Updates from Bulgaria about the Ukraine...
Below are some of the notes we've received from our great friend Pastor Angel who is working with people from his church to help and care for Ukrainian refugees.
Click HERE to donate to our UKRAINE CAMPAIGN.
27.03.22: Humanitarian aid for Ukraine, purchased with funds donated by the members and friends of the Christian Church SION - Sofia, was again handed over to the Bulgarian Red Cross. Diapers, baby purees, infant formula, hygiene materials, first aid kits, and blankets were sent, worth BGN 3 450.
Yesterday we had the opportunity to be of help again to three Ukrainian mothers with their children:
"Dear brothers and sisters, thanks to your generosity today a group of refugees from Ukraine felt loved and welcomed in our city. We bought some things: some clothes and shoes, toiletries, and also felt-tip pens and wafers for the children to meet a list of things they had shared with me at my invitation. The people are staying on 4 floors of a hotel next to the zoo and most of them have small children, some have large families. I wrote to them that their needs were met by a small church in Sofia, that we know how this is only a tiny part of the material gaps that need to be filled, but we want to show them that the world has not forgotten about them and that we think of them every day. People have asked me to give you thousands of hugs and to say that they are shocked by the warm welcome and kindness of our country."
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Hello friends Almost every day we respond to appeals for help for Ukraine. As I wrote to you last week, the food aid van has successfully arrived in the town of. Nikolaev. At the same time, Ukrainian families, mothers and children started coming to our church. Many of them I would say have stepped foot in a church maybe once a year, but now that they are alone in a foreign country, the love, care and acceptance we show them breaks them down and we see them grasping for faith in God. Today is Easter here with us and it was a great celebration for our country. I asked one of the refugee mothers to pray for Ukraine. Check out the video, it is touching. We continue to buy where needed baby food, diapers, shoes and clothes. Some of the children and their parents need time and professional help to get over the shock and stress. A huge, huge thank you from the bottom of my heart for stepping up to help, in our mission to help those affected by war. Each week we continue to collect a special offering for Ukraine, what I see is that the people of our church are truly moved by God to help. The problem of over 40,000 refugees who are being housed in private hotels on the Black Sea has not yet been resolved, the arrangement is for them to be there until May 31, as the tourist season starts then, and it is not yet clear where they can be housed after that. Many of them believe and pray that the war will be over in two weeks and they will return to Ukraine. We all want it, but only God knows when and how it will end. This is for now. Greetings and thanks to you as leaders and to your congregations who have joined in the work of helping Ukraine. The pictures are public on my profile, if you wish you can use them ! May the Lord bless and guide you for His kingdom!
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Hello friends, Today it so happened that our neighbors became a refugee family from Ukraine mother with three children and her sister. Even though they didn't have much in the way of food, I didn't hear them grumble for a second about the conditions. Anyway for weeks now these children have been eating only pasta. Today we bought them groceries, fruit, clothes and shoes. Nothing can describe their tears of gratitude. Their only concern was that we shouldn't buy them so much because there must be other refugees who will also need it and they don't want to take more than they need. They will be with us at church on Sunday. On Monday we are expecting a family with 8 children to arrive, they are all deaf, I don't know yet how we will communicate with them, but surely the language of love and kindness needs no translation. I want to thank you for reaching out and supporting our hands to help the refugees from Ukraine. Blessings and stay tuned for news.
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Today as we were walking with the Ukrainian family to their car in the parking lot, there was a car in front of us just pulling away and they recognized the license plate as being from Kiev. There was no way to stop them, the car windows were closed. Then I did something that I hadn't thought of, I shouted loudly, "Glory to Ukraine", the car in front of us stopped, they opened the windows and the door and said, "Glory to the heroes" Another Ukrainian family came down, a mother and daughter, who didn't believe that anyone in the parking lot would support them like that. First they said: we thought it was from the radio. There were hugs, tears of joy and this Sunday we are expecting them to visit us in church to celebrate Palm Sunday too!
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Two Ukrainian mothers, Sofia and Anna, together with their children, who have managed to find shelter in Bulgaria. For the last week we have been taking care of them. Everything they had was packed in two suitcases with basic clothes. Their men have remained in Odessa and are fighting against the Russian aggressor. From our side we bought everything they needed like clothes, shoes and food for them and their children.
Now they in turn are helping us to help the new arrivals from Ukraine. I want to share something that happened while we were in our church yard just talking. Suddenly tears started streaming down Sophia's face. At first I couldn't tell if I had said something wrong and wondered how to proceed. After a while, Sophia managed to swallow her tears and wipe her face. As you know, our church is not far from the airport. The moment she saw a plane fly over our heads she started crying without even thinking, associating the sight with the bombing in Ukraine. The fact is that these are people who have experienced enormous shock and stress, some of them are holding on and coping, others are just crying and others are stubbornly silent. We also do not have enough specialist psychologists who can help them in their own language. All we try to do is love them and help them in any way we can. Praying for God to heal their hearts.
Next Sunday we celebrate Easter here, we have prepared gifts and Easter chocolate eggs for all the Ukrainian children. May God give us much wisdom, patience and love to be able to pull them out of the hole of depression. Yesterday it so happened that a van of our Christian friends that was loaded with humanitarian aid had no fuel to go on, with great joy we filled their tank and gave them enough money to get to the town of. Nikolaev - Ukraine. I will stay in touch with you and will continue to update you with news.
