Moderator to see humanitarian support for Ukraine first-hand

He will also see how PCI’s support has blessed the ongoing humanitarian effort in the region.

Based in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, Dr Kirkpatrick and his wife Joan will be the guests of PCI’s partner church, the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH), who will host the five day official visit, which will also include time just over the border in Transcarpathia, 320 kilometres east of Budapest and 800 kilometres west of Kyiv.

Since the war began Irish Presbyterians have responded to the humanitarian emergency by giving £1.3 million to the relief effort.

The amount raised from congregations form across Ireland has been distributed equally between the denomination’s relief and development partners, Christian Aid and Tearfund, and the RCH through its relief and development wing, Hungarian Reformed Church Aid, who have supported refugees who have fled to Hungary and Internally Displaced People in Ukraine fleeing the conflict in other parts of the country.

Looking ahead to the visit Dr Kirkpatrick thanked everyone who had contributed: “The generosity of congregations, and others, up and down the land, has led to one of the largest amounts raised for a PCI appeal in living memory.

"It is a wonderful demonstration of the faithfulness and kindness of people, even in these uncertain economic times at home, and I am looking forward to seeing how it has blessed people both in Hungary and Transcarpathia.”

Arriving in Budapest late on Monday evening, during the week Dr Kirkpatrick will travel the four hours to Ukraine to see for himself the ongoing relief effort in the south west of the country.

During his visit he will meet with senior representatives of the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, who make up the community there, including Bishop Sándor Zán Fábián, who leads the Church, to discuss the impact of the war and humanitarian response to it so far.

“Much has happened since June with the war often sliding down the headlines, and off the front-pages. But the ongoing work of the RCH and the wider Hungarian Reformed Church to help and support those caught up in this unnecessary tragedy continues.

"A lot of what we will be doing is simply listening to and encouraging, especially those pastors in Transcarpathia, their families and elders, who have taken courageous decision to remain behind to co-ordinate the relief effort in their local parishes and welcome those fleeing from central and eastern Ukraine.”

The Right Reverend Dr John Kirkpatrick’s journey comes soon after his first local tour of the Church came to an end recently, which had seen Dr Kirkpatrick kick off a week of pastoral visits and other engagements in PCI’s Presbytery of Dromore.

The Presbytery covers the north eastern corner of County Down, extending along the Lagan Valley from Lisburn, then westwards towards Moira and the south eastern shore of Lough Neagh, reaching beyond Hillsborough and on towards the Dromara Hills, then eastwards to Anahilt.