The situation in Ukraine remains as dire as ever.
We remain at our post
Anatoliy Kryvenko, our project manager in Vatutin (100 km. below Kiev), writes: 'Every day we thank the LORD who gives us strength to work, because without Him our hands would hang limp. We face daily air alarm sirens, sounds of explosions and rocket attacks that destroy critical infrastructure. And with its consequences, such as no water and electricity. Despite all this, we remain at our posts to ensure that bedridden people, orphans and refugees get food, assistance and shelter. Regularly, we take shelter in our bomb-proof basement.'
'We understand that the situation will only get worse and there could be famine. As there are more than 100 refugees here, we welcome any support we receive. Please pray for us as we live in such circumstances where every day could be our last.'
Huizen restore
Furthermore, we provide emergency aid in the Chernihiv region, 150 km. above Kiev. There we are repairing houses. This area was attacked at the beginning of the war. Russian troops stayed in the villages for weeks and took residents hostage. During confrontations with the Ukrainian army, many houses were destroyed or damaged.
Facing winter
This is the story of Katarina and Oleksandr Diuba, whose house we restored.
'We are still afraid of bombs,' says Oleksandr (71). 'Before the war, we had a quiet life. We had turkeys and a vegetable garden. When the war started, we heard many shots and explosions in the distance. Still, we decided to stay at home because we had to take care of our animals and vegetable garden. The day the war really started was a normal day. We had breakfast and our grandchild came to visit. We celebrated our son's birthday.
Suddenly, we heard a huge explosion near us. At first I thought it was a rocket; I saw a huge crater in our garden. We felt a huge shockwave and all the windows were blown out of our house. We fled into the basement where we sat for a long time. We counted 9 explosions of mortars or rockets. When things calmed down, we came out of the basement and saw that the entire front of the house had been knocked out. Katarina (69): 'If we had not been in the basement, we would have been dead.'
For the following weeks, they slept at night in the basement of the school. 'We are happy that our house is now repaired. This way we can face the winter!'
Your support is needed
The need in Ukraine remains as high as ever, as we recently emailed to all our diaconates. One of our partners in Ukraine, the Anchor, accommodates refugees on its own premises who cannot live in the eastern part of the country. The Anchor needs generators. We also need food and support the rebuilding of houses.
For more information and the opportunity to donate to the relief efforts in Ukraine, please visit www.cgk.nl/oekraine2022.
