Answering God’s Call in Ukraine: TFC Alumni Provide Hope, Relief
Source: Facebook (@skyandnoellebarkley)
“We landed in Kyiv, and the next day, the missiles started coming,” Sky Barkley, a Toccoa Falls College alumnus, said recently. “I didn’t have time to get organized on the ground. Our driver never showed up. I had no transportation. I didn’t have the medical supplies I wanted to have… I had a small cache of medical stuff… So, all of a sudden, we’re in the middle of the invasion, and [we’re] not ready yet… it was a scramble… because all of our friends were on the other side of the country.”
Less than three years ago, Barkley was a well-known senior roaming the grounds of Toccoa Falls College. Today, he is on the front lines leading a medical relief team in the war on Ukraine.
The team had to start from scratch, and their supply network is continuing to develop. Earlier this month, Barkley and his team were able to deliver over $70,000 of medical supplies into Kyiv through the help of Mission Regan, a Christian non-profit based in Texas. “But it’s not the steady trickle. It’s like these waves that will come in, and in between that, we find ourselves doing the medical training,” said Barkley.
Source: Sky Barkley
“Our primary thing so far has been medical and medical training, so we set up a casualty collection point in Kyiv,” said Barkley. Beyond simply providing medical relief, the team’s mission includes making connections and working with a local church to provide transport for refugees. They are also training territorial defense forces (TDF), National Guard, firemen, and police in tactical casualty combat care.
Though Barkley has yet to provide hands-on medical aid during his time there, he is doing all that he can logistically to help the people of Ukraine. The former Marine said of their mission, “You come into situations like this and you have to ask yourself, ‘Are you here to do what’s needed to be done, or are you here to fulfill something in yourself?’ … What we’ve been asked to do is train… We’re trying to give people the skills to maybe save their own lives or the lives of their friends.”
Source: Sky Barkley
Barkley and his team are currently working out of their headquarters in western Ukraine. To remain safe, they are trying to avoid staying in one place for too long. Saboteurs sympathetic to the Russian cause have been detained, shot and killed in Kyiv. Barkley and his team are having to be cautious in the area so they will not be mistaken as saboteurs. “I’m a little more worried about being shot by the territorial defense forces than I am the Russians,” he said.
The team also has burner phones and are being very careful about the platforms they are using to communicate. He said the team must plan their routes properly, so they don’t run into any Russians on the road. “Keep your convoy together, make sure that you plan ahead, make sure you’re fully sustainable, make sure you have your gas, make sure you have enough food to last for a period of time if something goes south, make sure you can walk. These are all things you need to concern yourself with.”
Barkley shared that the greatest need at this time is medical supplies. “Hospitals need help. Organizations need to step up… What I want to see is greater organization and communication between the various organizations that are trying to get stuff done. And medical supplies."
As a Christian missionary, Barkley said that he has seen more combat in ministry than as a Marine. However, the situation is different in Ukraine. “The UN and NATO and Western nations are watching this like a hawk. The whole world cares about this battle, because… it does have a potential to grow,” he said. “It would be very easy for this to blow up. I think the only reason that it hasn’t is because Russia knows it would lose.”
Serving in war zones has directly impacted Barkley’s relationship with God. “You’ve got to keep Jesus at the center of everything. Your decisions are based off of your relationship with God first,” he said. Though many people would prefer to strengthen their relationship with the Lord in other ways, Barkley said, “it’s kind of nice working in these kinds of environments because you’re forced to rely on God a lot more, and in America you have the added…obstacle of being complacent.” Barkley said that it is in those moments of being fully reliant on God and witnessing His miracles that people are better able to trust God and grow in relationship with Him.
Another way that Barkley continues to grow in his relationship with God in the warzone is in part thanks to TFC. He said that his time at the school prepared him to grapple with the difficult questions that arise on the mission field – Why are these evil things happening? Where is God? Why is the world a hard place? Why do Christians turn their back on the faith? Most TFC students are required to complete 30 hours of Bible and Theology courses. Barkley urged students to take these courses seriously, because “it’s a lot better to have these questions answered before you encounter them face-to-face.”
