Outreach to Flood Victims in Western Ukraine (Part 2)

Valya and Olya with a woman whose home was damaged by the flood

Just to give you an idea of where we went, this map shows the straight line distance from Chernihiv to Novoselytsia in the Chernivtsi Oblast (If only the drive had been that simple).

Once we arrived in the village of Novoselytsia and met our hosts from the local Baptist church, we waisted no time in getting out to meet the people. We picked up some food that had been donated by other Baptist churches in Ukraine and then the Chernihiv church also purchased some food and supplies to be distributed. We headed out to some of the areas in the village that had been hit by the flood. People were very grateful for what we could give them and had tears in their eyes when they learned how far we had come just to help them. Almost everyone had lost their gardens to the flood so any food we could give was greatly appreciated. Anya Knotts has also posted about this so please check out that blog as well. Mission: Western Ukraine flood area

This woman is explaining how her house, behind her, collapsed during the flood.

This woman lives alone and was thankful for what we could give her and for the time the girls spent talking with her.

This man was walking his goat home when he saw us giving out food. I carried a bag of potatoes to his home where he and his wife showed me how high the water had come.

Once the food was all handed out, we decided to visit the home of a woman from the Baptist church there in Novoselytsia. She had almost completed an expensive remodel on her home when the flood hit. The water level had risen almost to the ceiling. There really wasn't much if anything she could salvage from her home. It was sad to see almost everything she owned sitting around her home waiting to be hauled away as trash. It was decided that we would spend most of the next day helping her clean up so that she could begin the process of making her home livable again.

One of our hosts, Valera, shows us how much water is still in the cellar of the woman from their church. All of her canned food for the winter was also still buried down in the mud.

We were amazed at just how high the water had risen in some areas. Valya can't even reach the highest water mark on the tree.

I noticed that while the garden behind this rose bush was dead and completely destroyed by the flood, this rose had not only survived, but had blossomed. That is my prayer for the people there. Not only that they survive, but that they blossom in Christ and look to Him to meet all their needs.