Celebrating Christmas when you've lost everything

Christmas in Ukraine: "My home, my friends, and my school, it is all gone..."

Fourteen-year-old Anna was forced to flee her home town in eastern Ukraine along with her family. They now live in an old house in western Ukraine that they share with other families. In a state of disrepair, the house has crumbling plaster, damaged flooring, broken windows, damp and mold.


The house Anna and her family now live in after fleeing their original home is broken down and cold - far from what they had before the war.


Christmas is approaching but the holiday season seems to belong to another life, another place – one that’s now lost forever. There are 3.7 million people still displaced within Ukraine – many of them living everyday with trauma, poverty and uncertainty.

The house Anna once lived in on the main street of Soledar, Donetsk region, has been destroyed. In fact, the whole of Soledar, a strategic salt mining town, now lies in ruins – along with the peacetime life she once enjoyed.

Anna’s mother, Oksana, said, “I remember my feelings when I was looking from the window of the evacuation bus at the place where I grew up and where my children grew up. It was an enormously heavy feeling of loss and insecurity.


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“Nobody could believe that this war would actually happen,” she added. “Even after the first couple of days, we all hoped that it would end very soon. But after a while, everyone understood: this is a catastrophe.

“The bombings became more and more frequent and it was dangerous to go outside. The town became full of Ukrainian soldiers and military equipment. They were going to meet the Russian armada, which was ten times bigger than our army. Many Ukrainian soldiers gave their lives to stop the Russians at least temporarily to give us a chance to escape.”

“First my children were evacuated,” she continued. “They stayed in a temporary shelter, worrying about me and about our relatives, especially during the periods when there was no mobile phone connection.

Anna comforts her mother
Anna comforts her mother.


“When the Russians got close to where we lived, I filled a couple of suitcases with clothing and got on the evacuation bus. In one of the refugee camps there was a programme of refugee allocation. Together with one group I went to Sarny. Soon my children joined me. When we saw each other again, we were smiling and crying at the same time. The children didn’t want to let go of hugging me for a long time. It was how they felt secure.”

The family shares a small living space with cramped quarters
The family, now living as refugees in their own country, share cramped quarters.


 

A small kitchen to work inThe family only has a tiny kitchen with limited appliance to cook in.


Oksana and her children, Anna, Kyrylo, 12, and Oleg, 11, now live in Sarny. They share an old house provided for free with two other families from eastern Ukraine. Oksana also has an older daughter who is pregnant and lives in a room in the same house with her boyfriend.

Anna said, “We are in a new place, but it’s not our new home, at least not for now. We don’t feel accepted, maybe because other people didn’t go through the same things, and they can’t understand us.

“I spend time with other kids who also left the Donbas area, fleeing from the war.” She added, “I feel responsible for my brothers. They are such little kids. When we were separated from our mother, I tried to take care of them.”

Families like Anna’s are extremely vulnerable, battling poverty, trauma, loss, and all the logistics of integrating into a new community at once. That is why Mission Without Borders has started providing regular support to displaced families in Sarny. And at Christmas, we want to ensure families like Anna’s have the opportunity to celebrate.

They may be far from home, fearful of what the future holds, but we know that in Christ, there is always hope, even in the darkest circumstances. That’s why we give out thousands of boxes filled with food and treats to families and elderly people living in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe.

Each box also contains Christian literature explaining the true meaning of Christmas. More than ever, we want to demonstrate God’s generous love and faithfulness to displaced families – and others experiencing poverty and hardship.

Life has changed for the Sapuzhinska kids since the war began
Life now is nothing like it was before the war began for the family.  Even finding a place to play is difficult for the kids.

Sergiy – the MWB staff member who visits Anna’s family – said, “The message that we want to convey through this Christmas campaign while helping displaced families is: ‘We see you; we see the suffering you’re enduring, and we want to be around to bring you relief.

Some people would say that this is just food, but we know the One who stands behind it. We know His power and love, and we want to be His hands to reach out to people who need him.”

For Anna and Oksana and the others, Mission Without Borders’s Christmas boxes are like a miracle. Simply surviving from day to day is an ongoing, stressful challenge – and knowing they have enough food for Christmas fills them with hope.

What Goes Into An Operation Christmas Love BoxWhat goes into an Operatin Christmas love Box

Join us in in helping bring hope and light to families struggling in poverty, war, and other dire circumstances by giving a gift supporting Operation Christmas Love today.
You don't have to wait for Christmas Day to share hope with those in need.

 


Anna and her family are making due the best they can
Anna and the whole familya re praying for peace and a return to normal life as it was prior to the war.

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