Samaritan’s Purse supplied seed potatoes to people near the frontlines this spring. Now they are a growing relief to war-weary families.
A day without potatoes is no day at all—that’s how much Ukrainians prize their staple food. When weather conditions crippled last year’s harvest, the already battered population was left with a food shortage. Earlier this year, Samaritan’s Purse provided nearly 80,000 pounds of seed potatoes to over 600 families in Eastern Ukraine who otherwise would have no way to provide for next year’s meals. Now as those potatoes are buried beneath the rich, black soil of Ukraine, God is growing provisions and hope amid war.
One 73-year-old recipient named Vasyl* grew up on the same land in Eastern Ukraine where today, he continues to work fields, grow vegetables and fruit trees, and tend a small farm. He sees the land not just a source of food, but a way of life.
The Challenges of War
But Vasyl’s peaceful life was ripped from him when Russia invaded his country in 2022. Prices of food, utilities, and medicines skyrocketed.
As a cancer patient who lives without a kidney, gallbladder, and numerous lymph nodes, the elderly man was forced to spend 60 percent of his income on treatment. Much of the remainder went toward electricity and water. Only a pittance was left for other necessities like the seeds, fertilizer, and tools necessary to tend his land and grow produce for his family, including a son and grandchildren.
Vasyl gratefully displays the gardening guide and copy of the New Testament he received from Samaritan’s Purse.
“Life wasn’t easy before, but now everything’s become so expensive, you don’t even know where to start,” Vasyl said. “But I still want to live with dignity, to work, and not just sit idly.”
Seeds Grow Generosity
When Samaritan’s Purse gifted Vasyl and his wife, Olena*, with potatoes and other seeds as well as fertilizer and gardening supplies, it was more than just a boost to them materially. The various forms of relief became tools that gave the couple the opportunity to become self-sufficient again after war and cancer had torn them apart.
“I’ve already planted peppers in pots and will be transplanting them into the ground soon,” Vasyl said. “And the peas I received from you have already sprouted. Even though I’m old, I take good care of my garden. I work it thoroughly because I love this land.”
Samaritan’s Purse gives every seed recipient a copy of this gardening guide that has tips for beginners as well as the more experienced. Vasyl particularly appreciates the section on fertilizers.
Amid his tilling, planting, and weeding, Vasyl promises to invite guests to see his harvest in the fall. He has the array of provisions all mapped out in his mind: homemade tomato juice, jars of pickles, and potatoes, to name a few. He wants to celebrate the harvest God gives.
“Come visit me in the fall, I’ll treat you,” Vasyl said to a Samaritan’s Purse staff member. “You’ll see what beauty grows from your seeds.”
Dasha Mihdal, a program manager for Samaritan’s Purse in Ukraine, notes what a relief seeds are to Ukrainians like Vasyl.
“People have been extremely grateful for this support—receiving seed potatoes enables them to grow a sufficient amount of crops to sustain their households throughout the year,” she said.
The True Source of Strength
Vasyl knows this relief from Samaritan’s Purse is not a stroke of good luck but a direct answer to prayer, a gift from his Heavenly Father. Every morning and evening, he petitions the Lord for peace and asks Him to care for his family as well as all the others who are suffering from the war. This trust in the Lord Jesus Christ is his enduring strength.
For Vasyl, the gift of seed potatoes is a direct answer to prayer that helps give him strength to go on.
‘‘The Lord rules and controls everything,” Vasyl said. “Not even a hair falls from my head without His will. It was God who sent you to me. And I know that these potatoes and these seeds will be a blessing for my family, because I feel that you’re helping me from the heart.”
Please join Vasyl in praying daily for peace in Ukraine. Ask also that God would use Samaritan’s Purse staff members on the ground as they show a war-weary nation the love of Jesus Christ.
*Name changed for security
