God Writes New Stories
Every day at the camp in Zakościele and at the Family Crisis Center for the Nations in Tomaszow, I meet people who bear the image of God, young and old, and I see the Lord at work in their lives. Even in the midst of tragedy and deep grief, there are moments of hope. I would like to share a few of their stories here.
You can meet a few of the people described below in this powerful video created by the Proem team; it depicts a day in the life of those who have escaped the war in Ukraine and who are now staying at the Family Crisis Center.
Healing
One woman arrived from Ukraine with her adult daughter and grandchildren. Upon arrival, she had some concerns, went to a doctor in Poland, and discovered she had cancer. We all praised God along with her as she was able to have surgery to remove all of the tumor. While she had not been a believer in her lifetime, this crisis and the care she received from the medical team and with her new friends demonstrated Jesus’ love to her. She and her daughter were baptized.
Birth
Spring brought new life into the world. While I anticipated this to occur with animals at the camp (and we did increase in the number of bunnies!), I did not expect to get a new neighbor. During my time staying at the camp this spring, before the center opened, a Ukrainian woman was living next door to me. She had one little girl already and gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl while she was with us.
Vadim & Ira
Vadim and Ira came from Mariupol where they stayed for first 50 days of war, hiding with their whole church community in the church’s basement. Once it became harder to survive, they decided to leave the town in a convoy of 25 cars with all the 130 people. After some problems at the Russian checkpoint, they were able to get to Zaporozhe and then further to Poland. They stayed with us for a couple of weeks, helping a lot in the Center and decided to go back to Mariupol to see what else can they do there. They renovated their own destroyed house and right now are waiting for the opportunity to get to the U.S.
Tatiana
Tatiana managed to escape Ukraine with her elderly mother Elizaveta and handicapped son, Sergei, suffering from cerebral palsy. They went through a very long journey and came to our camp in Zakościele. After some time, there we were able to move them to the Center in Tomaszow and they have been staying with us since June 1. Tatiana is very grateful and ready to help whenever she can. Her husband is back in Ukraine serving as a chaplain in local communities, taking also humanitarian aid wherever is needed.
Animal Connections
During one week of camp, I met a young girl from a Polish orphanage who had some severe physical impairments. She was shy, but right away when she saw Sheriff, our camp dog, her face lit up. She brushed him and later came to the animal section of the camp called Zako Rancho to see other creatures. Through this time playing with gentle Sheriff, two other girls began interacted with the dog as well. They moved from talking together to Sheriff into talking to one another and forming friendship.
Brothers
There are twin brothers in the Center that were able to run away from Ukraine. On the way to the border, while traveling with whole family one of them was stopped by Russian soldiers. Once they realized they were Ukrainians they opened fire and killed whole family on the spot including their mother. This young man survived because he held a dog and the bullet pierced the animal and was stuck in the shoulder of the man. He pretended to be dead and as soon as Russians left, he managed to get out of the car, get help and get to the border. He came to our place and right now he already recovered and is waiting for a visa to Canada together with his brother.
Thank You
I hope these stories give you a glimpse of the way God is moving through the hearts of those I have the blessing to meet here in Poland. Thank you for your prayers for all of them and for me as well.
-dorota