Ukraine (MNN) – Eric Mock of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) recently returned from distributing aid in Ukraine near the front lines of the war with Russian forces. SGA works with local church partners to hand out food, medicine, and other daily essentials.
Mock says the villages he went to were covered in craters from rocket and drone fire, and roughly half the homes were destroyed.
Nowhere to Go
(Photo courtesy of SGA)
“I encountered…an entire facility that was built underground with the capacity to teach over 500 children in an elementary school. The city administration headquarters, everything was underground, under reinforced concrete – in other words, like a bunker. This was their life,” Mock says.
“You may ask, ‘Why would anyone live there?’ Well, simply, the people that are there have nowhere to go. A majority are either elderly or single moms with children, and they literally have nowhere to go.”
Mock describes visiting one church building that expected maybe 30 people to show up. The room was instead filled with 70 Ukrainian grandmothers, all hoping to get some food and basic medications.
(Photo courtesy of SGA)
He says the elderly women “came up to me just flooded with tears, saying, ‘Please, thank the people. We are so hungry and in so much pain.’ They didn’t have simple medicines like Advil or Tylenol,…or simple foods to make it through the day. They were desperate.
“They wanted to know why. Why would someone help people that seem to feel there was no help? I said, ‘It’s because of God’s grace upon us. Nothing we have was not meant to be shared. But ultimately, it’s about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.'”
Monster Trucks and the Heart of a Child
When Mock left for Ukraine, he wasn’t just bringing supplies from SGA. His young grandson, Asher, also sent his favorite toy monster truck to be gifted to a child in Ukraine. Then, while Mock was distributing aid, he met a toddler named Danil.
Eric Mock giving Danil the toy monster truck. (Photo courtesy of SGA)
“He’s standing there dirty, and you could hear the explosions in the background, and you see the difficulty of his living. I knelt down and handed him this monster truck. He looked at me for a second in pure shock. But…in the midst of everything, he literally dropped down in the dirt, making engine sounds, and started playing with his truck in the dirt.”
Mock says, “He didn’t care about all the circumstances. He didn’t know what would come tomorrow. He just knew in that moment that he had been given a gift, and he wanted to have all of the gift and experience it. May we, too, be the same way with our Heavenly Father when He gives us these good gifts.”
Ask God to uplift Ukrainians’ hearts like young Danil.
“Do not lose sight of the needs that are there,” Mock urges. “The need is overwhelming in Ukraine…. The lives they live over there are stunningly difficult.”
You can support SGA’s relief efforts in Ukraine at their website.
He asks, “Pray that they would be faithful in the middle of these difficult times, and their witness would lead us in whatever we face to be faithful.”
Header photo courtesy of SGA.
