Real life stories from the war-stricken country of Ukraine.

What we are about to share with you are first hand accounts of some of the tragedies and hardships facing people we minister to.

Electricity for 4 hours a day.

One of the most eerie experiences is the utter darkness that covers the country of Ukraine. Imagine stepping outside in a city of 100k and it being in total darkness, no streetlights, no house lights just darkness. Hours of not having electricity to have it come on for short periods of time.

The sounds of sirens frequently, so often that people hardly pay attention to it anymore.

No heat

For most people not having electricity means not having any heat also. Unless you have a woodburning stove. Even then not having wood is a problem. On one of Norbi’s trips into Ukraine he heard of a family that needed wood and could not afford it. He gave money to buy the wood but by the next morning the woman had died. Wood stoves, wood, chainsaws are a huge need right now.

We provided some people with generators but the gasoline is too much to run them often. It is about 35$ a day to run them.

Soldiers Everywhere

We have seen the army frantically searching cars for men ages 18-65 to fight at the front lines.

Human trafficking

We have seen the Ukrainian mafia trying to pick up women and children fleeing from the war. Sometimes impersonating pastors who just want to bring them to safety. We alerted the national guard to this problem and they won’t step in because of the mafia being so dangerous. Evil people are using this tragedy to benefit.

Emotional trauma

The refugees that we have here in our town are mainly from the town of Kharkov. This town was heavily damaged at the start of the war. We have seen the pictures of their apartments in ruins. Hearing stories of searching for the beloved cat amongst the rubbles, finding it and bringing it here to Hungary. Tears are still dripping down their faces as they talk about hearing airplanes here and still being frightened. Many of them have lost everything. Arriving here with just a few belongings.

Every trip to Ukraine is different. On one trip they brought blankets and medical supplies to the local hospital. Also, wood stoves and generators to people who needed them. Another trip was food and clothes. Often it is giving money to help in various needs.

We are bombarded by needs that we cannot full fill.