During this crisis, all our friends are coming together. We’re giving and receiving help, sharing joys and losses, exchanging news, and praying.
Recently we offered help to Zhytomyr’s Social Services. They sent us information on eight families with children, all in difficult life circumstances. We were able to bring food and other supplies to all the families.
We’ve continued reaching out to our own community as well. In the second half of March, we delivered food, hygiene kits, clothes, diapers, and baby food to thirteen more orphan-parented families. Vehicles, drivers, and fuel are vital resources right now! Many thanks to our donors who make these deliveries possible.
Some of the baby food we distributed was brought to us by Christian friends evacuating from a town near Kyiv. They ran a rehabilitation center for elderly homeless people and those with addictions, which was totally destroyed by Russian forces. One grandmother was killed, while others survived by hiding in neighbors’ basements.
Our own city may be relatively safe, but we feel the devastation of our neighbors. Staff member Oksana shared two urgent prayer requests: first for the city of Mariupol, under siege by Russian troops and vastly outnumbered. She also shared this request:
“Please pray that in areas where there are no hostilities (including ours), sowing and agricultural work will begin. [For farmers to] have fuel for agricultural machinery, since the Russians bombed many oil depots… The harvest in Ukraine determines not only whether there will be famine here, but also in many other countries… (11% of world grain exports and 50% of sunflower oil are accounted for by Ukraine).”
As you pray for Ukraine’s present difficulties, please pray also for relief from the long-term consequences of war. Thank you for being part of our caring and praying community!