Glimpses of a nation at war: Part 1
- 6 hours ago
- 8 min read
Salvos Online journalist SIMONE WORTHING and her husband Cliff have recently returned from a deployment with International Headquarters Emergency Services, assisting at various corps in the Ukraine Division of the Eastern Europe Territory. While there, Simone wrote this report, providing a snapshot of the work of The Salvation Army, the people impacted, and some personal reflections.
Content warning: This story contains descriptions of grief, loss and war. Please read at your discretion.
As we travelled around Central and Western Ukraine and visited corps in these regions, our hearts broke at the impact of more than ten years of war in this beautiful country. And yet, as these brave, focused, faith-filled yet exhausted and grieving people show, there is hope – even if sometimes it struggles to find its place in the fear, destruction, death and trauma of war. Despite the deep sadness of seeing so many lives impacted by more than a decade of war, we are humbled and inspired by this journey and the light that God is shining here through The Salvation Army.
The seven corps (not all pictured here) and one outpost of Ukraine are spread around the country.
Faces of Ukraine
“I like coming here to the corps,” said Ludmila*. “I have nowhere else to go, nobody else to spend my time with. Here I meet new people, make new friends. God is here. The officers are kind and compassionate. People care. It lifts my soul and gives me hope, and I really thought I had run out of hope.”
Ludmila, a middle-aged woman, has been living in extremely basic student accommodation in Central Ukraine for four years. She fled her home, her neighbourhood and all she had known and worked for when Russian troops stormed into her village in the now temporarily-occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine. She left the constant shelling, bombing of buildings, death, destruction and danger, fearing for her life and not knowing if she could ever return.
Nadia is also from the temporarily occupied territories. “We had our own house, our own little garden that we had worked on and built for years. The Russians bombed and destroyed it, and now we have nothing. I don’t know if we will ever be able to return. I have run out of tears; I simply don’t know how to cry anymore.”
Nadia now works at a corps in Central Ukraine, assisting with corps programs as much as she can, including voluntarily. “Being here in this supportive environment, worshipping God, knowing I am cared for and loved, keeps me going and helps to heal my shattered heart. I am learning to laugh again.”
Fellowship and support at the corps is a social and spiritual lifeline to the many who have fled destroyed homes and livelihoods in the occupied territories.
Marina also fled with her young family from the Eastern regions, fearing for their lives as shooting erupted all around them. They joined a queue to leave on the only road out of town. “We saw terrible things, images I will never forget, but we made it out alive. And now here, we have found The Salvation Army – a miracle. My children are blossoming in the after-school program, they are smiling again, and my husband and I can work to pay our bills, knowing our children are loved, looked after and safe. I thank the God I never knew existed until now.”
A senior soldier at a corps in Western Ukraine says that, perhaps strangely, she finds that she can feel moments of joy more deeply as the war continues, but they’re harder to find. “I need these moments, and look for them every day in flowers, sunshine, children. I find friendships at The Salvation Army, and I love to worship God here.”
The after-school program, which operates in corps across Ukraine, is impacting the lives of children, their families and communities educationally, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
Thousands of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) have fled the fighting in Eastern Ukraine to find safer locations within the country – although, as we are constantly reminded, nowhere is completely safe. The influx of people has driven up rental and food prices in many of these small towns and villages, leaving many to struggle to survive. Those who do not receive the small government assistance provided to those who can prove their homes are unliveable due to attacks often have to work multiple jobs to cover basic living costs. This stress and exhaustion adds to their trauma and grief. The Salvation Army assists with vouchers for food and essentials, as well as social, pastoral and emotional support. The difference this help and support makes is life changing.
The voucher distribution program enables recipients to purchase what they need locally. Food parcels are also given out as available.
Working together
“I thought my heart couldn’t take anymore terrible news,” shared a Salvation Army officer. “And then I heard on news just a few seconds of a woman crying after hearing that her husband had been killed, and my heart broke for her. How can she recover from this tragedy?
“I don’t know her, I have never been to her region, but we are all human, living through this together.”
Helping each other, whether it’s corps members, volunteers, local communities or those from all over Ukraine, is a focus of The Salvation Army in this war-torn country. Corps programs include humanitarian aid through vouchers, Bible studies, women’s and men’s groups, the nation-wide after-school program, youth groups, choirs, free secondhand clothing, art therapy, music groups and safe places for coffee and conversation.
