COGOP helping Ukraine members
The employees of the Church of God of Prophecy International Offices are working to help provide funds for feeding and sheltering displaced church members affected by the war in Ukraine.
A benevolence sale will take place Saturday, Nov. 22, from 8 a.m. to noon at the White Wing Publishing House on Keith Street. All funds raised will go to those living in the war-torn country. The public is invited to participate.
“We are a global family and when our members hurt, we all hurt,” said General Overseer Bishop Sam N. Clements. “Our staff of the International Offices is so touched by the crisis happening in the Ukraine that they wanted to do their part to help. The money raised from this sale will go directly to providing meals for the refugees who are being sheltered at our churches in Ukraine.”
A reported 38 Church of God of Prophecy churches were bombed or displaced, along with an orphanage in Lugansk. The members escaped safely. They have since fled to seek refuge with other COGOP congregations and church families.
At one time, there were 700 church members, along with youth and children, actually living within the walls of a local church in Kyiv. The latest information received by the COGOP offices is that 400 have been placed with other COGOP families. Approximately 300 still remain to be cared for by the congregation in Kyiv.
Caring for the refugees has been “no small task,” according to Cathy Payne, Global Missions Ministries Coordinator.
“Our national overseer and many members of that congregation sold homes, vehicles and their personal belongings to provide for our brothers and sisters during this time,” she said. “Meals and laundry arrangements for families are not an easy task, either. But this is present-day life for our brothers and sisters in Kyiv.”
As with most international tragedies, the International Offices send notices and pleas for funds to its network of churches and members around the globe. Currently, more than $60,000 has been sent to the offices for this cause. The benevolence sale gives the employees a chance to be more personally involved. Employees have brought items from home such as clothing, furniture, office equipment, baked goods and more.
For more information, contact Peggy Clements, executive assistant to the general overseer, at 559-5103 or email pclements@cogop.org or DeWayne Hamby, director of communications, at 505-0041 or dhamby@cogop.org.