UOC of the USA.<\/a><\/p>\nAirstrikes have destroyed numerous cities and villages forcing the survivors with nothing more than clothes on their backs to walk long distances to find shelter and assistance in neighboring cities.\u00a0 It is to these cities, over bombed, pockmarked roads with cracked pavement, that assistance is delivered to those in need.\u00a0 Regardless of the air raid sirens and the danger to their own safety, Father Kostyantyn, along with his wife, Natalia, travel to the war-torn areas to reach those who are in the worst need of standard supplies of food and hygiene products.<\/p>\n
Unloading their vehicle, they immediately set to filling bags with the essentials of life including canned and non-perishable food items, hygiene products, diapers and baby products, pain killers, bandages, etc. Having heard of their arrival, the elderly with canes and walkers slowly amble towards the gathering.\u00a0 Infants cry as their mothers cradle them in their arms while trying to keep their older children quiet as they carefully and timidly make their way forward. People shuffle towards the gathering wearing their old worn-out shoes, and the clothing that has been on their backs through the pouring rain and the sweltering sun.<\/p>\n
In addition to food, the women with children are given a supply of diapers, and candy for their youngsters.\u00a0 A bit of joy in these scary times for the innocent youth.\u00a0 Medicines are provided, pasta, rice, and canned meats.\u00a0 Socks, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste which once seemed so unimportant, are gratefully accepted, and bring unprecedented joy.<\/p>\n
Before departing the people gather and are led in prayer by Fr. Kostyantyn.\u00a0 They crossed themselves and bowed their heads beseeching the Lord to grant peace to Ukraine, to safeguard the defenders of freedom, to protect the warriors as they work at protecting the country and civilians, to grant all those gathered good health, and the strength and fortitude they will need to survive the war and rebuild their nation.\u00a0 Having prayed for peace, Fr. Kostyantyn blessed the food items, and the people who had gathered before him, asking the Lord\u2019s Grace upon them all.<\/p>\n
With the prayer concluded people began to leave for their own shelters.\u00a0 However, Fr. Kostyantyn and his wife were not yet done.\u00a0 They collected some of the supplies and getting back in their car drove around the destroyed villages, stopping at demolished homes, searching out the elderly and those too weak to venture out in search of safety.\u00a0 Delivering food and medicine to them, he assured them that they are not forgotten but are loved and prayed for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Antony, Prime Hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and the Diaspora, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel, Ruling Hierarch of the Western Eparchy of the UOC of the USA, and Consistory President, has actively been sending aid to Ukraine thanks to the generous donations of the faithful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":169664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"telegram_tosend":false,"telegram_tosend_message":"","telegram_tosend_target":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5148,5142],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-169682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-church-en","8":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/df.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_3593-e1691583612454.webp?fit=1200%2C1600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169683,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169682\/revisions\/169683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/df.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}