Iryna & Sasha's Trip to Donbas

Several weeks ago, we took a trip to Donbas—it was incredible! While our time there was limited, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit with as many people as we could. 

On Monday, we arrived in Druzhkivka and went to the store to purchase food vouchers. Following that, we went to Kramatorsk to visit Lera G. On August 1 she had heart surgery. 

Our friendship with Lera began in 2017. This girl lives with her grandparents. Her mother was deprived of parental rights, and she doesn’t remember her father. In 2017, she came with a group of kids to our summer camp for orphans. She came back to our camp again in 2018 and 2019. During the camp, we became good friends and spiritual mentors to Lera. On the night before her surgery, we called her. We talked a lot, prayed, and pondered over God’s Word—she was very scared of dying. Praise God, the surgery was successful! It was so great to see Lera in person—we hugged, prayed, and glorified God together! She shared how the testimony of God’s love was reflected in our love and visit! We thank God for our visit with Lera!

While we were in Druzhkivka, we stopped by the “You are not alone” group. It was created by MMK in the Light of Gospel Church. The leader of this group is the wife of the former pastor, who died last year. It will soon be a year since they began to gather. Every Monday around 20 widows participate in the group. We were very happy to meet them and hear how quarantine has been for them. They shared it has been a difficult and troubling time. They couldn’t gather as a group during this time, which was hard because this group has become like a family for them. Many of them are really lonely people. Praise God that they lived through that difficult time and have still been in touch with ministers to help them navigate this challenging season. Many widows have opened their hearts to God and started to participate in Sunday services! 

The children came later that evening. Music Mission Kiev also supports the children’s ministry that helps orphans and kids from dysfunctional families. In the summer we take children to our camp, so they can have rest, improve their health, and stay in an environment surrounded by love to learn how God loves them! 

During the rest of the year, those kids participate in a food program and Bible lessons in the Light of Gospel Church, led by ministers Liuba and Dima. Our summer camp is kind of like a springboard for future communication with these children. Many children come to meetings, which take place twice a week. However, due to quarantine, everything was stopped. Currently, their meetings have resumed and take place outside the church. Kids play together and draw. After that, they participate in the Bible lesson and then enjoy tea with sandwiches. This time we treated them with juice, bananas, and sweets! It was a good time of fellowship.  

I had a soulful fellowship with some kids. I would like to tell you about Arynka. She has a sister named Sonia and their family are IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). Sonia used to live with her grandmother, while Arynka lived with her parents. The story of this girl is quite unpleasant. 

Arynka lived with her parents because she worried about them due to their alcohol addiction and frequent quarrels. She’s always been like a referee between her parents. She thought that she could help them.

I haven’t seen Arynka for 4 months and changes in her appearance were noticeable. We started to talk. She shared that her parents continue to drink. She’s tired of all this situation and she decided to live with her grandmother and Sonia. Arynka told me that everybody (her family, I guess) swears at her. They claim she got in touch with bad company and started to smoke, and Arynka says it’s not true. We were talking for a long time. After our conversation, Arynka admitted that she started smoking out of anger at her parents and her company is really bad.

We prayed together and asked for God’s wisdom and assistance! We cried and hugged! Dear God, please, save our children from wrong decisions! 

The next morning, we visited the House of Mercy Vifezda. We brought some food for the elderly. There were renovations. We visited grandma Ania. When we arrived, she recognized us and started to cry. She has lost a lot of weight and bedridden. A lump rolled up to my throat and tears just welled up in my eyes, but I held on with all my might and tried to smile. Grandma Ania was glad for our visit. 

When I learned more about Ania’s life, I wanted to cry. When we first met she told me that cancer took her daughter’s life and her son-in-law brought Ania to this house. The director of the House of Mercy, Larysa, was very surprised to hear the story told this way. She told me that she has a document, which officially declared her other daughter's abandonment of her mother. Her son-in-law really brought her here. Ania’s other daughter lives in Kramatorsk.

 “We had a phone call with her and we asked her to come and visit her mother, but she refuses. A couple of times we thought Ania’s life would end soon and we wanted her daughter to come”, shared Larysa. It is a very sad story.

