The ERLC joined other faith partners in seeking the return of 35,000 Ukrainian children to their homes after their forced deportation by Russia. In signing this letter with other faith leaders, the ERLC thanks First Lady Melania Trump for her advocacy and steadfast work to ensure this plight is not ignored. This letter urges the Trump administration to ensure that this remains a central issue and that all estimated 35,000 children are returned as a precondition to any peace talks. It asks the First Lady and President Trump to use every resource at their disposal to continue their work in ensuring Ukraine’s children are returned home.
The ERLC has previously joined coalition letters calling on President Trump to secure the safety and return of the children back to Ukraine before enacting a peace deal between the countries.
On Oct. 10, First Lady Trump announced that she has been working directly with the Russian government to successfully return eight Ukrainian children to their families within the last 24 hours. This is a result of her August letter to President Putin, asking for the return of children seized by Russians.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian children have reportedly been abducted by Kremlin forces and taken into Russia, where many of them have been given new identities and new families. Somewhere around 20,000 children have gone missing. A Yale University research group estimates as many as 35,000 Ukrainian children are being held hostage in Russia.
Why the return of these missing Ukrainian children matters for Christians
Christians care about human suffering, namely when our brothers and sisters are being subjected to the kind of suffering we’re seeing in Ukraine. While Ukraine is thousands of miles from American soil, Christians in America ought not to remain aloof from its war with Russia. Our brothers, sisters, friends, and fellow heirs with Christ are there, under the thumb of an overreaching dictator seeking to do them harm.
As Southern Baptists, we should wrench at what’s happening in Eastern Europe. Articles XVI (Peace and War) and XVII (Religious Liberty) of the Baptist Faith and Message, two beliefs that are fundamental Southern Baptist convictions, are being actively and intentionally threatened in Ukraine. And our brothers and sisters are being subjected to extreme suffering because of their allegiance to Christ and their identification with the Baptist faith.
As Christians in America, let us use our freedoms to pray and advocate Ukrainian families to be reunited with their children.
