Day 4: Sunday. We are heading to New York. There is a village with that name near the front line. New York greets us with the smell of lilacs and acrid smoke. A few days ago, there was shelling, and several residential houses burned down. The remains of the fire are still smoldering. Several men wander among the ruins, trying to find anything that survived from their belongings.

In the village, there is an evangelical church, and that's where we are heading. Before the war, it was a cozy church, hosting crowded gatherings, young families, and various ministries such as children's and youth ministries, as well as assistance to the residents of the village. Now, there is only a small group of elderly sisters left. There are hardly any brothers. The pastor and other ministers were forced to leave. The church building has suffered from shelling; the windows are broken, the roof and walls are damaged.

Sister Lyubov Ivanovna, an elderly sister, conducts the church services and takes care of the church building. The services are very simple: people sing together, Sister Lyuba reads from the Gospel, explains it to the best of her ability, and then they pray together. It's worth mentioning that there are also new people attending - sometimes humanitarian aid is brought to the church, and people primarily come for that.

We try to visit this church, offering spiritual support and sharing what we have. Last time, we brought a generator, fuel, and gas for it. The village experiences frequent power outages, so generators are essential in frontline areas. Once again, we would like to thank our partners from HART for providing generators! As you can see, they are absolutely essential in the frontline areas. This time, we also brought household chemicals and hygiene products.

After the church service, one of the sisters asks us to visit her son. The apartment where he lived with his family was recently destroyed in shelling. They are now living in the basement. The elderly woman requests, "Please see how you can help them settle in the basement."

We go there, but at that moment, shelling begins. We rush into the basement. There are four children in dim light, dampness, and foul air. We try to convince the father to evacuate. He responds with the usual excuses: "Who needs us anywhere? Shelling is everywhere. Look, our neighbors went abroad for a while and came back."

We realize that our persuasions are futile. We do not consider it right to create comfortable conditions in the basement instead of evacuating people and taking care of them in a safe place. We say our goodbyes and leave. We do not take any photos as it is a delicate situation involving children.