Community News
Letters from Ukraine - Cyndee's news from Ukraine!
You probably remember, that when the war started on February 24, 2022, the orphanage was ordered to release all of the children and send them “home” to their guardians. This was due to the fact that nearby military targets had been bombed and therefore the government needed to rehouse those affected residents. They needed to use the orphanage to house displaced families, so the children were sent “home” and became scattered all around various small villages in the area. Many of the kids were sent back to the very people who caused them to be taken to an orphanage in the first place. Some went to poor relatives, who can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone additional children. Our team has continued to do everything in our power to maintain contact with the children, and to help them survive by making regular visits to check on them and to bring them food and essentials.
Penicillin to Poland - Cyndee's news from Ukraine!
We are grateful to have adventurous volunteers willing to schlep 700 pounds of medical supplies, tennis shoes, and kids socks & underwear across the pond. That’s exactly the mission that Hope Now sponsors Meg & Zoe embarked on yesterday as they checked in 10 x 70-pound duffle bags on their journey from Atlanta to Warsaw, Poland.
Our city was hit today!
Russian airstrike kills 1, wounds 5 near Cherkasy. Two missiles hit an infrastructure facility, Cherkasy Oblast Governor Igor Taburets said on June 26.
Inna was teaching Sunday School at First Baptist Church, where many of you have attended if you have ever visited Hope Now in Ukraine. Located near the bridge, the church is a beautiful, 3 level traditional church complete with balcony and basement. The grounds are lovely and full of flowers at this time of year. While the 10:00 am church service upstairs was in full swing (interestingly enough, an American missionary was preaching), downstairs the Children’s Ministry team had their classes in their rooms and the children were busy finishing today’s craft activity. Inna and another teacher have 11 children in their class. At 11:28 am, a very loud explosion was heard and felt by everyone. Inna said, “We quickly gathered the children around us. They were silent and we immediately began to pray.” About 30 seconds later, a second explosion also shook the church building. “Two of the boy’s faces looked completely frozen and white with fear. These boys recently moved to Cherkasy where it was safe – they have already lived through many explosions in Kharkiv before moving here, and they thought it was happening all over again. When will the war end, they asked? They were so sad.”
Inna was teaching Sunday School at First Baptist Church, where many of you have attended if you have ever visited Hope Now in Ukraine. Located near the bridge, the church is a beautiful, 3 level traditional church complete with balcony and basement. The grounds are lovely and full of flowers at this time of year. While the 10:00 am church service upstairs was in full swing (interestingly enough, an American missionary was preaching), downstairs the Children’s Ministry team had their classes in their rooms and the children were busy finishing today’s craft activity. Inna and another teacher have 11 children in their class. At 11:28 am, a very loud explosion was heard and felt by everyone. Inna said, “We quickly gathered the children around us. They were silent and we immediately began to pray.” About 30 seconds later, a second explosion also shook the church building. “Two of the boy’s faces looked completely frozen and white with fear. These boys recently moved to Cherkasy where it was safe – they have already lived through many explosions in Kharkiv before moving here, and they thought it was happening all over again. When will the war end, they asked? They were so sad.”
A Vacation from the War
A vacation from the war? Surely that is not possible for any of our volunteers, pastors, friends, relatives, soldiers, widows, or orphans currently living in Ukraine. They can’t simply “unplug” for a week at the beach. Take a break from cooking and eat out – not possible. Neither is getting lost in a good book, cuddled up in a cozy blanket while enjoying the blasting cold AC. It’s hard to concentrate when air raid sirens continue day and night. No, folks living in Ukraine cannot take a vacation from the war.
First Day of Summer in Ukraine
June 1 marks the official First Day of Summer in Ukraine. Normally, at this time of the year, we would be hearing the pleasant sounds of songbirds chirping in the trees, smelling the many varieties of trees and flowers blooming, and listening out for the Last Bell of the school year to ring loud and strong, announcing “School is Out for Summer!” But today amid war in Ukraine, we have another story. Air raid sirens and the sounds of shrapnel whizzing through the air are what is heard in Ukraine today. The stench of burning tanks, cars and buildings fill the nostrils of the resolute soldiers in the fields and cities. Instead of schoolyards full of children, we see schools turned into make-shift feeding & housing centers for displaced people with nothing to go home for. It doesn’t sound very “summery.” Does it?
