As you will read in the stories below, Ukrainians are tired. Tired of running. Tired of hiding. Tired of missing their homes and life as they once knew it before the war started.

But they are also grateful for the help they have received from an SGA-supported church where these internally displaced women and their families are staying. All are hearing the Gospel, and some for the very first time.

Please pray that they eyes of their heart may be enlightened . . that they will see Jesus and receive the salvation and healing He came to bring.

Story #1

“My name is Oksana. My husband and I evacuated from [a Ukrainian region]. Our son is an adult person, so just two of us live here now. Our house is destroyed, our car is crashed; we lost everything. At the moment, I have no job, as a kindergarten where I worked was destroyed by bombing.

“The most difficult thing for me in these circumstances is that it is just so difficult to live here . . . while at home it was so well. I miss our home place so much.”

Story #2

“We evacuated from [a Ukrainian region]. We decided not to go too far, as we want to return home as soon as it is over. Here in [this Ukrainian region] I live with my mother, my husband and our daughter. We are worried about our house there, so that we have a place to return to.  It is still scary, as we lived under hostilities for a long time, and came here almost at the end of May,

“Recently we visited our home town, as we needed to patch holes, windows and doors after the house suffered shelling. The façade of the house fell away; windows and doors were blown away, the garage was burned down.  But we hope for the best, that everything will be fine. Of course, we worry about our two children; the older son lives individually and our daughter lives with us.

“To a large extent, things that we have are enough. What we really miss is that feeling of one’s own home. When we visited our home, as our balcony was hit by a projectile, we entered our house, and even with its emptiness and no one living there, it was so good, everything around was so dear and precious; every centimeter of our house we  made by our own hands.

“We want to go home, but as much we want to be back to our house, we do not know whether it will eventually survive. We are thinking about returning to our home town, which is being erased from the face of the earth.”

Story #3

“My husband and I evacuated from [a Ukrainian town] and now we live in [another Ukrainian town]. We rent an apartment here, and we host our family from [another Ukrainian town ] and other places, as well as our friends who evacuate to [here]. Instead of sheltering at IDPs [internally displaced persons] collective centers, we provide them with a place to stay at our home for some days, before they head to other places: some go abroad, some stay in Ukraine. We have found a new job here.

“My husband and I have known each other for 10 years ago, and last year we just got married and had plans for the future. The plans are still there, but we just had to change them. We had a wedding, we bought a house, and now we do not even know what happened to our house. Those who invaded, live there now.”

Story #4

“My name is Olga. I am 33 years old. I came to [this town] in March with my family: my husband and our child. The most difficult thing for me now is probably to endure it all morally, realizing that the life has split into “before” and “after.” There are some difficulties, but we are trying to solve them.”

“Honestly, I feel empty.  I want to be at home so much. We were making plans, we were working, we had some aspirations and at one point, you have to start from scratch. When you have had everything, and now you don’t even have a needle and thread, thinking that you have it all. It’s all gone. We’re trying to start anew, but troubles come in threes . . . one after another.”

Story #5

“My name is Lilia, I am 38. I evacuated [from a Ukrainian town] with my two children 16 and 13 years old. We rent an apartment and I found myself unemployed because the store where I worked is now closed. We lost our apartment, and my mother’s private house is almost destroyed. We fled the town with a minimum of things, just took our pets with us.

“In fact, there are a lot of emotions and all of them are not very good, not positive at all. When I just start talking about it, my eyes well up with tears. I just don’t understand why they do it and I don’t understand how much longer it will last. To be honest, I’m very tired: tired of running down and hiding in the basements, tired of startling from the slightest rustle.

“The most difficult thing for me right now is to calm down my children, especially when it starts in the middle of the night, when I have to wake them up, leave in hurry (the children sleep more soundly than adults), as we need to run and hide in the basement. I need to reassure and explain that at home they would be able to sleep, although at 2 in the morning one won’t fall asleep again.”

In a time of great uncertainty, God is bringing help, healing, and hope to the people of Ukraine through SGA-supported pastors, churches, a seminary, and SGA-sponsored Compassion Ministry. Be a part of God’s incredible work with your generosity and prayer support.

Your gift of compassion helps struggling people with emergency aid that generally includes Scripture materials, food, medicine, warm clothing, and shoes.