Stories from the Heart of Ukraine

BY MJ LOHNES

 

It’s becoming personal.

This war. These attacks. The pain.

It’s becoming more personal than ever. Every day, I make a new relationship with either a Romanian or Ukrainian and their stories of survival break my heart.

My heart is heavy.

I see the confused eyes of a 17 year old who saw bombs dropped on her town and cannot finish school.

I see the love in a mothers eyes who made a Ukrainian dish for me in her temporary home in Romania.

I see the joy of a child who runs to her mama’s arms.

I see the fear in a woman’s eyes when planes fly over Craiova.

I see the tears a wife’s eyes when she explains to me that her husband is in the city that was just bombed and she hasn’t heard from him today.

I feel the warmth of a mothers hug when she tells me how thankful she is when I hand her some bread and water for the week.

I see so much gratitude in the midst of traumatic pain and loss.

Yet… I don’t know how to explain to everyone how it feels to put names and faces with men, women, and children who left behind loved ones.

My soul and heart cry out to God “Oh, my King, how much longer, Lord? How much longer will this go on?”

I see pictures of more and more people dead in the street.

These aren’t just stories. These are real things happening and I’m holding the hands of those who walk through it.

I feel how much it grieves my heart, but how much more does it grieve the heart of God?

Father, forgive us of our sin!!

Isaiah 61:1-3 says:

 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

In the past fews days I have met many Romanians and Ukriainians. And I’d love to tell you their stories.

First, Alexander. In Ukraine, his nickname is Sasha. Sasha is 35 years old and was able to leave Ukraine because he has three children. He is our translator to the Ukrainians we help. He is trying to move to Canada long term, but we have all told him he isn’t allowed to leave yet because we love him so much hahaha. Sasha speaks English pretty well for being a Ukrainian because many of them do not know English. He has two nicknames for me: first, Oklahoma (because I’m not cool hahaha) and second, Forrest Gump (because I told him I was tired from running around the other day.)

 Second, Nadya. Nadya does manicures and pedicures for a living. We got our nails done at her house to help support her while she is here. She has two daughters: one who is 18 years old and the other is 3 years old. While she painted my nails, she told me that her husband was left behind to fight. With tears in her eyes, she told me how much she missed him. Then suddenly, a plane flew over our house and she started crying because it sounded like the planes in Ukraine before the Russians would bomb cities.

Third, Radu. Radu reminds me of my brother because he doesn’t like to interact with people much and is comfortable in silence. He is a Romanian who doesn’t know any English but he drives us wherever we need to go for ministry. Radu lived in Germany for 8 years. He told me (through google translate) the people are cold and he is thankful to be back in Romania. Radu is extremely shy and sometimes will just ignore my questions when he’s fed up with social encounters hahaha. The way I bond with Radu is counting to 3 in German. I get a little smile out of him when I do. That’s enough for me.

Fourth, the house 4 women. I walked into this house to give these women their supplies for the week and immediately they made me sit down in their kitchen and they made me a Ukrainian dish: Borscht. It’s made of tomatoes, beans, celery, onions, and red sauce. Their hospitality was beautiful. They have nothing, yet they gave so much.

I don’t want to forget these people. I don’t want to forget any of it.

Updates:

1. We finished the convoy for this past week! They were able to get into Ukraine and deliver supplies. Praise the Lord! I go next week so prayers for continued safety.

2. Tomorrow, Brit and I are hanging out with Nadya and her house at the park. We are going to buy them all coffee. We hope to help them forget about the pain for a little while.

3. Brit was able to fundraise money for Nadya so others could get manicures and pedicures. So we are going to get some Romanians and Ukrainians to her house to get their nails done. Praise God!!

4. Starting Sunday, we will be getting ready for another convoy. Pray that me and Brit have the energy to keep going. We want to give our all.

Also, if you would like to give towards the Ukrainians and Hope Church Romania, please do not give towards my World Race link!! Here is where you can give: https://togetherformission.com/donate-for-ukraine/

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I could have never imagined that the Lord would use me to bring a little light to the Ukrainian people.