Original post: https://www.facebook.com/100001265297201/posts/5316302321755225/. Translated and edited by our team.
Around the middle of January, I had a special dream. It showed that there would be a war and many people would die. In addition, the dream told me to get my children and leave immediately. I realized that God was warning us, especially since several other close friends of mine had similar dreams. My friends and I began praying regularly about the coming situation. Since we didn’t know when exactly things would happen, we asked God for wisdom on when and where we should go. Our biggest desire was to please God and follow His will.
Back in Mariupol, my husband and I received an understanding during a prayer that the Lord would take us to America. Then there was confirmation from other believers who prayed for us. Although it was not our goal, my husband and I decided to trust God and see what He would do in our lives. Having four children, the oldest of whom suffers from autism and epilepsy, we knew that the journey would be difficult for us anyway, even without war circumstances. We prayed for the grace to leave early. Three days before the war started, the Lord spoke to me to prepare our papers and first aid kit. And in general, all that month, I had an insistent desire to pack and leave.
On February 24, we woke up to loud explosions. The children were frightened and crying. We prayed and asked for God’s protection and peace. My husband had left early the following morning for work, but he returned after seeing what was going on. We realized we couldn’t wait any longer. We bought train tickets and left, taking my husband’s mother and grandmother. My father-in-law and brother decided to stay as they were confident nothing bad would happen. We had no car of our own, public transportation was already not readily available, and it was impossible to call a cab. We asked a brother from our church to take us to the train station in his van. He did it, for which we are very grateful.
We drove to Zaporizhzhya, where we were met and hosted for the night by our religious friends. We thank them for their help! The next day, in the evening, we took the train to the Taras Shevchenko station (city of Smela). Then we went by bus to Cherkasy. My mother and a local church pastor met us there in their cars. The next stopping point was the home of my mom, who lives near Cherkasy. We spent a week there, praying about what to do next. There were several options on where to go next. But we were still looking for God’s will, not just a good place. We had no clear idea where to go, but we decided to go to the west of Ukraine, believing that God would direct us further. We had no finances for the road ahead, but God took care, and several families blessed us.
We prayed for transportation because it was unrealistic for us to travel by evacuation trains, not because we were capricious, but with Galichka, it would have been beyond our strength. And God sent us a bus from Zolotonosha, a town not far from where we were staying. Christians arranged to take people to the west of Ukraine for free. We left my husband’s mother and grandmother at my mother’s house, as the further journey was too difficult for them.
Two buses were allocated for this trip. Many people from different places came with us: Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk. Each family had its own story. Most left from the “hot spots,” while some decided not to wait for a disaster and left in advance. We were brought to Buzivka (a village near Uman), where we were fed and accommodated for the night. During this stop, my husband and I came to the realization that we needed to go to Slovakia. My friend’s friend gave me the contact information of devotees in Slovakia. We contacted them, explained our situation, and they said they would take us in. The following day in the afternoon, buses arrived and took us to Rivne. There we had dinner, took a shower, and slept overnight. The next day at lunchtime, we went to Lviv and from there to Hust, where the final stop was. Most of the people went to the Hungarian border, but we stayed the night in the church building to go to Uzhgorod the next day. From Khust to Uzhgorod, we took the bus on our own. The night before, a friend had called me to find out where we were and if we could get out of Mariupol. After learning that we were on our way, she offered her help since she was in Uzhgorod. We had to buy medicine and diapers for Galya. My friend not only bought everything we needed (we did not have to return the money because the charity foundation my friend was a member of allocated it), but she also organized our transfers to Uzhgorod! At the train station, we were met by a volunteer who drove us to the border, while her husband, a Red Cross volunteer, helped us get through the border without waiting in line. The line itself was huge. Galechka was very tired by then and could hardly walk. We were exhausted too. Our way from Mariupol to Slovakia took seven days. From the Slovakian border, the bus went to Košice, where we were met, taken to the church, fed, and put on another transport that took us to the place of our temporary stay. It turned out to be a very beautiful place near the mountains.
I always dreamed of being in the mountains, and I felt the special love of God in them. The family that took us provided all kinds of care and help. Their patience, love, and sacrifice were amazing! Then we met the other devotees from the church. Everyone tried to help us in some way or take care of us. Some of them donated clothes and shoes, some provided food, and some took us to the local police department for registration. We are immensely grateful to God for each of you! When we were brought to church on Sunday, we felt God’s presence, love, and unity. We witnessed how the Lord brought us here, and it was a great encouragement to the local congregation. The most valuable thing for us was to be able to take Galya to the meetings since public transportation was too long and difficult for her to take in Mariupol. Our girl, along with the other kids, was able to be in worship, and she loved it.
Later we moved to a nearby town, where, miraculously, God found our next place. The owners were wonderful people who had specially relocated to help us. They took care of everything we needed for our comfort. We will never forget their kindness! While in Slovakia, we continued to seek God’s will. As we prayed and fasted, we asked Him to show us the way ahead. And if this is America, to give us an arrangement in everything. Our close friends from Ukraine have been living in the States for several years. About two weeks ago, a friend of mine called and told us about the possibility of getting to America through Mexico by requesting a humanitarian password. We had no money for tickets, so we prayed for God’s provision. I realized that we needed to organize a fundraiser through Gofundme, and through that, God would take care of the finances. Tomorrow I will put up a fundraising post, and if you feel willing to support us with any amount for our onward journey to America, we would be very grateful.
I also ask for your prayers for us that God’s good, acceptable and perfect will would come true in our lives! Before providing the information about the collection, I wanted to tell you about the glory of God in our lives, about His great mercy and care. We were not special, but God saw how terrible the situation in Mariupol would be and took us out of it. I don’t know if we would have been able to leave after the 24th. Very doubtful. Without transport and with so many people [evacutating]. I’m afraid to think about what could have happened. But we are alive, God is good, we made it, and we are thankful to Him!!!
P.S. In my story, I did not mention people’s names intentionally so that they would receive their reward from God. But everyone who has helped us in small or big ways, our prayers are with you. You are amazing people!!!
