You gave hope for families living in the chaos of war in Ukraine

Last Christmas was one of the hardest for families living in poverty in Ukraine and we were determined to relive the suffering and despair of vulnerable families and share the hope found in Jesus Christ.

The war in the Ukraine has created 12 million refugees who have been forced to flee the violence of war. Many families are separated and are living in constant fear of air raids. Many face a miserable Christmas living in emergency shelter with a lack of food, freezing temperatures and an unknown future.

With your support we were able to give struggling and fearful families the opportunity to share a Christmas meal together – something many of us take for granted. Together, with your support, we raised more than £110,000 to help to give families a Christmas to remember filled with joy rather than sorrow.

Nelya and Davyd and their family live in a dilapidated one bedroomed house with an outdoor toilet in the Sarny region of Western Ukraine. The children are usually cheerful and friendly, but these days they are silent, terrified of the missile strikes.

To help family income the children pick blackberries in the local forest during the summer. The family can provide meat, milk eggs & vegetables and keeps two cows, pigs and poultry. When they can they make money selling milk in the main town.

Over Christmas the whole family was thrilled when Sergiy gave them Operation Christmas Love (OCL) parcels. Filled with food, treats and some Christian literature about the true meaning of Christmas, the parcels make it possible for families living in poverty to have a wonderful festive celebration together.

“My husband Ivan is unemployed, and he’s been struggling with depression for a long time”, says Nelya and Davyd’s mother Nadiya. “There are times when he’ll just give up with frustration. It’s incredibly difficult. Only my faith in God helps me and gives me strength”.

The situation of the family was so desperate Mission Without Borders stepped in to provide monthly food and hygiene parcels. “We regularly receive the most essential things and I’ve learned to see how strong God’s grace and care is towards us”, says Nadiya. “Thanks to this support, my husband has become more confident, responsible and industrious”.

Receiving an Operation Christmas Love box to their homen helpe to transforme their Christmas last year, giving Nelya and Davyd and the rest of the family the chance to have a wonderful festive Christmas celebration together full of good food and joyful memories, and we are incredibly thankful for the all support you have given to help this come true.

After a year of war in Ukraine we want to continue to help families like the Nelya and Davyd’s and refugee families that have fled from the east. ”We don’t know what will happen tomorrow”, one family told us. “Children are the ones who pay the highest price as they can’t defend themselves or escape. People here are tired of being afraid.”

Working together with local churches, we bring these words alive from Jesus in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” There are a lot of weary, tired souls who need relief.