Editor’s note:  The city in which Ludmilla lived, Mariinka, has been leveled since this story was shared with MNN.  

Ukraine (MNN) — War broke out between Russia and Ukraine in 2014 over the Donbas region. Numerous attempts at peace haven’t stopped the bombardments, and civilians continue to suffer.

Eric Mock of the Slavic Gospel Association tells the story of a woman named Ludmilla: “She and her husband had been married for 27 years when he died suddenly. That was 18 years ago. They had a nice home just on the other side of the battle line towards Donetsk. When the fighting broke out, she fled along with her son to this village.”

But the house she was staying in got hit by artillery fire, knocking off the roof. She had to move into an old potato cellar below the building. Mock says, “She’s lived in this basement for seven years. Nowhere to go, no real family to turn to. She told me how lonely she was and how difficult it was to live in seeming isolation. And as we talked about her life, about how Christ had never given up on her and never left her behind, she talked about how the local church is there visiting. The local church has made a difference in her life.”

The service of local churches

Mock points out that these Christians also live in the warzone, so they also suffer from the bombardments. Yet they continue to serve. “By God’s grace, SGA, through our compassion ministry program, has been providing bags of groceries to these churches that allow them to minister for these last seven years to people in need.”

The government isn’t doing anything for people in this warzone, but the local churches continue to help and share the hope of Jesus. You can support these churches through SGA here.

 

Header image courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association.