Take a moment to read the stories of Nelya, Natalia, and Kateryna below. These three displaced Ukrainian women tell of true suffering. Yet through the generosity and prayers of friends like you—which God uses to equip the churches we serve in Ukraine—hope has come to those who were hopeless. 

This is the joy of supporting the ministry of Ukrainian congregations—for we know that along with the food we supply, the Gospel is going forth and people are being called to believe in Jesus. May God continue to bless these churches as they proclaim Christ.

Greetings, brothers and sisters in the Lord.

The past week has been busy as usual. We had many meetings with IDPs [internally displaced persons], with poor families, with all those who need constant food support. We only pray that God will give us a lot of physical strength to be able to serve effectively. Our hope is only in the Lord! We held two meetings last week. People are very grateful. The food is a great support for the families. The prices in the supermarkets have gone up a lot, and they have to pay for everything. It’s housing and utilities, not only where they live now, but where they had to flee from because of the shelling. If their housing is intact, not damaged, they have to pay for it. If it is damaged, they need to prove it and then they will not have to pay for it.

People are desperate, there is no joy and constant stress. But when we invite them to church meetings, they come to life for a while. Through the reading of the Word of God, the singing of Christian songs, and prayers, God works with the disabled and brokenhearted through the ministry of His children. This is the ministry of our team and it takes a lot of time. Please pray for us!

We are grateful to the Lord, grateful to SGA, grateful to the sponsors, and grateful to the team in Poland who buys all the food and delivers it to our churches in Ukraine. This is incredibly hard work! May God give strength to everyone!

Pastor Volodymyr

Testimony #1

My name is Nelya. War is a lot of grief and tears. I have two children, aged 4 and 14. We are from Zuhres, Donetsk region, the city of Zuhres. Our hometown is now under occupation. Invaders’ planes were constantly flying and scattering cluster mines. I will always remember that day. There was a terrible whistle. I managed to cover my son and a little girl with cerebral palsy with my body. There was an explosion. I had 18 shrapnel wounds. My son got one fragment in the shoulder. He had a contusion. One shrapnel went through my head. My body was seriously injured. No hospital nearby wanted to take me because there was no bed space. At some point I lost consciousness because I was bleeding and my strength was leaving me. People thought I was dead, and they took me to the morgue. When I woke up there, I was screaming a lot, because it was scary to realize where you were! But now I realize that God helped me and they let me out of there before they could bury me under a pile of dirt! 

After having several surgeries, my child did not recognize me. I had a glass eye inserted. I filed an international lawsuit against Russia because my family and I went through so much, but it is impossible to prove anything. Thank you all for the wonderful food support, for praying to God for me and my family. It gives me the strength to go on somehow. 

Testimony #2

My name is Natalia. We are from the city of Pervomaisk, Luhansk region. Since the beginning of the war, we have lived under the shelling. We had faith and hoped that it would end soon. A shell exploded in the neighboring house. All the light and heat disappeared. We decided to flee. When we were getting into the car, a heavy shelling started. Rockets were flying from all directions. Our family ran into someone else’s entrance and waited for it to end. We were all very scared at the time. We had never known how to pray, but at that time, prayer poured out to God. We fled by car as fast as we could. We hoped to return to our home and drove not far away, where there was no shelling. We had a place to live and a good job. We started to settle down. But later we realized that we cannot go back home. There is no place to go because there is no end in sight to this war. We left for the western part of Ukraine and are still here. With all the stress and worry, I got cancer. I am now taking chemotherapy. I believe that God will give me the strength to get through it. I believe in Him and pray for peace, for His protection of my family. It has been a year since we have been receiving help from you. Thank you for caring, for demonstrating your love for us! 

Testimony #3

My name is Kateryna. For our family, the war began in July 2014. Our child was 12 years old. We suffered, we were waiting for it to end soon and for the children to go to school. The fear was so strong that my whole body was shaking. The child reassured me and said that we would stay alive, just so that mom would not be shaking like that. We lived most of the time in the basement. With God’s help, we were able to move to Kharkiv. 

In 2018, our child entered a boarding school for specially gifted children. On February 24, 2022, when the full-scale war began, I was at work. I saw everything with my own eyes, what and how much was flying at our beautiful city of Kharkiv. I saw all this and my body was shaking again from the memories of the war, of the fears of my previous life. We were on the verge of an emotional and a physical breakdown. So we decided to escape by evacuation bus. Then there were some places where we had to walk through the fields. It was a miracle we got to a safe place. But now, when we started attending an evangelical Christian church, we realized that it was God Himself who protected us and brought us to this beautiful place in western Ukraine. We are grateful for the food aid to everyone involved! Thank you!

In a time of great uncertainty, God is bringing help, healing, and hope to the people of Ukraine through SGA-supported pastors, churches, a seminary, and SGA-supported Compassion Ministry. Be a part of God’s incredible work with your generosity and prayer support.  

Your gift of compassion helps struggling people with emergency aid that generally includes Scripture materials, food, medicine, warm clothing, and shoes.