How an Ohio Church Provides Critical Ukrainian Refugee Aid

THE CHURCH
Grace Evangelical Church in Galloway, Ohio

THE CHALLENGE
The war in Ukraine continues to upend lives.

ONE BIG IDEA
Serve refugees in the United States as well as aid those in Ukraine.

Viktor Moskalyuk knew inaction wasn’t an option when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022. Grace Evangelical Church in Galloway, Ohio, where he serves as associate pastor—his brother, Slavik Moskalyuk, is senior pastor—includes many families from countries in the former Soviet Union. 

“When the war started, a lot of our family members were in Ukraine, and they were in a desperate situation, calling out for help,” Moskalyuk says. “We had been praying the war wouldn’t start. But we also knew we had to start doing something.”

Just weeks after the conflict began, church members supported the people of Ukraine through widely advertised bake sales and other fundraisers that yielded thousands of dollars. Before long, their effort grew into a large-scale operation that continues today.

In December 2025, dozens of volunteers gathered at a warehouse to load pallets of food, medicine, clothing and toiletries into a 40-foot shipping container headed for Ukraine. It was the 335th container the church had shipped there. 

“The first miracle was that God enabled us to send emergency supplies by airplane,” Moskalyuk notes, adding that Crane Worldwide Logistics generously offered to transport over 200 tons of aid from Columbus, Ohio, to Eastern Europe for free. “Our supply was on the ground in Ukraine the second week after the war started.” 

Moskalyuk has since turned the endeavor into the nonprofit Gift of Grace Aid. As of last December, over $70 million worth of donated goods have shipped to Ukraine by air or by sea, with each container holding about 40,000 pounds of supplies. The aid is then distributed to over 70 churches in the war-torn country.

“Alongside giving them food and hygiene [products], these churches preach the gospel and give them hope in [the] Lord Jesus Christ,” Moskalyuk explains. 

Grace Evangelical Church typically has an average weekend attendance of 2,000, but with refugees attending, it is now 3,500. The church has also assisted 1,500 Ukrainian refugees in Columbus with paperwork, furniture, cars and driving lessons. 

“We never had a budget for that,” Moskalyuk says. “We just gave from the church.”

In addition, the church bought a former country club and converted the clubhouse into an accredited charter school serving students in fourth through eighth grades. The space includes a fellowship center that holds dance and language classes, a full kitchen, and a community garden. Plus there is plenty of outdoor space for sports. 

As focus on Ukraine has waned since the war started, Moskalyuk calls for continued prayer for the country. 

“A lot of nonprofits have stopped work in Ukraine,” he observes. “They got exhausted or moved elsewhere, but the needs remain the same or greater.