Voice of Ukraine

From Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (421st day): About a year ago, we started raising funds to provide new shoes for internally displaced kids. At that time, in Uman, Lviv and Cherkasy our teams worked with many families that had to flee from their homes ruined by the war. In most cases, people traveled with emergency backpacks that didn’t include many changes of clothes. They had to run in the winter, but when spring came, kids (and adults) needed to change winter boots for something weather appropriate. With the help of many people around the world, we have been able to provide thousands of kids’ shoes – first for spring, then summer, then winter boots and jackets.

Unfortunately, the need is not getting smaller. Kids grow, seasons change, many areas of Ukraine are still occupied, some parts are still being leveled to the ground by invaders’ artillery, people can’t return home or to any kind of normal life. We want to continue helping. In the next few posts, I will share current specific needs. Kids’ Shoes Project is one of those. A pair of shoes costs $10-15. We pray and hope that the kids who get new shoes will not only benefit physically but their hearts will be healed even just a little bit by experiencing the kindness of strangers.

Their worlds fell apart a year ago, they experienced fear, they felt their parents’ despair, they lost their home, friends, and sense of security, and they spent a significant part of their short lives in bomb shelters. How will the world ever become a safe place for them? A pair of shoes or a new jacket will not fix deep trauma, but experiencing kindness again and again, hearing about Hope, and being a part of a caring community will bring healing with time. And someday they will pay it forward by helping someone in need.

If you want to help with the Shoe Project, you can donate with this specific designation through our ministry, International Partnerships. https://ipministry.org/donate/ It’s best to copy/paste the link and to open website in a separate web browser, not inside of Facebook.

PS. Photos in this post are from the distribution of shoes that took place 2 days ago in Uman Church Resurrection of Christ.