Ukrainian children in heart of Samaritan staff member

When Susannah Treadway thinks of the ongoing destruction in Ukraine, she thinks mainly of the children there.

The Samaritan Ministries Needs Processor based in Minnesota has been in Ukraine twice: once in 2014 for a short trip doing HIV education and meeting HIV-positive orphans, once in 2016 teaching evangelistic English camps. She also worked for a year with Lifesong for Orphans, which has orphanages in Ukraine.

“Ukraine secular orphanages are not great,” Susannah says. “Plus this war interrupts a lot of adoptions that were in place, since people can’t travel there right now and paperwork can’t go through. And supply chains being cut off affects orphanages as well.

“These children don’t have parents who are looking after them. They don’t have parents who are holding them while bombs are going off and air-raid sirens are blaring.

“They’ve been on my heart. I’m praying that somehow God would be near to them, that the Church would be able to step up and do what it is called to do and take care of the children during this time.”

Susannah and her husband, Seth, have seen updates from a Ukrainian pastor named Arkadiy supported by the Treadways’ home church, where Arkadiy preached several weeks ago.

“He talked about the ways that he’s been encouraged by remembering the power of God and the sovereignty of God,” Susannah says.

Arkadiy has recently been able to get his wife and their three children safely out of Ukraine (“Praise God!” Susanna says).

Another Christian leader that Susannah is in contact with named Sergei also escaped to a neighboring country with his wife and child, but their resources are limited. Susannah asked for prayer for them, too.

“Sergei and Arkadiy have both expressed this desire to minister well to the people that they still have contact with,” Susannah says. “I know when Arkadiy was here, he was saying how the fear of impending war was opening a lot of hearts that have not been open to talking about the Gospel. So, he’s just asking for wisdom and know how to share with them and encourage his congregation and the people around them, because these times do have a way of cracking through that cold exterior and bringing people together and causing people to be more open to hearing about the Gospel.”

She adds that Arkadiy has been praying for the salvation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russiaian leaders. Susannah also encouraged prayer for Russian citizens subjected to Putin’s rule.

If Russia triumphs and controls Ukraine, Susannah says, evangelical Christians would likely be persecuted or at least restricted by a Russian-controlled government. Susannah says Russia sees Protestant-based faith as an unwelcome Western influence.

In the end, Susannah says she sees the situation, although horrific in many ways, as a way of “getting to see the Body of Christ do what they’re called to do in the midst of difficulty.”