Josh received a call from our friends in Charleston this month saying they have a Ukrainian girl in their college groups whose family was in Slovakia trying to find somewhere to live. They had come over the border to escape from Kyiv, Ukraine. The Father/husband was required to stay in Ukraine to fight; he is safe. Josh said we would like to help and called the number they gave. Olga, pictured below, answered the phone. She is 17 years old and speaks the best English. Josh told her we could help them if they came to Banská Bystrica. They decided to come, and God did something amazing. He opened the heart of Roman, the man pictured on the right, to open his recently deceased mother’s Apartment to them for free. Roman and his wife said they would like to help for at least a month. The family of three, Natasha (mother), Olga, and Andrii, traveled to us. We found out they were bringing the mother’s friend Svetlana and her daughter Sofia. The Apartment was made for two people, but there were five coming. When they arrived, Josh brought them two weeks’ worth of groceries and helped them get set up. They were very thankful even for a small place to stay.

The government has created a system to help Ukrainians get social welfare and Work visas. We were able to go with them to apply. We were the first group to apply, and they are now in the system. Some church partners in the U.S. sent money to help them get what they needed and be settled. Currently, we are finding a bilingual High school for the younger two and jobs for the mothers. Olga came to our youth group last Friday. All five of them came to church on Sunday, where we now have a translation to Ukrainian for many families coming to our church.

One other neat thing is that Josh and Andrii realized that they both like watching Formula 1 Racing. Josh invited him over, and he came with his sister Olga. It was a fun time together, even with a language barrier. Interestingly, they both got nervous when they heard a plane fly over. There are effects on them even the short time they were in Ukraine since the war began. Please be praying for them and for our church to love them well.