A Series of Unfortunate Events

“There is a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time hate, a time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:7-8).

Well Mr. Putin decided it was time for war. I don’t know why, but what I do know is that he is hurting innocent people.

I found out that this war broke out in February. I thought it was just a story, but when people started coming to our church (International Church of Bucharest) to stay, I realized that this is real. I was worried, scared, but my parents said we were safe because we have NATO. But I was very sad for the Ukrainian families.

The first family that I connected with was a family of five people. The mom Masha, the dad Alex, the daughter Sasha, the son George, and their grandma. (The grandma was a Christian, and she even joined our Bible Study.) They stayed for about a week.

The day they left to go to Germany was a Sunday, so they came to our apartment to stay while the church was having the service. That morning my older sister Mina and I really connected with them playing foosball. When we left to go to church they decided to join. They were very helpful in Sunday School. They even helped a little girl warm up to the kids. There were a lot of people from Ukraine, and they were either refugees or missionaries. They left at about 11:30. We gave them a big hug and told them it was a pleasure to know them even if it was through the war.

The next week we cleaned the church and made grab bags which contained: water, snacks, masks, toys, lip balm, wet wipes, deodorant, and cream. We are really grateful to the people who helped. And we are really grateful to Jesus because without Him nothing that we are doing would be accomplished.

Another family that came was a family of six people. The mom, the dad, the 13-year-old son named Pasha, the 11-year-old daughter Sasha, the 7-year-old son Vanea, and at last the cutest one of them all, the 6-year-old daughter named Maria. (She was the cutest, funniest, and most cheerful person you will ever meet.) We played a lot with them. We ran around the church playing tag and hide and seek.  Although my sister and I spoke a different language that did not stop us from making new friends. When they left, they were really grateful (I noticed that about all of the Ukrainian people we hosted.). The little girl Maria was so sad she started to cry. I was very sad too.

Through everything, I learned that we should all help because if we were stuck in that situation, I know we would want people to help us. And I would not just want for someone to tell me they are going to help but to be “hands on” just like mom says. 🙂

Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:17 “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”

Even if we don’t like what the Russian army is doing we should not judge them, but pray for them because we know God is the best judge and He will judge in the best way.