Voice of Ukraine

From Lyuda Betina in Belgorod Dnestrovsky (Day 441):

News from Ukraine

We have a good news, we completed the process of the purchase of the building for the Refugee Center. Now we own the building and after some renovation and improvement several families of refugees will live there.

The building is rather big with a large yard. There is also a place where we can do a group work and individual counseling. We thank God for this wonderful answer to our prayers. We thank all people who donate to this project, pray for us and support in many different ways.

Yesterday, May 9, was the day that has always been special and full of joy and sadness. In the Soviet Union we celebrated it as a Victory day. On this day there were many concerts, military parades, laying flowers on the graves of soldiers and other pompous ceremonies. When Ukraine became independent, the focus of the holiday changed and it became more of a day of mourning and memory of the people who died in the war. In the Soviet Union, they talked a lot about the heroism of veterans, gave them medals and honored them at large rallies, but there was very little interest in their health and their needs.

On this day, I always remember my grandfather, who fought long four years in WWII, he was seriously wounded in 1945 and met the Victory Day in the hospital. His left leg was amputated and he walked with prosthesis the rest of his life. He did not like to talk about the war, and only now I understand why. War is not a beautiful picture of heroism, as it was presented to us in the past, it is suffering, horrors, millions of deaths and a big wound in the heart that does not heal for a lifetime.

These days we remember that terrible war and see what is happening to our country now. We see many parallels. There is nothing new in the world, evil always brings death and destruction.

The last two nights have been very restless. Twenty five rockets were sent to our territory. Our enemy is very fond of sacred dates and is especially atrocious on holidays. Last night a big explosion shook everything around, the earth trembled, the windows flung open by themselves, the blast wave went for many kilometers. We realized that there was a hit somewhere nearby. We found out in the morning that a rocket had hit the resort area next to us. The rocket hit one of the private hotels and there was nothing left of it, only a large funnel. Nearby houses were also damaged. The only consolation is that these houses were empty and people were not hurt. We know people whose house was destroyed (Sveta and Kolya). For many years we watched them work hard building their house, develop it and start a hotel business where their whole family worked providing for their livelihood. They lost everything. Our resort zone looks devastated, there are many destroyed buildings.

We received a message and a photo from our youth leader Paul. In the photo he is sleeping on the ground using a piece of wood as his pillow. As an experienced hiker he also made a “matrass” of wood not to lie on the cold ground. He has a prayer request, he suffers from seasonal allergy. It’s hard for him now when everything is blooming and he has to spend all the time in the field. Please, pray for him.

I keep in touch with Alex, the soldier who had suicidal mood a month ago. His unit is very close to the front line now. He sent me a message yesterday, he needs connection with somebody who would give him support, encouragement and comfort. Our counselor George who has a great experience working with soldiers, communicates with him, too.

Thank you for your prayers, many people here feel that great support in everyday spiritual battle.

In Christ,
Lyuda

P.S. There are photos of the building for the Refugee center, the photos of the refugees that we work with and the photo of our youth leader Paul who is resting on the ground.