Onward Christian Soldiers
"Onward Christian Soldiers" -- This hymn has been around for over 150 years, and most of us can hum it right now. In fact, it might already be stuck in your head, and probably will be all day. That’s ok. Let it be a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers defending their country for the 89th day of war. We continue to pray for these brave souls and equip them with what we can. Prayers for peace, First Aid Kits, food, medical supplies, military clothing, and protective gear are the most requested items – in that order.
Our Drivers Have God’s Protection
Over the years, many of you have gotten to know our dedicated Coordinator and Child Advocate, Inna! Inna is Hope Now’s eyes and ears in Ukraine, and much, much more. We strongly encouraged Inna to get her driver’s license a few years ago and she gladly agreed, saying “Sure, anything to be more useful to the ministry.” This has been a vast understatement – especially in these past 2 years of pandemic / war in Ukraine. Since February, Inna has been in Europe helping us with the young women, orphans & moms we evacuated to Sweden and Romania. She longed to go home to Ukraine to be with her family, but she did not want to do this at the expense of anyone, and certainly if it was not convenient.
Do You Really Want to Sponsor Ukrainians?
For all of you folks who wrote to us last month, asking if you could host Ukrainians in your home – the time has come! The USA government has launched “Uniting For Ukraine.” This program allows Americans to apply to sponsor Ukrainian evacuees. Once the American hosts are approved, the Ukrainians will be able to create a profile online and if approved, will receive permission to travel to the USA. THERE IS NO COST TO APPLY. However, there is paperwork!
Happy Soldiers…Is there such a thing?
These days, our newscasts are overflowing with countless gut-wrenching photos of Ukrainians – civilians and soldiers alike, suffering terribly. We continue to lift up the country of Ukraine in prayer and ask God for His protection and peace. We send life-saving medicines, support housing & meal programs, deliver food and clothing, and even send supplies to the military. Does any of this make any difference? Does any of it alleviate any suffering?
Camp for a Day!
Zoë & MaryJane’s main mission was to personally deliver 500 pounds of valuable medical supplies to our volunteers near the Romanian / Ukrainian border. Even though they had several fiery darts thrown at them during the 27-hour journey to Romania, God smoothed their path at each turn and brought them and all the bags to safety. After handing off the financial donations and bags to our Ukrainian volunteers, Zoë & MJ started a long zig zag journey across the country (through the Carpathian Mountains) to the other side of Romania. Once they arrived, and were a little bit rested, they were ready to spend some time with our kids and moms there
Pills, Pills, Pills
The 7 duffle bags that Zoë and MaryJane brought to Romania were quickly handed off to our volunteers, who then crossed the border and drove them to Cherkasy in central Ukraine. Once there, no time was wasted. The large bottles of vitamins, sleeping aids, antihistamine, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen were divided into smaller amounts, and delivered in the middle of the night to our Pastor, Anatoliy who was waiting to take them to Bucha and Irpyn – suburbs of Kyiv that have recently been destroyed by invaders. Desperate people were waiting. Waiting for food, water, and medicine…they have been suffering for weeks!
In Our Family, We Don't Travel Light!
When I was a kid, occasionally my mom asked me to run down to the store, to pick up a gallon of milk. Of course, I would oblige as this was something fun to do – a little adventure. Now that I have children of my own, I also ask them to run errands from time to time. So, Zoë wasn’t surprised when I asked her to go to Romania for me…and could she please bring a sizeable amount of cash and 500 lbs. of essential supplies for Ukrainians? Since Zoë has been going to Ukraine since she was 12, and she just came back from teaching in Ukraine and sheltering in Europe, her reply was “Sure, Mom. When do I leave?”
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