Slavic Ukraine Update

Slavic’s September 30 letter recounts his experience with his Moldovan team as they help people in Ukraine and Moldova affected by the war.

“I have already traveled to Ukraine three times [in September] to deliver aid. These were food and hygiene products. I visited the city of Vinnitsa. I visited a seminary and church in the city of Irpin. I visited the church in Knyazhichi, near Kyiv.”

“An incident happened while we were there. We drove down the street and saw a destroyed house. I stopped to take a photo (see image below). The hostess came out from behind the house and asked, 'What do you need?' I said 'I’m sorry about what happened to your house; my friend from Moldova and I came to help with food and hygiene products. If possible, we want to take a photo to show what is really happening in Ukraine.' She allowed us.”

“Then we got to know each other and talked. She told us that she and her husband celebrated their golden wedding anniversary (50 years) last December. She is 70 years old. The children went abroad, and she and her husband rent an apartment, because it is impossible to live in the house. Everything that they have acquired in their lives is destroyed. We left food and hygiene products, told her about the Lord, and tried to comfort her as much as possible.”

“In the church of the village of Knyazhichi, we visited on a Wednesday evening. Every Wednesday, a service is held in the church, and after the service, help is distributed to people who, at that time, began to return home. People were out of work. Some left for other regions of Ukraine, or abroad. Some return home, but the sirens and explosions do not stop, so some people leave again. In general, the situation is very difficult.”

Slavic continued: “I have a missionary friend from Ukraine who worked in Turkey last year. When we were in Antalya last year, we met him. He helped us and took us to biblical places. In February, he and his wife went on vacation in Ukraine. On March 4 he was supposed to return to Turkey, but because of the war, he was not allowed to leave. He asked permission and was allowed to stay in Ukraine a month in order to resolve issues with the return to Turkey. He finally left Ukraine, stayed with us in Chisinau last weekend, then went back to Turkey.”

Slavic notes, “In our church, three Sunday school classrooms have been converted especially for refugees. I have assisted various families, groups of people who needed to complete paperwork and find transport. Every week, I have to deal with different issues with one of the refugees. The flow of refugees has become smaller, but it does not stop. In mid-September, it continues at 500-600 per day at just one border crossing. More than 100 people passed through our house during the three months of the war. In my office, very often I let refugees overnight for several days who are in transit, passing through Moldova.”

“Today, I can devote less time to refugees, because I do not have enough money to support my family. That is why I’m looking for a job, our prices have gone up a lot – many items approximately doubled from last year because of the war. And in the winter they promise to raise energy prices. At the end of August, we left for Romania to have some rest.”

Moldova continues to help with refugees from Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government in mid-October advised refugees outside of Ukraine not to come back yet because of recent damage to power-generating facilities. A Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister announced that power networks “will not cope" in the winter and that “the situation will only get worse" (BBC News, October 25). For more information on recent MMN support for refugees, see the MMN News page.

Prayer request: That Slavic will not have to reduce his service to God by getting a second job.

To assist Slavic in his work please send a check to Moldova Mission Network, 4919 43rd Place, NW, Washington, DC 20016.

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