Iryna Linnyk, director of rehabilitation centre The Anchor in Ukraine, is regularly in liberated areas and with the combat troops on the border, providing assistance there. She writes about it in an emotional letter.
Along the way, we see so many tears. We experience such a whirlwind of feelings and emotions. Every house is damaged. We see many blue roofs: roofs covered with a tarpaulin.
Many towns and villages we pass have not yet recovered. They are difficult to reach. Bridges have been blown up. It takes more than two hours to reach the other side because we have to go off route. The roads are very bad and sometimes mined.
Before we left, we asked our contacts what people needed most. They asked for potatoes to plant ánd eat, and seeds of different vegetables, because the last harvest had completely run out and they had nothing left to sow.
Every time we come, we not only hand out relief goods, but also try to bring a little joy. We talk to people, tell them about God, recite poems and sing. Sometimes we bring a big kettle of food and cook pilaf, even though we often don't have the energy for it. But God inspires us with His mercy and love.
Even under such circumstances, this is a special time. It brings people together and gives them the strength to go on living and working. Not only the people on the front line, but us too. When we talk to people, we usually hear fierce stories, which always include the same thing: The sky was lit up by shells and explosions. Grenades were falling. They robbed us. They raped. We were in hiding. They were shooting.
When we heard from an elderly man who all he had lost, I asked him, "How did you manage to survive this and where do you find the strength to keep living day by day with all these losses?" His answer still echoes in my head: "You know, my daughter, I have never been particularly religious or believing. Somehow I didn't even think about it, I just tried to live according to my conscience. But now I understand that I can survive this only with God's help."
A woman in another village said the Russians had taken everything. As in World War II, the people in the village ate what they had managed to hide. They were given two bags of mouldy bread by the Russians. They found pieces that were a little less mouldy and ate a little of it. They could not go outside because a drone might fly over. "Or they would bomb us. Or they would shoot with machine guns."
There are so many such stories that you cannot forget. You pray, you think, you look for ways to help. And you never get used to it.
Our trips to the unoccupied areas are made possible by a whole chain of different people and organisations. But all glory belongs to our God, who brings together many different people and opens hearts to help us and others.
This I will take to heart, therefore I will hope:
It is the LORD's mercy that we did not perish,
That His mercy has not ceased!
New are they, every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
My portion is the LORD, says my soul,
Therefore I will hope in Him.
Lamentations of Jeremiah 3:21-24
Iryna
Read also Iryna's other letter
