The following diary entries are from brother Sasha, a HART ministry partner originally from the Donetsk region of Ukraine, where the war is now at its fiercest. As Sasha and his team minister to those in the conflict areas, we have a unique opportunity, through this diary, to be introduced to people who, through no fault of their own, are caught up in a war and are just trying to survive. The pain and suffering are real, but so is the incredible courage and compassion Ukrainian Christians display daily.

Dear Friends, Footage of the devastation and consequences of missile attacks circulates around the world, but there is another aspect of this war - the stories of ordinary people who suddenly find themselves in the middle of a war. Their experiences of these events and their path to God also deserve attention. Let's meet some of these people...

(Sasha is reporting from the city of Zaporizhzhia.) We are in a suburb that consists of private houses. It is 300 meters from the local Baptist church. We brought food parcels to hand out.

In the courtyard of one of the houses, we meet Nikolay. Windows and doors are broken in his house. His voice trembles as he haltingly talks about how he and his family miraculously survived when a missile landed near his house the previous morning. They survived, although their home was only 30 meters from the epicenter of the explosion, which killed many of his neighbors and friends.



We leave the gate of his yard and find ourselves in an open area where there were houses five days ago. The missile landed early in the morning when the ordinary civilians of Zaporizhzhia were in their beds.

Eight houses on this patch of land were completely destroyed - to their foundations. Some of the dead could not be identified. The surviving people are still in a state of shock, trying to find at least something left undamaged in the ashes.



A woman in a pink jacket, who lost everything herself, both property and relatives, gives thanks for the food parcel and asks very much to help other people - she says: “right there, around the corner, the house was damaged not too bad there, but the people who live there are so poor, could you please help them too, or do you only help those whose houses have been destroyed?”

Of course, we will help them too. Such touching care for the neighbors from a person who has lost everything herself.


A peaceful dentist, his wife, and their child lived in this house. Date of death October 9, 2022 and the inscription on the cross: "We endlessly remember and love ..."
 
The next meeting is with Valentina and her husband, Alexander. They are about 60 years old. Valentina meets us on the street; she looks very professional. It is important for Ukrainian women to look good even in the most difficult circumstances of life. They are also non-church people, and their first contact with the church happened because of the war and forced fleeing.

Now they temporarily live in a building that we call a hostel. A dark, damp, cold building. They rented two small rooms with space only for two beds. The rest of the rooms are occupied by the things of the owner of this building. After the recent shelling of the area, windows were smashed in their rooms, which are now boarded up with plywood.

They came to Zaporizhzhia from the Donetsk region, from the small village of Pavlovka. Valentina is a primary school teacher with 38 years of experience and has two master’s degrees. She wants to speak out and begins to talk about her experience of the war haltingly, jumping from topic to topic.



One of the most vivid memories for her was the bellowing of the cows at a farm near their house. At the beginning of March 2022, due to constant shelling, it became impossible for the farm employees to get to their place of work. The cows remained tied up - unfed and not milked for several days. Their bellowing, says Valentina, even drowned out the sounds of shelling.

It became clear that it was necessary to leave the village, but the evacuation vehicle could only come to a relatively safe place. Valentina and others had to crawl through the mud to get to the car. She says - "I'm crawling through the mud and was thinking - how is this possible? I am an accomplished and respected person, and now I am lying in mud..."

Thanks to the help of church volunteers, she safely got to Zaporizhzhia. Alexander remained in Pavlovka in the basement of their house. When the situation allowed, he gathered some things in their family car and came to his wife. Shortly after he left, an explosion destroyed their home.

Arriving in Zaporizhzhia, Alexander ended up in the hospital. He required surgery. Since they didn't have a permanent home, they left the car with all their belongings in the parking lot. To their disappointment, anger, and pain, when leaving the hospital, they found their car was broken into, and they were robbed of everything of value they took out of their home. There is a saying that bad things come in threes...

But the good thing in this situation is that they met Pastor Vadim through these circumstances. They began to attend Bible study meetings. They value the fellowship and say - "we have no one else here except the church." What will happen to them next is unknown. Whether they stay in Zaporizhzhia or will be forced to go somewhere further, they do not know. So these not-quite-young people sit together and contemplate what to do next ...

The next stop is in the city of Nikopol. The city is located on the bank of the Dnieper River. The opposite bank is occupied by the enemy. The city is under constant, daily shelling by the enemy. Usually, shelling starts in the evening and ends early in the morning. On the day of my arrival, shelling lasted from 11 pm to 8 am.

For some reason, Nikopol is overlooked by the main humanitarian organizations. Not much attention is paid to it. According to local people, a possible reason is that only 30,000 of their 100,000 pre-war inhabitants remained in the city. Young families and practically everyone who could leave have left. Plants and factories do not work due to constant shelling.

Opposite Nikopol, on the other bank of the river, is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which is now occupied by the enemy.

A man whom I have known for more than 20 years has been ministering in this city. Pastor Yuriy. He is now 74 years old. A meek and faithful servant of God in very poor health.

We meet him in his house, which also serves as a church building for a small community of Christians. We drink tea with bread and cookies. We remember mutual friends and share good memories of the past.

Yuriy says that out of about 40 people from his church, now only 15 people remain; the rest have left. There are older people who do not want or cannot go anywhere. The church is very friendly and tries to help not only each other but also the Ukrainian army.

There are very few shops left in the city, but it is still possible to buy food. On the day of my arrival, missiles hit the central city market, and most likely, it will now be closed.

After some time, Brother Anatoliy and Sister Lyudmila, members of this small church, join us. Anatoliy - despite his health difficulties, supports his grandchildren aged three and fifteen. All care for them is on his shoulders. Lyudmila has undergone cancer surgery and needs supportive medications, for which she does not have enough money.

I ask - how do you prepare for winter? Is there a generator in case there is no electricity? No, there is no generator, says Yuriy, and we are too old to figure out how to turn it on and maintain it ...

If it is very cold, then we decided with the whole church to gather for the night here in this house; it will be warmer together. Anatoliy and Lyudmila confirm this idea and say: "During the war, we, as a church, became very close to each other. We just run every day to church, looking for opportunities to help each other. We have truly become brothers and sisters."

At the end of our visit, though a little embarrassed, they voice the need of all the remaining members of the church - warm underwear to sleep in if it's too cold. I give food parcels to all of them, and we pray and say goodbye to Anatoliy and Lyudmila.

Yuriy asks me to stay a little longer and says - let's go upstairs. I follow him and go up the narrow stairs to the house's roof. "I pray here," says Yuriy. From here, you can see the Dnieper River and the opposite bank, where the enemy is located.

"They're shooting at us every night, even though there's no military reason to do so. They want to intimidate us, but we are on our land, and from here, from the roof of this house, I pray every morning, facing the enemy, for God to give us victory and destroy all the enemy's evil plans."



It may seem to us that evil is triumphant and victorious. Ukraine looks like a little David fighting Goliath. Humanly speaking, we have a very small chance, but if our great God stands behind us, then there will be victory.

There is another aspect - in any case, God is already victorious, and the final victory will be with Him, as we know from Scripture. God has a wonderful ability to turn evil into good.

In all the stories of non-church people that I shared with you, there is one thing in common - if it were not for the war, terrible, bloody, bringing death and destruction - these few described and hundreds of thousands of other people might never have encountered the church and God Himself.

The great God is reaping His harvest, even through the war. And one more thing – all these people whom I am writing about - have been or will be helped. Thanks to your donations and through this help, God is approaching these people. Thank you so much! -brother Sasha