Bobbie Tinnion, left, of Ballymena Elim welcomes Svetlana and Maxim to Ireland.,,,
Ballymena Elim began welcoming seven members of a Ukrainian family into their church earlier this year. Pastor Viktor Karplyuk – Elim’s Global Leader in Ukraine – his wife Alla, their sons Andrii (13) and Tymothii (11), their daughter Sofiia (5), his niece Dina and her friend Tatiana, had fled to Dublin via Poland.
After a spell living in Ballyvaughan, the family received UK visas enabling them to travel to Northern Ireland where they were provided with a home, and the small coastal community of Ballymena was mobilised to support them.
Since then, Ballymena Elim has extended its welcome still further. The church sponsored Svetlana – a friend of Elim regional leader Paul
Hudson – and her son Maxim to come to Northern Ireland. The church was readying itself to assist 11 more Ukrainians, with plans to help still more in the future.
Bobbie Tinnion has been a key contact for Pastor Viktor’s family, whom she met four years ago on a mission trip to Ukraine. She told Direction about her emotional reunion with them.
The day after the family’s arrival in the Republic of Ireland, I travelled to spend a few days with them, and what a reunion that was! The tears, fear, pain and anxiety were tangible.
We hugged, then sat in silence holding hands and crying. The silence spoke volumes – grief, sorrow and then a glimmer of hope broke through.
Pastor Viktor’s niece Dina started to sing a prayer song and we sat in silence while she sang. Then one voice after another joined in and they started to thank God that they were in a place of safety.
All they wanted was love and to see a familiar face.
Ballymena Elim members were quickly mobilised to pray not only for Pastor Viktor and his family but for other families and friends who remained in Ukraine too.
The family were completely preoccupied not with their own situation but with those they had left behind – mothers and sisters, and brothers who were fighting.
One aunt had been trapped with other relatives hiding in a basement in Mariupol for 20 days, living on steamed buckwheat. They couldn’t be evacuated but a few days ago they were taken to hospital. Pastor Viktor was also very concerned about those who were vulnerable and didn’t have anybody to bring them out. He had met people in orphanages with learning disabilities, for example, and has no idea what’s happened to them.
Our church made heart cards containing prayer requests for people the Ukrainians are concerned about so we can mobilise members to pray, because we know only prayer is going to change the situation in Ukraine.
It was a joy to take the ladies shopping and for coffee in Galway too. For a few hours they window-shopped and eventually bought a few absolute essentials like toothpaste, shoes and pyjamas.
The family weren’t interested in their own material needs, but we asked each of them to write a wish list of basic everyday items like pencils, erasers and socks. Five-year-old Sofiia wrote that she would like a T-shirt, pants and pencils with cats on. Since then, the church and community have warmly welcomed the family. We have something called The Store House at Ballymena which helps local people. They printed each necessity from the wish lists on heart-shaped cards and church members young and old took them, indicating they would provide the required item.
The family have been joining our services online and the adults were welcomed online to the Elim Ireland Academy. Each person has been given a buddy from the church who communicates and prays with them each day via WhatsApp and FaceTime.
The young women, Dina and Tatiana, are being encouraged by two young women of similar ages and the youth department is connecting with the younger ones. People in church have registered to open their homes to other families too.
My experience meeting them reminded me of the days following the genocide in Rwanda in the early 90s when I was privileged to help Rwandan women and families. The pain, deep sorrow, confusion, fear and anxiety is real, but then you hear them worshipping and praying and can see they are confident that their hope remains in God.
From Direction Magazine issue 237
