September 16-23, 2023

Fastiv, 16.09-23.09.23

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I want to start this week’s report with words of gratitude, in particular to all our Friends and Partners from Poland. From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, you were with us: hundreds of conversations day and night, evacuation of civilians, opening the doors of so many people ready to receive women and children who were fleeing the war. Humanitarian aid, which we constantly receive and which we can share… Thank you, our dear Brothers and Sisters from Poland.

Kherson suffered from enemy shelling these days, our kitchen fed all the victims and the number of dinners increased to 1050 per day, we thank our cooks and volunteers in Kherson for their sacrifice and work.

We also visited the Kharkiv region with humanitarian aid, we took away 800 food kits for bedridden and IDPs and diapers. The cold nights are already beginning, so we have also brought in field stoves for our Defenders. We continue to repair houses in the village. In Zavody in the Izyum district, other three houses have been restored. Polish Eaglewatch Foundation, thank you for the support! In general, by the middle of November, we will finish the restoration of 10 damaged family houses, mostly the homes of elderly people who could not do it on their own.

This week, with the support of our Friends, who helped purchase the necessary roofing, we finally succeeded in restoring the roof of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Kherson, which was hit by two Russian rockets on the eve of Christmas last year. We are glad that we were able to support this community of the faithful and this temple, which has become an outpost of our humanitarian missions in the South.

A total of 1,950 food kits and 14,980 kg of humanitarian aid were distributed this week. Probably, each of us in Ukraine is worried about the fact that winter is near, how will we live: in warmth, or cold and darkness. We have already started collecting warm things and everything that is needed to be in the resource. If you have something that you can share, we will be grateful, blankets, power banks, batteries, heaters, flashlights, we will be grateful and give to those who are in greater need.

Have a safe night to everyone in Ukraine.

With prayers

Fr. Mykhailo Romaniv OP