After that visit, we went outside and saw trees that Sasha and I planted. The trees have grown up big and strong! Larysa boasted how they ate cherries and peaches from them. We saw apples on one tree, but they were unripe. 

The garden planted by our Mission grows up and continues to bear fruit!  

Later that day, people who came for the Bible lesson at Christ’s Design Church, were waiting for us to arrive. They expressed much joy—and applauded us like we were famous artists! We were confused, but people told us this was the way they expressed their joy. The lesson went great! After the lesson people came to us and shared their troubles. 

When we walked into the hall, we noticed how the building had been enlarged. Pastor Volodymyr gladly shared that they expanded the hall because there was not enough space. He asked me, “Do you know why?” And he immediately added that many people started to visit the church after our lessons. Many of them participate in Sunday services and invite their friends! These are fruits of Music Mission Kiev here in Druzhkivka! 

I would like to share a story about one man. His name is Ihor N. He’s 59, has a throat cancer, and doctors diagnosed a tumor in his head. He’s an IDP from Gorlivka. 

Ihor lives alone and attends our meetings regularly. He always quietly listened to all the Bible lessons, received a food package, and went home. For the last meetings, he began to wait for everyone to leave to talk to me. He shared his worries with me. Ihor is not able to talk because he literally has a hole in his throat. State authorities will not give him the apparatus, which can help Ihor to talk. They argue that they should not provide such apparatus or the apparatus is out of stock. He has talked to the local administration, but doesn’t get any results. 

After the Bible lesson, he came to me and gave me a hug. He told me that he was waiting for us and God always sends His blessings right in time! 

“Now I pray every morning and every evening to God, staying on my knees!”, Ihor said. He showed me his knees. You know, if you stand on knees for a long time, a coarse skin appears. It was seen that he spends much time on prayer! Ihor continued to share, “Ira, now I believe in God’s existence! Just yesterday I called out to Him, saying that my life is such a challenge. I almost have nothing to eat and I feel hard-hearted. The phone rang. Masha (pastor’s wife) called me and invited me to come on Tuesday to the Church. I came and saw you!” 

Oh, those men can be so sentimental sometimes. Ihor and I shed a tear. Praise God for His help He brings to people through us! Praise God Ihor’s heart for God's love has been opened.

At the exit of the hall, Vasyl A. was waiting for me. I went over to talk with him. He told me that he waited for us to express his gratitude for all the assistance. 

I remember, one time we had a little conflict with Vasyl because of voucher cards. He claimed that my words were just beautiful words, not more. In fact, I lie and the Church lies. Now I see another man in front of me. I see a man, hunched over from traumas. I see a crying man, whose daughter is cruel to him and his grandson is disrespectful to him. In spite of all that, Vasyl loves God. As I was talking to him, I saw clearly how much he loves God.  

He shared a story when one day his daughter didn’t let him go to the Church service. My reaction was, “Well...may God Himself judge her by her deeds”. He exclaimed, “Irochka, no, no, no! No need to judge her! May God save her! I pray for her and love her, because she’s my daughter!” 

After our conversation, we prayed together for Vasyl’s daughter. God blessed us with amazing stories and testimonies on this trip!

Then we had a meeting with widows at Light of Gospel Church and led a Bible lesson. People were grateful for the assistance and for prayers! The main thing we learned is that many people began to attend church.

We then started visits to homes. This is a special time when we visit the people who are physically and spiritually weak. It’s a time when we support people with the our words and deeds! This is always the time when we realize we are the hands and feet of Christ! We saw tears of joy and we heard words of gratitude to us and to our God!   

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Those were two full days! Praise God for the opportunity to serve people! The only thing people asked from us, was to send their great and sincere gratitude for the care they receive through MMK! 

After every meeting, we prayed and thanked God for His assistance! We were grateful for people, who are His helpers here on the Earth! 

As I gave the voucher cards, I told everybody, “It is a little kiss from God’s to you!”

Thank you, Music Mission Kiev for allowing us to serve those who still have to live in the war and the virus (covid) zone!