May 2022 Update

 

Friends, family, kind strangers – it has now been 76 days since Russia’s invasion and the start of full-scale war in Ukraine. ** please do not share anything from this letter publicly without my permission.

Sometimes that doesn’t feel like a ton of time, but today I met a woman who made me realize just how much can happen in 76 days. Today I walked into a new salon just next door to my apartment. I had noticed the salon getting pieced together over the last couple of weeks and really was needing a cut but also ended up wildly inspired by my stylist, Viktoria.  Before Russia’s unprovoked attack in Ukraine on Feb. 24th – Viktoria owned two successful salons in a prominent eastern city. In the early days of the war, one of those salons was destroyed by Russian attacks. She was able to sell the building of her second salon and use the funds to move her entire family to the west and has already started building her business back from the ground up. She is one of the millions who are in the process of rebuilding their lives in new places as many homes, businesses, schools, and towns continue to be destroyed in eastern Ukraine.

While the Zakarpattia Oblast, the westernmost region, has become a haven for many fleeing the horrors of war, our safety here was rattled a bit when we experienced our first missile attack last week. It wasn’t in the city, and no casualties, but our nerves certainly took a hit. Thank you for your continued prayers for our safety here!

God continues to show his faithfulness in this ministry and my life in Ukraine. A door has revealed itself for me to acquire my volunteer visa and temporary residency! This issue has consumed a large portion of my brain space over the last month as the normal avenues to get a visa are not all working. I will do a major happy dance when it is all beautifully wrapped up. I’ll spare you the messy details, but the process does require me to make a trip down to the Ukrainian embassy in Albania – seems silly, I know, but blame war. But I’ve chosen to take full advantage of this little trip! I’ll be road-tripping in my jeep with my friend Jessica (who I introduced you to in my last letter). We will drive down this weekend, see several friends along the way, take a few vacation days in Croatia, and drive back up in time to pick up my mom from the airport in Budapest! The trip will total 14 days of travel – about 3 of those days will be spent getting my visa from the embassy so I can return to Ukraine and register for my temporary residency. We are so close! Please pray for no disruptions in the process, safe travel, favor at the borders and embassy, and some fun and rest! I'll get to snag a few days with my dear friends from Global U Gap Year as they are currently serving in Montenegro, and I simply could not be more excited!

So far I have clocked over 1000 miles on Halpert (my jeep) since buying him in March. Most of those were spent driving back and forth to the orphanage 3-4 times a week. But he also took me to deliver supplies to foster families, do a couple of border runs, and encourage relief workers with gifts! It’s been such a full month but it also flew by in a blink. We are experiencing a serious fuel shortage here, preventing me from visiting the orphanage this week before my visa adventure. Really disappointed and praying hard this doesn't last much longer ... the fuel shortage, the war, the destruction ...

Your generous donations have primarily gone to the following over the past month… diapers and snacks for the orphanage. groceries and supplies for an IDP intake center. a place of rest to those traveling through our city as they evacuate their homes. life-saving gear for men and women serving on the front lines. travel funds for refugees. a generator for a local orphanage. gifts for relief workers and orphanage workers. gas to travel back and forth to the orphanage. my availability – your donations also support me as an independent missionary and my life here in Ukraine. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am doing frequent updates on my Instagram, so follow along there.  with love, Lina