With the official start of winter less than two weeks away, ministry leader Dave Donaldson says the people of Ukraine are bracing for a harsh season that continues to be weaponized by the Russian military in the ongoing war. He recently sat down with The Washington Times’ Higher Ground to discuss how his ministry, CityServe, is working with churches in Ukraine to meet some of the critical needs, and why it is crucial for the United States to continue its support of the war-ravaged nation and its suffering people.
“You know, a lot of well-meaning faith-based charities have left [Ukraine], but thank the Lord that He still has His church there. And when the enemy comes in like a flood, God raises up a standard and that’s His church,” Mr. Donaldson said. “And so we have been helping the churches there with everything from millions of meals, the first million was provided by Ivanka Trump, grateful for that, shelter, also vehicles… and also we have put a lot into generators and we need help now with more generators, because as we know, Putin is knocking out the energy grid weaponizing winter once again.”
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Mr. Donaldson co-founded CityServe in 2017 to provide resources to local churches to help people in need. And while the years have brought no shortage of opportunities to help millions of people in the U.S. and around the world, he says the last few have exposed “evil on a grand scale,” both in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel and in Ukraine.
“Let me simplify evil. Let’s say if a gang showed up in your neighborhood, pillaged your homes, raped your wife, your daughters, your sons, and pillaged everything, stole, burned your homes, and made it clear that they’re going to go on to another neighborhood. Would you just sit back and allow that to happen, or would you say no?” Mr. Donaldson said. “This is a great tragedy and we’ve got to stop this gang. That’s what’s happening in Ukraine… So we got to get our head out of the sand here and realize that this is evil on a grand scale. [Putin’s] not gonna stop.”
The fact of the matter is that it has been nearly three years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, causing countless military and civilian deaths, mass destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and endless suffering for those who remain. And while it’s clear to people like Mr. Donaldson, who has been on the ground in Ukraine numerous times and has witnessed the horrors perpetuated by the Russian forces, he’s concerned that compassion fatigue and conspiracy theories are causing people to lose sight of what’s most important.
“If you’re a follower of Jesus, we’re called to be defenders of the weak, the vulnerable. And when you look at history, Eisenhower said, ‘The only thing we haven’t learned is history.’ And you walk into Auschwitz and it says, ‘If we don’t learn from the past, we are destined to repeat it,’” Mr. Donaldson noted. “If we allow this, this evil, demonic madman to have his way, you’re going to see, you’re going to hear of atrocities that could only be rivaled by World War II. So there’s a higher question here that’s beyond economics.”
That’s especially true of the spiritual health of the war-torn nation, which has experienced significant revival over the course of the past three years. So, while the ongoing conflict is undoubtedly a fight for the region’s democratic future, and for the world at large, Mr. Donaldson says it is also a battle for the spiritual future of millions of Ukrainians — and Christians cannot ignore that.
“Every church that I have visited in Ukraine, I’ve been all over, Ukraine is packed out. There are lines out the door. Churches have gone to multiple services,” he said. You got these well-meaning people that are trying to call balls and strikes from outside the stadium and we’re getting our eye off the ball here. The ball is supporting these churches that are pastored by heroes that refuse to leave their churches… They’re there serving their people, their community. Revival is happening in these churches. But if we get our minds off [what’s important and] on these conspiracies, and on this and that, instead of supporting this revival, Satan wins and Putin wins.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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