Last month, our staff visited a Fellowship-supported school in Odesa, Ukraine, for an event distributing 100 food boxes to elderly residents. Some beneficiaries came to pick up their packages, while staff went directly to the homes of those with mobility issues to hand-deliver their aid and spend time visiting with them.
This included 92-year-old Tatiana, who lives alone in her modest apartment. She has fallen twice while walking outside and is now afraid to leave her home. It is already difficult for her to manage on her own because of her poor eyesight, and she navigates her apartment with a cane.
When she was told that Christians around the world care about her and helped provide this box of groceries, her heart was immediately warmed. She recalled how she witnessed a righteous Christian family rescue a young Jewish boy from being sent a ghetto during World War II.
Tatiana and her family survived because they were evacuated to Azerbaijan during the war. Still, life then was extremely difficult. There was hunger, and a malaria outbreak killed up to 40 people each day. After the war, the family returned to their hometown. The winters brought biting winds, and food had to be strictly rationed. Tatiana later came to Odesa for school and has remained there ever since.
Today, Tatiana has a caregiver who prepares her meals and organizes her medications. When she is alone, Tatiana participates in online programs so she can hear and connect with other people. Despite everything she faces, she remains positive, crediting the way her parents raised her through the hardest times. They taught her to love reading, encouraged her to learn, and introduced her to music.
The war in Ukraine has been difficult for her, but she with The Fellowship’s help. The food box she and other beneficiaries received contained vegetables, eggs, milk, and other essential groceries. She sends her deepest thanks to the donors who make this support possible, “Thank you so much. I am so grateful. The Fellowship has never forgotten us, and thanks to this support we manage.”
“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31).