they can stuff in a rolling suitcase or a backpack.
Their eyes are haunted by the violence they’ve witnessed, but they keep pushing forward. It’s their only option for safety.
Along their route, Samaritan’s Purse is responding at critical points of need—providing urgent medical care, cleaning wounds, bandaging injuries, and praying for them before they continue westward.
We are running medical clinics at both the downtown train station and the local bus station in Lviv. Tens of thousands of people funnel through these points each day. They are escaping war. They’ve survived nearby missile strikes, lost loved ones, and had their families ripped apart.
Please help us to care for more Ukrainians
They are focused. Their minds are singularly set on getting to safety. Time is precious. They won’t make a detour to take care of themselves medically. The only way to meet their needs is to be strategically positioned along their path.
“The train station is a raw, unfiltered, frontline experience,” explained Peter, a nurse at the train station clinic. “People are confused, distraught, crying, and injured, and we get to be that first point of contact when they land in what is considered a safer city in Ukraine and the one last final push to get to a NATO country.
“We’ve seen everything from war injuries to a cardiac arrest to just the sniffles.”
As refugees pour down the steps of the train station or clamber to buy their bus ticket west, they pass by a white Samaritan’s Purse tent, bearing the cross logo. Dozens of patients come inside each day. Many are struggling with high blood pressure, headaches, nausea, dehydration, and other health problems exacerbated by stress, trauma, and days on the run. Their anxiety surfaces in their vital signs.
“They are really, really tired. Physically, they are just doing the motions,” explained Gabi, a Samaritan’s Purse nurse at the bus station. “We are in a privileged position where we can tide them over until the next part of their leg. We don’t do the whole journey, but we can honour and love them in this section of what they are going through.”
Valentina
As she rushed into a bomb shelter in the midst of an air raid, Valentina fell and injured her leg. In that moment she realised her only hope of survival was to try to escape. At 73 years old, she fled from Kharkiv while her husband of 52 years stayed behind, ready to defend his beloved country.
“My heart is eager to go back, but I have to flee from Ukraine,” she said as she described the bombs falling in her own neighbourhood.
She came to the Samaritan’s Purse clinic, concerned about her leg injury. After a thorough examination, the team assured her that with ice, elevation and rest her leg would properly heal. This simple treatment will be difficult for Valentina to accomplish in the coming days, but their compassionate care calmed her fears.
Olya and Kimal
Olya rushed into the white tent carrying her two-year-old son, Kimal. For days, he had suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea. He was lethargic and dehydrated when they arrived.
The medical team wanted to complete a full exam and further assess his need for IV fluids, but time was ticking. She came into the clinic with less than five minutes before her bus was scheduled to depart. She was visibly conflicted – should she catch the bus west with her sick son or pause to receive medical care?
In the end, she chose to bundle her son up for the cold weather and push forward. The doctor gave her advice to help her son stay hydrated, but in their fast-paced escape, the role of Samaritan’s Purse was to love and support them in their journey – no matter what that looked like.
In Jesus’ Name
“We are here to show them the love of Jesus in a time that is so dark in their lives.”
Like Olya and Kimal, many patients are in a hurry and anxious to keep moving. Some will only sit still for five to 15 minutes before they are on their way again – catching the next train or hopping on a bus. The moments that our doctors and nurses have with them are short, but they take every opportunity to be the light of Jesus to them on their way.
“We’re not here just to treat the physical ailments of these patients,” said Shannon, another Samaritan’s Purse nurse serving at the bus station clinic. “We are here to show them the love of Jesus in a time that is so dark in their lives – to step in for just a minute to show them God’s love and just be a safe space for them.”
UKRAINIANS ARE FACING MANY FEARS AND DANGERS AND ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE KINDNESS OF OUR MEDICAL TEAMS–THERE TO TREAT ILLNESS AND TO SHARE THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST.
Samaritan’s Purse continues to provide medical care to displaced people in Ukraine devastated by the effects of war.
- Staff members and volunteers at our Emergency Field Hospital, emergency outpatient clinics, medical stabilisation points, and our mobile unit have treated thousands of patients so far.
- Multiple Samaritan’s Purse airlifts, primarily by our DC-8 cargo jet, have carried relief items and medical supplies for use or distribution by our teams on the ground. These flights are also helping to resupply Ukrainian hospitals.
- More than 4 million Ukrainians have fled to neighbouring countries. Millions more are internally displaced due to the conflict.
Find out more about our work in Ukraine
Please pray for Ukraine. Pray for peace and an end to the conflict. And pray that God will use our teams to bring His hope to the people who are suffering.
