Thousands Sign up to Pray for Peace Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis During CBN Prayer Event

Over 4,000 believers joined in to pray for the crisis in Ukraine on Saturday with CBN's International Correspondent George Thomas and Ukrainian Pastor Volodymyr Bilyk.

Thomas started out the event with an update on the invasion with Russian troops recently taking over the city of Kherson. He said Russian warships left the port of Crimea and are now headed to Odesa where residents are preparing for an attack from the sea. 

Watch the prayer event below:

As the number of Ukrainians flee the country, Thomas said it's incredible to see so many people uniting and opening up their homes and businesses to complete strangers.

"This is a major country, city in the heart of Europe in the 21st century that we are seeing the biggest exodus of people," Thomas reported. "The reports are more than a million people have escaped. But the beautiful thing is the folks in Lviv have just opened up shelter - I think there's about 5,000 shelters in the city."

Pastor Bilyk with Spring Of Life Church in Lviv thanked everyone for their prayers over the past week as the situation continues to escalate. 

"It was shock. It's hard to evaluate," he explained. "Everything is changing every day. We try to be ready to help a lot of people who are refugees now. We have several stages of understanding as to what is going on. The first one is news. When you see news, you understand, 'Wow, it's happening right now. Next stage is when you see a lot of refugees and you see desperate and fear in their eyes." 

The pastor said his church has converted rooms into living spaces for refugees so they can rest. He noted that people arrive all day and night, seeking help.

"It's amazing what the church can do together and a lot of volunteers in mission together," the pastor explained.

Thomas and Bilyk asked that people not only pray for peace in Ukraine but also freedom and victory.

"It's not just a fight about our borders or homes. It's a fight for the truth and the freedom," Pastor Bilyk declared. "We really want this victory. It's not just victory for Ukraine. The Russian people are not free because of the system, like a regime in their country. We understand that something needs to be changed ... not just for Ukraine but many countries and nations."

Despite the difficult circumstances, Thomas said the church is on fire in Ukraine. He prayed for believers to stand strong against the band of evil that has come against the nation.

Pastor Bilyk, who spoke in Ukrainian, closed the event by praying for a miracle to end the humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions.

Throughout the event, people from around the world shared their prayers for Ukraine.

CBN viewers also wrote 1,100 prayers for the war-torn country, which Thomas shared with Ukrainian citizens.

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