A Camp for Moms During War
Dear friends of Save a Life International!
I want to thank you for your prayers and support! Words cannot describe how grateful we are for your continued support. The last month was more difficult than expected.
Young and expecting mothers are coming to our Zaporizhzhia Life Center more alone and scared than we’ve ever seen them before. News outlets continuously circulated stories and rumors of Russian plans to bomb the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, situated merely 50km away from our Life Center.
People continue to come to our Life Center to receive food, because food shortages continue to worsen in the area. At the end of September, civilian neighborhoods in the city started being shelled almost every day. Young mothers and our volunteers have it really difficult right now. Russian troops recently shot at the line of civilians waiting for supplies. Every day is a struggle.
Despite all these unbelievable challenges and fears, we decided to move forward with hosting our Young Moms Camp at the Life Center. We spent the event with our moms to encourage them, invest in their lives, grow in our friendships with them, and provide them supplies for their little ones on the way!
Our goal was to create a warm and cozy atmosphere where they could escape from fear, even if for a short time. We greeted them with breakfast toasts and baked treats, and spent the morning gathered, sharing stories, and caring for each other.
We were then joined by a Christian psychologist who presented a lecture on How to Help One Another in War.
Separately, the older kids of our attendees got to experience an art therapy program alongside a second psychologist who walked them through using sculpting in clay to process their experiences of the war.
I couldn’t hold back tears when one boy, Nazarchyk, came running to his mother in the other room to show her the rocket he had made. I remembered their family, just a month and a half ago, trapped in their city which was being mercilessly showered with Russian rocket fire from morning to night. Nazarchyk has had to grow up fast in the last couple months…comforting his mother when she’s afraid and taking responsibilities that go far beyond his age.
We continued with a couple activities for our moms to put their artistic talents to use with coffee paintings and the painting of reusable bags to carry supplies back to their homes.
To wrap the day up we had a spirited raffle game where everyone ended up leaving with a useful gift.
The reality of the situation on the ground is bad. On the day of this article being published, every mother in these photos has left Zaporizhzhia because it is no longer safe. Daily, we pray that God will preserve us in struggle and show our Life Center how to proceed.
We continue to serve and provide aid to our clients no matter what their situation is, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to extend love and care to our young moms, war or no war. Thank you again for your support.
Elina Brynza
Director, Zaporizhzhia Life Center