Comfort in Community

Lena, a partner from Ukraine, has shared her personal journey throughout the last few years navigating faith, community, and war. During the start of the war, Lena and her husband Misha, along with their children, were able to leave the country. They spent some time in Hungary moving around preparing documents to move to the UK. They later moved to the US where they live for two years. 

Lena expressed that during their time living in the US, they felt welcomed and embraced. However, they were far from home, and with that brought a lot of feelings of isolation and guilt. They were surrounded by community but not by people who truly understood. Not being able to speak in her native tongue nor have people who had experienced the same as them, Lena began to endure immense trauma. Upon returning to Ukraine, she poured herself into their ministries as to feel busy, yet the pain still lingered. Her spiritual life felt empty and silent for a long time with questions and doubts once people started dying. The healing was slow and took roughly a year and a half. She felt that being away for so long had broken her relationships and that people resented her. She described it as survivors guilt. However, upon finally speaking with her friends, she realized they were not upset with her in any way, despite her thoughts. Her friendships have since been strengthened. 

Lena shared very real experiences she has faced. She has asked for prayers regarding both her family and their country. She wants prayer for their mental and physical well-being as their minds and bodies are under constant stress. She wants to be able to fully trust in God. In terms of Ukraine and its people, she has brought light to the fact that they have poor infrastructure as well as days without electricity or water. They are in need of prayer for those conditions to stabilize as well as wisdom for their government to continue to make wise decisions in the coming steps. Ultimately, their prayer is for the war to end.

Lena’s story tells of the realities she has faced along with other Ukrainians. She emphasized the need for true community, one in which both pain and joy is shared, one that can express themselves in their truest form. Togetherness and vulnerability can yield healing. Lena sees God as someone “powerful that can bring us together.”