Blessings! Angel
Check out Ukrainian mother praying for her country HERE.
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Hello again,
Currently there are about 87 500 Ukrainians in Bulgaria. The current state programme, which allows Ukrainian refugees to stay and eat for free in a hotel, ends on 31 May. As most refugees are accommodated in hotels along the Black Sea and the tourist season starts from 1 June to 1 September, this is an opportunity for private hotels to make a good profit. As of now, I am worried what the outcome will be after the end of May and where will these people be accommodated?
Here where we live in Pancharevo we have a sports rowing base where about 30 Ukrainian families are accommodated, most of them with two or three children. All the rooms are the same - a double room with bathroom and toilet. Which for a few days is acceptable, but for a prolonged lifestyle is cramped and depressing. However, I haven't heard a single word of complaint about the conditions either. They are just grateful for being helped. It is very difficult to integrate because of the language barrier, there are a few who are so lucky and who can start some kind of work to secure their livelihood.
Mostly we help those here with baby food and diapers. We bought sneakers, spring jackets and hygiene materials for many of the children. We are preparing a small apartment where we can house one family and our church can take care of the maintenance costs, but compared to everyone else it is just a drop in the ocean. The gratitude of the Ukrainians is overwhelming Over 50 Ukrainian citizens participated in a blood drive. Hundreds of them took part in a spring clean-up of streets and alleys in gratitude for being welcomed in Bulgaria. On the other hand, there are pro-Russian parties in our country who promote Putin's war and spew lies and hatred about Ukrainians, the EU and NATO. This so-called propaganda war is unfortunately finding ground in our country.
That's it for now from me I will write again soon to keep you informed!
Thank you and God bless you.
Angel
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Hello friends,
The war in Ukraine has been going on for 95 days. My heart is deeply moved by my trip to Ukraine where we delivered 2 vans of food and medicine. Almost every week we are involved in various initiatives to help Ukrainian refugees settle in Bulgaria, finding accommodation, work and school for the children. There are also Ukrainians who need treatment and hospital care, in some cases the treatment is really expensive. So far, in the past 90 days, we have spent about 50 000 BGN. = 30 000 USD. Of the money raised we still have BGN 15,000 available. = $8,000 which we are working with according to need and circumstance, trying to be as efficient as possible. Unfortunately, a fatigue is already beginning to be felt in the people about helping the suffering refugees, those in homeless and jobless situations, sending medicine and food, etc.
And it is becoming more and more difficult to raise funds. First because of the Kovid crisis, and now because of the war, inflation, which is about 20% since the war, is being felt more and more. Every Sunday we collect a special offering in our church to help Ukraine and as soon as we raise enough we respond to the next need, and it is not one and sometimes we are faced with the dilemma of choosing who to help. I have written to many people I know asking them to help. Unfortunately, you are one of the few who have responded. My solution is as much as our strength allows us as a church to continue to help and I ask you to do so as you are able, it may be one donation a month or two, but please continue and don't stop. No one knows how much longer the war will last and when and how this nightmare will end.
And now for our journey this past week. We were able to fill two vans with products which we successfully delivered to the House of Prayer Church, Sr. Vishnevets, which has literally been turned into a refugee center - a place where refugees from Lugansk and Donetsk are housed. Currently 140 refugees are housed there, who are fed daily, people left without work, without shelter, elderly and mothers with children. The food we delivered with so much hardship across the borders of Bulgaria - Romania - Ukraine will last them for about 1 week, then again "God will provide". Much of the food is packed by the local church and sent in parcels to the front line, where the need is greatest and most difficult to reach by car. This is what the Ukrainian army is now relied upon to do. In this clip I speak to the refugees, telling them that God loves them, that he has not forgotten Ukraine, that they are not alone, that there are people praying for them. That evil will be defeated. It's really hard at times like this to find the right words and hold back your tears. Literally when I left and knew that in two days I would be back in my home of safety and comfort, I felt guilty in front of what I saw with my eyes. I also pray that I will have the opportunity to thank your congregations personally for their generosity and love. May they know what kind of leaders they have who help those who suffer.
I want to share with you a testimony of Pastor Ivan, a Bulgarian married to a Ukrainian. Who was captured by Russian soldiers who first beat him and said he was lying about being a pastor then took him to a room where they began draining his blood. The Russian officer orders them to drain 4 banks of blood. Normally only 1 bank is drawn during a blood donation. And the man is then passed out and needs time for his body to recover. Pastor Ivan, when they start draining the second bank from him realizes that he may not live and starts praying in tongues. Then the nurse overhears him and asks, "What are you, not a Christian, you pray the way I heard my grandmother pray." She decides to save him takes out two other already full blood banks and puts them next to his, when the officer comes in he sees that they have drained 4 blood banks and orders the soldiers to throw him out on the street. He remembers almost nothing after that, 24 hours later he wakes up in the park next to a bench where 2 old women find him and think he's a drug addict. He manages to pull himself together and by the grace of God makes it home. That's how a simple prayer in tongues helped him stay alive.
I have heard and witnessed hundreds of tragedies that one cannot remain indifferent to. And which he will remember for a lifetime. Please pray for us and again: thank you for your help.
Yours for the kingdom!
Angel