So while the fighting is currently in the eastern side of Ukraine, no region of Ukraine gets to live in peace at all times. Please, please continue to remember Ukraine and pray for Ukrainians! The war likely does not get the attention it once did in the news, but it does rage on and people's lives are at stake. Below are a few pictures of lives altered or ended because of the war. The first few stories are of people I do not know personally, but who are representative of so very many Ukrainians. Please let these brief stories serve as a reminder that while the war has negative ripple affects all around the world, on the economy, on prices, on the availability of various products, it is most important to not forget the direct and lasting impact it has had and continues to have on the lives of Ukrainians.
Advancing With A Limp
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Approaching 4 months
So while the fighting is currently in the eastern side of Ukraine, no region of Ukraine gets to live in peace at all times. Please, please continue to remember Ukraine and pray for Ukrainians! The war likely does not get the attention it once did in the news, but it does rage on and people's lives are at stake. Below are a few pictures of lives altered or ended because of the war. The first few stories are of people I do not know personally, but who are representative of so very many Ukrainians. Please let these brief stories serve as a reminder that while the war has negative ripple affects all around the world, on the economy, on prices, on the availability of various products, it is most important to not forget the direct and lasting impact it has had and continues to have on the lives of Ukrainians.
Monday, May 9, 2022
Evacuations Continue and Rehab Resumes
It has become increasingly difficult to find places in Europe able to house people with disabilities, so please pray for this provision as the need for these evacuations does continue. Agape will continue to receive, house and feed refugees with disabilities, but as of today we are also back in the swing of rehab. Our patient load is decreased as our about 1/3 of our employees are not in Ukraine and our rehab team consists of only 6 people at this time. But we are thankful to be able to take this step and open our doors again to those in need of physical rehabilitation!
In my previous blog, I wrote that we were in need of one or more buses to replace our rapidly declining ones. Praise the Lord, funds were provided and two buses found in Germany!! One bus has been purchased and is already at Agape and the second one is in the process of being purchased this week. Thank you to all who prayed and gave financially toward these much-needed buses!
Also in recent weeks, Sveta, Alina (our speech therapist) and I made another trip to Budapest to receive money donated by so many of you for Agape. God blessed the trip, we were able to see a bit more of the city, and also got to tour the apartment our new friends in Budapest are renting for Ukrainian refugees.
While we have partially resumed "normal life" with the beginning of rehab today, the war in Ukraine continues to be seen, heard, and felt. A fuel shortage has resulted in hours of waiting lines at the pumps, if you can even locate a gas station that still has the type of fuel you need. Prices are understandably rising for everything. Air raid sirens continue to go off at varying frequencies. The fighting in the east is never far from anyone's mind. And the need for prayer and divine intervention to end this war is known by all.
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Keeping on!
Those of us currently working at Agape have also had a few gatherings to celebrate birthdays or just have some needed time of fellowship together.
This was a "big #" birthday so we had to order some good stuff to celebrate |
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A drive-by surprise to serenade our speech therapist on her birthday! |
So what is next at Agape? Well, as of today we have a timeline of May 2 for restarting rehab on a limited basis! We have many questions to answer and details to work out, but that is the current plan. We will continue accepting refugees, but the number will have to be reduced. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find places in Europe ready and willing accept people with disabilities, so the evacuation process will likely continue to slow down as more time is needed between groups to work out all the details. And we are receiving more and more phone calls from people with recent injuries or diagnoses who are in need of rehab. So we will attempt to do both rehab and refugee care simultaneously for a time. Please pray for us as we work out all the details. Many of our employees are still in Europe with no time frame on when they will return to Ukraine, so operating at full capacity is still in the future, but we plan to get started.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Home again
Before leaving Uzhhorod we were able to make another trip to Budapest to receive cash from America for Agape. One positive aspect of this war and the resulting displacement and travels for us has been making some new friends. Davide and Orsi welcomed us into the home for the night and we enjoyed our time of fellowship with them. This godly couple is generously and selflessly giving of their time, finances, and home to help Ukrainian refugees. And there are thousands more people just like them all across Europe who are assisting Ukrainian refugees in some way. It is a blessing to now call this couple our friends!
Thank you once again to all who have generously donated!! We brought most of the money back with us to Lutsk, but we were able to use some to purchase medications requested by Agape that were not available in Lutsk. We probably stopped at 10 pharmacies across Uzhhorod, but were thankful to be able to send back most of what was requested!
