The heart of Kyiv is now a fortress of concrete slabs, sandbags, and metal structures aimed at stopping Russian tanks. Today half the city has already evacuated. The staff of YWAM Kyiv is focused on ministering to those who are still in the city.
Thirty minutes south, [volunteers] are turning the sprawling YWAM campus into a humanitarian aid hub.
A ministry worker named Natalia and her two sons work in the kitchen making meals for folks in the neighborhood. “It depends on the day, sometimes there are days when we cook for a thousand people, sometimes 500 or 600,” Natalia said.
While driving to deliver supplies, Katarina, a YWAM missionary from Finland, told us, “The only thought that gave me peace was to go back to Ukraine, so that’s why I’m here.”
“I’m not saying that God was the one who forced me to go to the war zone, or it’s somehow that I didn’t have a choice, I had a choice, that was my choice. My choice was to come here, and God opened the door,” she added.
Katarina evacuated just before the war started, but she returned days later. Now she hits the streets of Kyiv delivering food and other aid supplies to those unable to leave their apartments. Each visit ends with a time of prayer.
While Katarina makes her daily deliveries, an aid worker named David, who normally handles maintenance on the YWAM campus, is making dangerous missions to evacuate people trapped behind Russian lines.
“Every time when I go to these areas I prepare myself that I might not get out of there. I pray every time. I’m not counting, but I’ve evacuated more than 100 people. I just work and work as long as I can, and as long as God allows me to help,” David said.
In another part of the campus, Yuliia, who has been with YWAM for five years, is on the phone taking orders from a nearby neonatal hospital.
Almost every other day, YWAM campuses in Germany and other European countries ship medical supplies to Kyiv for distribution.
Excerpt from: CBN’s Report
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