When Barkley started his education at TFC, he was unlike the average freshman. At 27 years old, he already had experience with life’s turmoil. At just 17 years old, he joined the Marine Corps. He was stationed in an Iraqi province in 2005, two years after the United States’ invasion. Since his time in the Marine Corps, Barkley has trained in law enforcement and emergency medical services (2011). He led student teams to aid humanitarian and natural disaster relief efforts during his time at TFC. In 2016, just before Barkley’s senior year, he and his wife, Noelle, served Indigenous people groups in Burma with Free Burma Rangers (FBR). According to their Instagram profile, FBR is “a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement bringing help, hope and love to people in the conflict areas of Burma, Kurdistan, Iraq, and Syria.” It is based in Thailand and operates as a non-government non-profit organization. What was originally going to be a semester-long trip for the Barkleys became a two-year effort to help those oppressed and in need.
Barkley returned to TFC and graduated with the Class of 2019 with a degree in General Studies and a minor in Biblical Studies. He continues to serve with FBR but has put his efforts on pause while he leads the relief team in Ukraine.
Source: Facebook (@skyandnoellebarkley)
Earlier this year, Tim Hayes, a part-time volunteer with FBR, asked Barkley if he would lead a relief team should Russia invade Ukraine. Barkley and Hayes set up a recon mission over a month and a half ago to prepare for mass casualty and triage. Barkley flew to Washington state for a medical training then spent a day with his family in South Carolina before returning to Ukraine.
The Barkley family operates their sending and support agency, Here’s Hope Ministries, out of Pageland, SC, when they are not on the mission field. Noelle, a 2014 TFC graduate, heads up FBR’s social media and is also working with her father to fulfill logistical and financial needs for the Ukraine mission. She is currently attending FBR meetings in Thailand. Since there was no one else to lead the team in Ukraine, Barkley has been unable to see his wife and son, Hawk, for about one and a half months. Thankfully, his prayers were met with a 30-year Army veteran who will be helping the crew while Barkley spends a week with his family.
While Barkley and his team are providing relief on the ground, there are many ways for others to help their mission and support the people of Ukraine. Maybe you are asking why you should help. The answer is that the people of God are called to care and take action. Barkley said: “What do you do in a dangerous situation? … I want people to know that God cares about war, that Christians should care about war because God cares about war. And why does God care about war? Because war is a place where hate is prevalent and love is often absent. And if love is absent, then God is absent because God is love.”
Maybe you are asking whether or not you should be a part of the mission on the ground. “At what point are you old enough to risk for the Gospel?” challenged Barkley. He urged that missionaries and those wondering if they should be directly involved should pray and listen. Barkley said it is important to recognize that “there is a time when you might need to endure a little hardship, a little danger, to be that witness.”
Has God burdened your heart for the people of Ukraine? What should you do about it? “Get up and get in the game. Don’t just sit there and watch. Don’t just be a slacktivist,” encouraged Barkley. He defined the term slacktivist as someone who simply posts on social media about an issue without actually getting involved. “There’s plenty to be done.”
“Whatever it is that you feel the burden for… you find an organization and you can support them. There is financially, with donations of supplies. Don’t get me wrong, getting the word out is important - that’s part of it. But if you stop at that… I don’t think that is sufficient. There’s more to be done and people are capable of it,” challenged Barkley. “The question is are they able to shrug off the laziness and pursue it.”
If you would like to directly support Barkley’s mission, here are a few ways you can help:
· Give financially to Here’s Hope Ministries through PayPal or send a check to the following address:
Here’s Hope Ministries
265 Wesley Chapel Rd
Pageland, SC 29728
· Be in prayer for Sky, Noelle, and Hawk Barkley, and the team in Ukraine.
· Be in prayer for the people of Ukraine, the Russian army and government officials, and world leaders.
· Share this article on any media platform.
· If you can acquire any of the medical supplies listed below, donate them to Mission Regan at the following address:
Mission Regan
ATTN: Here’s Hope Ukraine
1207 Motley Dr.
Melissa, TX 75454
Supplies Needed:
· Combat application tourniquets
· Hemostatic gauze
· Chest seals
· IO drills and needles
· Israeli bandages (emergency bandages), all sizes
· Tactical CricKits
· iGel, various sizes
· King Airway, various sizes
· Tactical abdominal dressings
· Nasopharyngeal Airway
· Oropharyngeal Airway
· Decompression needle
· Quality trauma shear
· Blood filter bags
· Blood test kits
· Blood type test kits
· Burn dressing, large
· Lubricating jelly
· Ceftriaxone, 1g vial
· Emergency blankets
· Stretchers (soft, pole litter, SkedCo)
· IFAKs
