George and Sharon Markey and their six sons were planting a church in Kyiv, Ukraine when the war started. George had been living in Ukraine for nearly 30 years and has many contacts all across the country. Since the beginning of the war, he has been strategically connecting donors outside Ukraine with trustworthy people on the ground in Ukraine who are doing lifesaving work. Bridge UA exists to promote more of these kinds of partnerships. The Markeys evacuated to Budapest, Hungary, where they are doing all they can to serve Ukrainians in this hour of great need, with a focus on mobilizing and training the Church in Europe to provide material, emotional, and spiritual support to the millions of refegees around them.
Jon and Stephanie Markey were missionaries in Ternopil, Ukraine and evacuated when the war started. Through their music ministry Room For More, they have been touching the hearts and souls of Ukrainian Christians across the country for years, and Room For More is now holding nights of worship across Europe and even within Ukraine to comfort, strengthen, and inspire Ukrainians during this difficult time.
Aaron and Dara Markey are missionaries in Ternopil, Ukraine, where they are heavily involved in caring for the many displaced people who have been coming to the city.
Paul and Melanie Billings have been missionaries for many years, first in Ukraine and then in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere. They have been active since the early days of the war in organizing aid shipments and sourcing and moving medications and critical medical supplies into Ukraine.
Jed and Renee Gourley spent many years in Ukraine as missionaries until God called them to Kyrgyzstan and then later to the Republic of Georgia. From Georgia they have been extremely active in organizing evacuations from Ukraine, supplying medications to be taken into Ukraine, and welcoming refugees to the church that they planted in the capital city of Tbilisi.
David and Deborah Markey love Ukraine, as David spent part of his childhood there. God also gave them a love for an unevangelized group of people in northern Siberia, which is where they were serving as missionaries when Russia invaded Ukraine. They became economic refugees when the sanctions against Russia cut them off from their bank account and financial support base. They moved to Cracow, Poland, where David oversaw a warehouse and shipments of aid donations into Ukraine until August 2022, when they moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, where they are serving in the Calvary Chapel in that city and using their knowledge of the Russian language and the Ukrainian culture to minister to refugees, some of whom Bridge UA helped to evacuate.
Lisa Collins draws on her years of experience as a missionary in Hungary with the Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe to recruit and coordinate short-term mission teams to come to Europe to serve refugees from Ukraine.
Jake and Anya Knotts have deep ties to Ukraine, as Jake served as a missionary there for a number of years, and Anya was born and raised there. They have been helping refugees in Poland and organizing aid shipments into Ukraine since the war started.
Phil Metzger was a missionary in Hungary for many years, during which time he served as director of the Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe and pastor of Calvary Chapel Budapest. He is now pastor of Calvary Chapel San Diego. He has played an active role in caring for Ukraine since the beginning of the war, both in person through trips into Ukraine to assess the needs on the ground and through raising funds to help relief efforts. He and his church have also been extremely active in welcoming Ukrainian refugees who entered the U.S. through the California border with Mexico.
Nick Cady served as a missionary in Hungary for many years and now pastors White Fields Community Church in Longmont, Colorado. Since the start of the war, he has made several trips to Europe and into Ukraine to assess the needs on the ground and to encourage people who are doing so much to help in this crisis. White Fields Community Church has also been directly involved through generous donations to help evacuate people from dangerous areas and get aid into Ukraine.