Dima and his little sister Valya were soaking up the remaining days of summer vacation as their mother Alla shopped for school supplies. As they were playing, their neighborhood suddenly became a battleground between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists.
A rocket slammed directly into their house, wounding both children with jagged pieces of shrapnel and severing Dima’s leg. They were rushed to an overwhelmed and short-staffed hospital that was flooded with victims. Dima and Valya were only treated with basic first aid and received no surgical care.
With no home to return to, the family moved into a tiny, cramped apartment. Alla lost her job, as did most people in their war-ravaged town, and her limited resources were bleeding away. She worried about more bombs and gunfire, but her most urgent concern was how she would feed her children.
Then one day, there was a knock on the door. It was a woman from an ABWE partner church asking if the family needed any help. Alla wept with relief, and soon the church began bringing groceries to the tiny apartment with the help of money from ABWE’s Ukrainian Crisis Fund.
As they delivered supplies, the church members shared the source of their generosity and hope, and soon, Dima and Valya embraced the love of Jesus Christ. Now, Dima dreams of the day he can run again in Heaven.
