POLAND — “The war started suddenly,” Elena, a fine arts teacher in Ukraine, said. “I prayed every day, ‘Lord, I trust in You. Give me strength, patience, and humility for this day.’” Soon, she and her daughter fled to Poland to escape the increasing violence. They arrived close to Easter and moved into a hotel that was housing refugees. There, an Operation Christmas Child festive outreach event was held by a Samaritan’s Purse local church partner. Elena’s daughter received a shoebox gift and enrolled in The Greatest Journey.

“I hope these activities provided by the church here, like The Greatest Journey, will help our children grow and mature in their faith,” Elena said. “I hope the children will value not only these gifts but the [Gospel] message behind them.”

My prayer for those children is that they would understand love, love of God. And from there, everything changes.

Elena – Ukranian Refugee:

Before the war, we lived in Kramatorsk of the Donetsk region. I worked as a fine arts painting teacher. The war started suddenly. Within two days, they offered us volunteer work at the train station to help evacuate children. Every day from 7 a.m. until curfey, we managed to load five to six trains. That was about 500 to 800 people a day. And we did this for a month and a half until, tragically, a missile hit near the train station. But God didn’t abandon us. But God didn’t abandon us. I prayed everyday, ‘Lord I trust in You. Give me strength, patience and humility for this day.’ My daughter and I came to Poland around Easter. And we got to this hotel on May 17th.

Aleksander Blazowski – Operations Christmas Child:

This was a new-build hotel that before official start gave the rooms to welcome refugees. Today, they had the distribution of the boxes. They also had the greatest journey lesson. God has done something very special for them.

Elena:

I hope these activities provided by the church here, like the Greatest Journey, will help our children grow and mature in their faith. My main dream is that my daughter’s life will be happier. I hope the children will value not only these gifts but the message behind them.

Aleksander:

We see the magnificent hand of God in these boxes. We hope that the message will bring healing.

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Through this project, Samaritan’s Purse partners with the local church worldwide to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and make disciples of the nations.

CONTACT: Kaitlyn Lahm, news@samaritan.org

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