Stories from the Field

My name is Elena. I came to Transnistria from Odesa, Ukraine with my three girls ages 19, 16, and 9. I have an older daughter who is studying at the university in Odesa, and other relatives still in Ukraine.

I was born in the territory of Transnistria and my parents live here, so when hostilities began in Ukraine, we came.

I go to refugee meetings organized by the Church Without Walls. They are very important to me. They give me a sense of family. The girls who organize our meetings have become like relatives to me. I have been going to these meetings for almost two years now.

I have found great support at the meetings. The atmosphere is cozy and the topics raised are useful and sink into the soul. I began to think more about God. I’ve never been to a church before—I always believed it was not for me—I thought I could handle my own life. The war in Ukraine and everything that I have experienced and continue to experience shows me that I am not the “queen” of life and that not everything can be under my control.

Thanks for your help—emotional, spiritual, material! This is a great relief for all of us refugees and for my family!

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Church Without Walls has worked to provide hope to refugee families. They are meeting the physical and spiritual needs of refugees through food packages, hygiene kits, Bible studies, emotional and spiritual support. Through evangelistic outreach in Transnistrian universities, house churches were planted and became known as Church Without Walls. Monthly, the house churches worship collectively. They regularly minister to their own communities through outreaches, events and programs for children and teens.