Ukrainian families who attended a lunch serving their cuisine in Ballymena.,,,
When Russia invaded Ukraine last February, few predicted the war would still be raging a year later. Yet during this time, Elim’s biggest ever relief effort has brought aid to hundreds of Ukrainians. Chris Rolfe talked to pastors and refugee families alike.
Senior Missions Assistant Tim Cobham was blown away by the unprecedented £500,000 raised through Elim’s ERA fund. He has seen first-hand how partnering with Samaritan’s Purse to distribute some of it in Ukraine has brought vital practical relief.
“When Russia first invaded Ukraine and began bombing hospitals I told Samaritan’s Purse we might be able to send £10,000 for an emergency field hospital they were building. Actually, we sent £50,000, then multiples of that since. We never anticipated we’d raise anywhere near £500,000 – it’s amazing what we can do when we work together as Elim.
“In those early days we realised we needed strategic partners who could do things on a far bigger scale than we could. We joined forces with Samaritan’s Purse, which had a lot of people on the ground to assess needs, and church contacts linked with Operation Christmas Child.
“Since then, they’ve built hospitals, brought in thousands of tonnes of food per week and produced nearly 190,000 litres of fresh drinking water per day. They’ve also created eight distribution centres where pastors can collect food to give out locally. Through ERA we’ve been able to support this.
“I got to see the work we’re supporting when I visited the country in October. We saw normal neighbourhoods blasted to smithereens and, with temperatures set to fall as low as 20 degrees below freezing, the main priority was getting people through winter, so Samaritan’s Purse were repairing roofs. Everywhere we went we saw their blue tarpaulins covering holes and being used to make at least one room in a home safe for winter. They’d had 6,000 stoves delivered too.
“I heard so many stories while I was there. In Chernihiv we met some old ladies who had survived in their basements for 40 days with whatever food they had in their homes when the Russians invaded. They’d moved drain pipes to allow rain to run into a bowl so they could have water. And we also heard stories of people coming to faith. As churches give out aid packages they explain they’re helping because they want to share hope and invite people to services. At one meeting 125 people became Christians.
“In Poland we met two families who had fled their homes when Putin took Crimea in 2014. They’d lost everything and had spent the past eight years rebuilding their lives. Then Putin invaded last year and they had to run again. You hear this story over and over. The question for the vast majority of people now is how do they get back to where they were, to their communities?”
COUNSELLING
Through his work on the Polish border and in Ukraine, Elim minister Christy Smith has assessed the situation and distributed ERA funds where they were most needed, bringing aid and trauma counselling.
“One of the worst things I saw in this conflict was thousands of women and children walking across the border into Poland carrying Aldi bags, desperate, destitute and traumatised. But with Elim funds we were able to help. At the beginning we were on the Polish border, bringing people across, meeting them off trains and helping them get on buses to other places in Europe. We were able to buy essentials like bottled water, deodorants, shower gel and place them at the station for people to take.
“Later, we went into Ukraine, to Bucha, and worked with an evangelical Bible college to provide aid. The college Principal has organised so many distributions and rescues. At the start of the invasion, he was trapped behind enemy lines for five days in a basement with 100 people. He had to sneak past the Russians to bring people out.
“The college has a network of around 70 churches all over Ukraine which was distributing food, and we helped them feed a couple of hundred families in a village where a massacre took place.
“We’ve also trained a group of leaders in Poland to provide trauma counselling, because people were taking in families but didn’t know how to cope with people who were crying and had no idea how to process their grief.
“More recently we’ve been helping people through winter because temperatures in Ukraine drop to -20C. Electricity is a big problem because Russia has destroyed so much infrastructure, so the biggest need is generators, power packs and cooking equipment.
“We sent five generators, seven power packs, hundreds of torches, thermal underwear, warm clothing and sleeping bags. We sent power banks to Kharkiv hospital to keep equipment working when the power goes out.
“Village after village has been bombed out. They have nothing – no water or electricity – and are taking water from rivers and cutting down trees to get wood for cooking. We’ve given out family packs with basins, cups, water purification tablets, torches, thermal underwear, cutlery, plates and food.
“Being able to provide help like this through ERA has been great. I wanted Elim to leave a footprint in Ukraine because, for me, humanitarian aid is also an opportunity to evangelise. Everywhere we go we tell people we’re here for one reason – God loves them – and we’re demonstrating that in a practical way. ERA made that possible.”
NEW FUTURE
The war in Ukraine forced Svetlana and her son Maksym to flee their home and, with the support of Ballymena Elim, build a new future. Svetlana explains:
“Our journey from Ukraine to Ballymena was long. It took us almost two days to reach the border of Ukraine and Romania. We then stayed in Romania for a week, travelled 36 hours on a bus to Germany and after a while flew from Amsterdam to Belfast.
“In Northern Ireland, it felt like we were going through the motions initially, not really knowing how we felt about anything.
“The first challenges we faced were filling out all the different forms and applications – that seemed like an endless procedure.
“My son Maksym was planning to go to technical college back home last autumn, but instead he had to return to school in a different country, not really knowing the language.
“For me, I had planned to stay in my job at Evangel Theological Seminary in Kyiv until I retired, but instead I had to look for a new job and learn new skills. I completed a course on community interpreting and am presently working in a grammar school as a sixth form supervisor.
“Maksym is getting better at school and is very happy learning about car repairs with a local mechanic.
“Praise God that he is watching over us. He has promised he will never leave or forsake us!
“For me, it’s been very important to have church support to feel I am not alone. Ballymena has organised lunches where Ukrainian people can enjoy fellowship and great food.
“For the majority of us Ukrainians it is difficult to communicate in English, so just being able to talk to each other in our own language is a joy.
“Thank you for opening your doors to us and for your hospitality and support. Please continue to pray for us and our country.”
From Direction Magazine 244
