Air raid sirens. Buzzing drones overhead at night. Long, dark winter nights with no electricity. A new atrocity to grieve each day. War has taken its toll on the people of Ukraine. Many are anxious, exhausted, and depressed.
People whose homes were damaged by drone or missile attacks are deeply affected. For some, headlines about drone strikes bring back raw memories of the night their home was under attack and they didn’t know if they’d see the light of another morning.
We work with Christian contractors in Ukraine to repair homes for people like these. Often these interactions give the Christian contractors opportunity to lift troubled people’s spirits, share the Gospel with them, and invite them to their church.
Recently we’ve been helping several people in an apartment building damaged when a drone crashed into the ground just outside the building one night this winter. The blast broke most of the windows on that side and damaged some of the doors, walls, and items inside.
One woman was awakened by the sound of an approaching drone. By the tone of its engine, she judged it was coming down, not just passing overhead. She hid behind an interior wall for extra protection. The explosion just outside her apartment shook the ground and sent shards of glass from her window into the wall across the room, close to where she had been sleeping. When our staff visited two weeks later, bits of glass were still visible in the wall.
A floor above, Oleh and Olena never heard the drone coming. They awoke to a thundering explosion, windows shattering, and a gas line bursting into flames outside. Oleh was injured, so they called an ambulance. “I don’t even know how we survived,” Olena said. “It was terrible; everything was shattered.”
A few years ago, they thought they had their lives in order as they prepared for retirement. Then Oleh began having health problems including a heart attack and cancer. And now this. “We thought we’d have a normal life, and you see what happened,” Olena said.
When she tries to sleep at night, Olena still seems to hear explosions, even when it’s quiet outside. Her voice quavered with emotion as she relived the painful experience, but she was grateful no one was killed.
It’s a privilege to help bring healing and hope as we rebuild and repair homes for people who have suffered so much. Thank you for partnering with us!
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