With the conflict entering its fifth year, Samaritan’s Purse is providing access to clean water and supplying bags of groceries through local churches.
“Should I buy medicine or water today?”
Hanna* wrestled with this difficult question each day after the conflict in southern Ukraine destroyed her freshwater supply. When the nearby reservoir was damaged, her whole community was left with water shortages.
“In the past, we just opened the tap and had clean water. Now, every drop is precious, and I have to think carefully about how to use it,” she said.
Water is available for purchase at a high cost, but 73-year-old Hanna and many of her fellow Ukrainians live on limited pensions that place that out of reach.
Hanna wrestled with how to survive amid water shortages until Samaritan’s Purse drilled a borehole and established a water purification system in her area.
Seeking to help relieve their suffering, Samaritan’s Purse worked with an area church and drilled a borehole on their property. We also installed a water purification system onsite to provide an abundance of clear, fresh water. The congregation quickly promoted the free water distribution point, so members of the community could come to the church to gather the life-giving resource while hearing about Jesus, the Source of living water.
Now, Hanna visits the free water distribution point at a local church each day to gather water for her extended family and elderly neighbors who cannot get out.
Hanna now visits the church each day to obtain water for herself as well as her extended family and elderly neighbors who cannot get out. For her, the aid is not only meeting a practical need, but also a spiritual one.
“Every time I fill our containers, I feel a wave of relief and thankfulness,” Hanna said. “It reminds me that God is with us and works through people who help others selflessly.
“The water is a sign of hope,” Hanna said. “It shows that even in these dark times, compassion, faith, and mercy are stronger than conflict. It’s a reminder that we are not forgotten.”
“The water is a sign of hope. It shows that even in these dark times, compassion, faith, and mercy are stronger than conflict. It’s a reminder that we are not forgotten.”
Food Fosters Hope
God used bags of groceries from Samaritan’s Purse to increase hope for Yana* and her family.
Displaced from far eastern Ukraine, they had lost all their belongings when their apartment was destroyed in the conflict. The young family worked to rebuild their lives in a new city in southern Ukraine, only to have Yana lose her job.
Yana and her family cling to God for strength to get through the trials of displacement.
This blow left Yana overwhelmed and exhausted. But as a Christian and a mother, she chose to persevere.
“I had no right to give up,” she said. “For my child, I needed to hold on to faith and hope.”
Yana clung to God in prayer and connected with neighbors and friends to help her combat loneliness. Along the way, the Lord answered her prayer for new employment.
During these uncertain times, she received a Samaritan’s Purse food kit brimming with pasta, oatmeal, wheat flour, buckwheat, split peas, porridge, corn meal, cooking oil, and canned meat and beans.
“I appreciated the quality of the kit and the contents,” Yana said. “My daughter especially enjoyed the chicken with pasta! Thank you very much. Receiving help is always important, and even more so in these difficult times. It fills us with hope for a better future.”
Samaritan’s Purse has delivered over 285 million pounds of food to suffering Ukrainians like Yana and her family.
But this food did even more than fill their aching, empty stomachs. Like Hanna, Yana said this relief showed her a glimpse of God’s love and how He works through people. She thanks the Lord for sustaining and watching over her, in part through the generosity of Samaritan’s Purse and its partners.
“I believe that my faith in Christ protects me from falling into despair,” Yana said. “It helps me accept challenges and move forward into a new life.”
Since the start of the conflict, Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with hundreds of Ukrainian churches to deliver over 285 million pounds of food and 33 million gallons of water to desperate residents. Please pray for our staff and partners to continue to faithfully proclaim the hope of Christ to those who are suffering.
*Name changed for security