Doesn't look like very much, but about $800 worth of needed meds
I am grateful to be back in Lutsk and helping at Agape. It has been such a joy to be reunited with friends who are still here and try to connect more with friends who are in Europe.
We are all praying for an end this war so that everyone can come home and rehabilitation at Agape can resume. But until then, Agape continues the work of receiving refugees and evacuating people with disabilities and their families to Europe. Another group of about 60 people was evacuated on Sunday and the next group is scheduled to depart this Friday.
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Loading the buses on Sunday |
With the rapid and large turnover of people at Agape, laundry is a big task for which Sveta and I are now responsible. Fimiam Church and another local church also bring us their bedding when refugees depart from their facilities. So we stay pretty busy with that task, as well as helping clean Agape and prepare the rooms and rehab gym for the next arrivals.
For now, that is the update from here. I want to thank everyone once again for your outpouring of support!!! For those still interested in making a financial donation, you may do so via:
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Quick Update
Let me open by saying THANK YOU to all who have prayed, contacted me through various means to offer encouragement, offered to assist in any way, and donated financially!! The outpouring of support has been almost overwhelming (in a good sense) and such a blessing in these days of war in Ukraine. SO many people have contributed financially. The sum total of donations to date is beyond what I could have imagined or projected and donations just continue to come in. On behalf of all of us here, I say to all who are donating, "Thank you so much! We will continue to seek to be good stewards of these funds in meeting the needs of Ukrainians with and without disabilities in these days."
Many of you have continued to reach out to me personally. While I desire to respond to each person, I cannot always find the time for a detailed reply. So here are some highlights of the past week for me.
While in Uzhgorod, we have been:
- Doing rehab with Vasya (our former patient) for a couple of hours each day (we are currently staying in his house where he no longer lives). His wife, Maria, is super busy as they are hosting many refugees as well as continuing their work with girls who have aged out of the orphanage. Our time with Vasya allows Maria to focus her attention and efforts on the needs of those living in their facility, knowing her husband is cared for and active.
- Volunteering at the large operation taking place in Uzhgorod to feed refugees, both those living here and those waiting in lines at borders and checkpoints. It's amazing to see the scope of the work and to assist even in small ways, such as washing dishes or making sandwiches.
- Traveling to pharmacies to collect medications requested by Agape. Yesterday we were asked to buy as much seizure medication as we could find. Many children with disabilities who are coming through Agape as refugees are in low supply and the local pharmacies are also out. Unfortunately, that is almost the case in Uzhgorod as well, but we were able to find a few boxes to purchase and will continue to search. Today we received another long list of medications to purchase, so we will set out tomorrow to work on finding them, Lord-willing. Money received from your donations is giving us the possibility to meet these needs for medications. So again, thank you! Please pray that we will be able to locate all the medications on the list and in the quantities requested.
On Saturday morning, Sveta, her mom and I set out for Hungary. God blessed the trip and we were able to cross the border in 1.5 hours and make our way to Budapest where Stacy, our new friend, was waiting to welcome us. She is the acquaintance of a friend of a friend - I think! She took me in for 4 nights and helped me accomplish many tasks! Sveta and her mom flew to Berlin on Sunday so her mom could live with her brother. While waiting for Sveta to return, Stacy and I set about understanding how we could receive cash from America. The process had several bumps along the way, but in the end we made it back to Ukraine with much cash from donations in America and Europe. So thanks again to all of you!
We plan to repeat this trip early next week to retrieve more cash, Lord-willing. Then we will determine how best to get this cash back to Agape. Using the traditional method of transferring to a bank account here is still not a good idea according to our Agape accountant, so we are maximizing our means of obtaining cash. Please pray with us that the current avenues do not close for us and that if they do we will be able find alternate means quickly to continue to receive cash.
Agape and our ministry have also been very active. The third group of people with disabilities to be evacuated to Europe left Agape this morning. We are thankful that the first two groups are now settled in various locations in Germany. All of the groups include children and adults with disabilities, some of their family members, and additional caregivers from our team as needed. Many different organizations throughout Europe are willing and able to assist in evacuating people with disabilities and providing them with housing and care. People are being so generous with their time, energy and resources. God is truly using His people all over the world. Here are few pictures of some of the groups in transit:
The parting of a young girl with a disability and her grandfather, who is one of our Agape employees, at the border. |