‘We’ve Been Living in Fear’

The Fellowship  |  March 1, 2022

“We’ve been living in fear for three days.”

This is what Jahana told us this weekend. Jahana is a teacher in Ukraine, at Fellowship-supported Or Avner Jewish school. But Jahana is also a wife and mother, navigating the warzone that her nation has become.

Just listen to Jahana describe what she, her husband, and their three children faced as Russia invaded their hometown in Ukraine…

“Enemy planes circle over the city,” she says. “Occasionally we hear explosions.”

Jahana and her husband Alexei created a makeshift bomb shelter in their home to protect their precious family. When the bombardment became too much, the family went to their synagogue in hopes of possibly evacuating.

“The Fellowship and the Jewish community are the only ones who helped us,” Jahana now says, thanking you for the “support that strengthened us and helped overcome our fear.”

There, Jahana and her family boarded a bus that evacuated them to safety. “We are on the roads for almost six hours,” Jahana said during the evacuation. “I feel God is protecting us. Thank you for everything you’re doing for us.”

Jahana and her family, along with the rest of those on the bus, have reached safety. “It’s the first time in four days that my daughters are smiling,” Jahana says. “We feel that we escaped from hell. Thank you for bringing us to safety and taking care of us.

Yes, friends of The Fellowship like YOU are the ones who provided rescue for this frightened Jewish family. And Jahana’s family is just one of many families, of so many thousands of God’s children across Ukraine — families, elderly Holocaust survivors, orphans — who are depending on The Fellowship for help.

So we join with Jahana and Alexei, their sweet children, and thousands of other voices in saying thank you for your support and for your prayers — you are truly saving lives.