The First Stop After Mariupol
March 27, 2022
“This is what a church should look like today if it wants to be of service.”
I checked in with Andriy on March 27th. I wanted to know if they’d arrived safely in Zaporizhzhia.
He had some time to record an update on where they were and what they were doing. These were his words.
“We’ve arrived in Zaporizhzhia. We are waiting for curfew to be lifted at 5am. Around 6 or 7am we will be leaving with 50 people toward Rivne. Next Wednesday we plan to come back again. We have been provided another bus with room for 50 people, we just need to be able to afford gas, and so on the next trip we will be able to evacuate 100 people from Zaporizhzhia. Through some mutual friends we got connected with a local church here that has served as a big connecting point in the community–they’ve been very involved in providing aid during this time. So we deliver what aid we have to them, and they are well established and connected in the community which makes the distribution of items more timely and efficient. They have contacts who evacuate people from Mariupol, they offer those families a place to sleep here at the church. They are able to host, feed, board people that need shelter. We’ve established a partnership, they’re great people, sacrificing whatever they can to serve in this way. They have connections with the municipal government as well. So they do some of the work, and then we pick up people and bring them to Rivne, find places for them to stay there or take them to the border if they wish. So we are waiting until morning to leave. Today they are awaiting the arrival of a column of vehicles evacuating people from Mariupol; out of the 3000 that were anticipated to get out of the city, 2000 were not allowed to leave (by the russian soldiers) - buses full of 60-70 people had to spend the night just standing up. It’s horrible, it’s just horrible. So [this church] receives people, carefully screens and documents who they’ve received, and then hosts them until we can pick them up. So, we are waiting until the morning to leave.”
Andriy’s team arrived with boxes of aid they’d transported in their buses, and unloaded it at the church.
Pavlik, Andriy’s brother, unloading boxes of food.
Andriy also recorded a video to give a better sense of what assistance in that church looks like.
Andriy: “Hi, friends. We are in Zaporizhzhia, at Grace Church. This church is working as a cordinating centre for logistics [of humanitarian assistance]. This is what a church should look like today if it wants to be of service. Every day people drop off aid of all kinds, people also come to pick up needed items, they transport them where needed… “
*invites the pastor to explain how they work*
Sasha: “We are very close to the location of hostilities and fighting, and the small cars that are allowed to cross [into blockaded cities like Mariupol] are what we use to deliver aid; we can’t deliver in large trucks, only small vehicles.”
Andriy: “So they help hospitals, feed the people working at checkpoints, clothing hung here so that people come and take what they need. They will also be sending clothing to remote villages to people who have been suffering and in need, far away. We’ve seen that there’s good work being done here that’s already organised, and we want to partner. God has orchestrated this partnership. On Wednesday we’ve already arranged for an extra 50-seat bus for evacuating that will also be loaded with more humanitarian aid. The pastor has decided to stay here and help, he understands what his role is.
I wanted to take this video to show how the process here functions and for transparency.
Here you can see where we spent the night. This is what the basement of the church looks like, like many churches. Here they will host people from Mariupol, in various rooms. It’s warm, comfortable. So that you see where your help and prayers are going. Thank you for your help, your support, your participation. May God bless your efforts and your desire to help in this work. And we’re just the donkeys and camels in this operation. :) Thank you again.“