The corps are second homes to many, who spend hours there each day for the fellowship, care, activity and family atmosphere. “I love the energy here and people coming and going,” said one program participant. “In the women’s group we share our lives, our problems, our struggles, and the officers help support us too. And my teenage children practically live here. They are so involved in everything, and I am so happy for them.” The smile and relief on her tired face was heartwarming and palpable.
“It’s very hard to run our children’s programs here, but we will not give up,” says a corps officer in a region of Eastern Ukraine that is subject to regular and devastating attacks. “Often we have no power, no light, no water, and days of shelling and drones. But we keep working.”
Groups for men and women, and art therapy and Bible studies for different ages engage corps and community members alike.
In this same city, a woman whose son was killed in the war decided to donate his clothes and other items to The Salvation Army’s secondhand clothing collection. She was familiar with the work of The Salvation Army in this region, and said it was fitting, and brought great comfort to know that her son’s belongings would be used to help others.
“I have no time to be tired,” said another Salvation Army officer who serves at another corps from morning until night, often with little time off. “When I think I am weary, all I need to do is see the smiles of the children, their faces lighting up with joy at the activities we prepare for them, and I get the energy and motivation to continue.”
This same officer is supporting a woman whose husband and son were both killed in the war. The officer made sure she changed some long-term plans so she could attend the funerals with the woman and support her. The woman was overwhelmed and thanked the officer for being someone she could really trust and rely on in life’s hardest moments.
Reality of war
The reality of war is present everywhere, even in the ‘safer’ cities – in people’s lives, city streets, village fields and the constant feeling of stress, tension and uncertainty.
Some moments stand out.
One morning early in our visit to Ukraine, we were walking along the street in a south-western city with some Salvation Army officers, when sirens and a public address system announced the approach of military vehicles bringing coffins of the fallen to a nearby church for funerals. Activity up and down the entire street just came to a standstill, including cars, buses and trams. Everyone was silent. Hundreds of people up and down the street got down on one knee at the convoy passed by. Many got out of their cars to go down on one knee. People on trams stood up. Hands were on hearts. Young people, children and the elderly all paused at once. And on loudspeakers, a message of thanks and respect was broadcast. This is done all over the country when farewelling the fallen. The convoy arrived at the church, where hundreds of Ukrainian flags and photos of young men and women were displayed as a tribute to those from the city killed in war. It was so moving, heartbreaking and tragic.
Left: People stopped wherever they were to pay respect to the fallen. Right: Tributes to those who have died in one of the churches where government funerals take place.
Lighter moments
A women’s group gathered in a corps in Central Ukraine. The first activity was making Ukrainian borscht (beetroot soup) and little meat pies. The corps officer asked the women for their tips on how to improve the flavour and quality of the soup and the pies. As happens everywhere around the world, the women discussed the importance of certain ingredients and methods – not always agreeing with each other – but settling on an overall approach. Their main goal seemed to be educating me on the specifics of Ukrainian borscht, as opposed to recipes for the soup in other countries!
Women in one of the central corps enjoy the universal joy of cooking and eating together.
As we travelled with divisional leaders through central western Ukraine, we noticed a couple of huge nests in the trees alongside the highway. The leaders explained, with obvious pride and delight, that these were stork nests – belonging to the national bird of Ukraine. Over the past few years, these birds had not returned to Ukraine in spring, as was their usual custom. But this spring, they had returned to the northern region. To Ukrainians they represent hope, freedom and happy times, so seeing them coming back has brought moments of joy and hope for better times on the horizon.
In some Ukrainian supermarkets, customers are required to weigh their fruit and vegetables and attach the price sticker that the scales print out. In other supermarkets, scales are in the fruit department without stickers – the stickers come out from the scales at the checkout. In one supermarket, I was confused as I tried to weigh some mandarins, but couldn’t see any price stickers. A young Ukrainian girl came up to me and held up her phone, showing me the screen of Google Translate. The message, in English, read, “It’s okay, just take your things to the checkout and they will help you. Have a lovely day in our country, it’s good to see you here.” She smiled and pointed the way to the checkouts before heading off with her friend. A simple gesture but it meant a lot. Even during times of war, someone could still notice someone needing assistance – no matter how small – and respond.
Hope
One elderly lady, who has suffered so much and is constantly waiting for news of loved ones in the temporarily occupied territories whom she can no longer contact, summed up the attitude of so many:
“Hope dies last. We have to hold onto hope. We need to find hope every day, even in the smallest thing, like music, or spring flowers, or the laughter of children. This will get us through this evening, tomorrow, and beyond.”
*All names have been changed and specific locations generalised.
