Healing of a different kind

“I get up very early and I want to do something, but I can’t even take a step because my legs hurt so much that I can’t stand it. I had vein surgeries, but the wounds aren’t healing and it’s even worse. I can feel my joints twisting all the time.”

Nadiya is 76 years old. She lives alone in western Ukraine after her husband died a few years ago, and is rarely visited by her daughter, who lives far away. Her legs are in constant pain, and she uses two canes to move around.

“I walk with two sticks, slowly, doing something,” said Nadiya, who keeps chickens, cats, and a dog, and grows plants in her yard. But even with her determination, she needs the support of people like Oleksandr, her neighbour and friend, who also works for MWB.

“Nadiya is in a lot of pain, and only medication helps her sleep a little at night. At the same time, she can’t imagine her life without work,” he says.

Oleksandr recalls when they first met a few years ago. “One of my friends was helping her out,” he said. “One day he got sick and he asked me to chop wood for her – we live nearby. I started to help in any way I could. She often calls me to bring water or to stack firewood, to buy medicine at the pharmacy or to take her to the hospital.

“MWB began helping Nadiya two years ago. She now regularly receives food parcels and hygiene products. She attends an Orthodox church, prays, and reads the Bible. This helps us to talk about spiritual things and eternal life.”

Nadiya once worked for many years on a Soviet collective farm and at home, later serving 20 years as a junior nurse during her second marriage. In her relationships, she has brought the same dedication.

Eight years ago, after suffering from cancer and a stroke, Nadiya’s husband died. For two years and eight months, she cared for him while he was in bed – Motivated not by obligation or fear, but by love.

“It was not difficult to take care of him because I loved him very much and I was happy just to be with him. He was very loving and caring. I considered him to be a blessing from God, because my first husband was a drunkard and beat me a lot. Sometimes I would wake up from nightmares about him in horror and feel the pain of his beatings. My second husband healed me with his kindness.”

Nadiya has experienced how simple, gentle kindness brings healing to humanity, and in a war-torn country, the restoration of relationships is just as important as the restoration of buildings.

“In my life I had never seen war, but in my old age I have seen it,” she said. “My health began to deteriorate from the beginning of the war, with the constant alarms, the threat of bombing; the fear of invasion did not leave me. And even now I wake up every day and think about how our flourishing land has turned into ruins in many places.”

Nadiya and Oleksandr

MWB’s support is more than a lifeline – it’s authentic connection. And for Nadiya, who recognises steadfast love, it means that her last years can be lived with dignity, friendship and hope.

“Two years ago, I started receiving help from the Mission. It’s very valuable, believe me. It helps me to live, not just merely survive.

“I think about God all the time. I realise that I sin every day, both in thought and word, and I ask Him for forgiveness. My hope is in him alone. If God does not have mercy and help me, no one will. If God does not end this war, no one will.”

Throughout all that Nadiya has faced, it is her connections with others that bring daily healing and hope into her life. It’s not just practical support that keeps her flame alive, but who’s behind it – every moment alone with God, every conversation with Oleksandr, every time she remembers the choices of people like you that brought support to her.

“God is helping me, I know it. How? Look at Oleksandr, he obeys God and he helps me. His goodness strengthens me, warms me, and helps me live out the days allotted to me. God commanded us to love and to receive love, and I feel love in this way. I feel love when I receive help from the Mission, which comes from donations from good people. I hope one day we will all meet in heaven.”

Nadiya knows what it means to receive and give love freely. When relationships are shaped in this way, Christ’s love overflows. Like Nadiya, you become a part of something bigger when you join with us and make a choice that reaches real people. Your support means not only practical help, but regular connection that helps people thrive.

There are more seniors in Eastern Europe like Nadiya who long to be reached by the loving care of others. Will you keep the connection going?