I Met My First Ukrainian Refugess Tonight

My church is doing a lot of coordination and planning on how to take care of the flood of refugees that they expect will be coming into Canada in the coming days and weeks. I went tonight to bring some of the stuff that I always store for an emergency. Toilet paper/Kleenex/Mountain House food/the usual prepper stuff.

So I was shocked and surprised to meet about a dozen Ukrainians who had just arrived and are being housed in the basement.

I do not know how they were able to pass customs and Covid requirements, and I do not care. But it looks like when they showed up at the airport without a visa, they were processed anyway with their Ukrainian passports, and my church was called in to pick them up and to take care of them. 

When I saw these refugees .... words do not describe the experience.

There was an elderly couple who were vacationing in the Czech Republic on their 40th anniversary when the war broke out. Instead of staying there or going back to Ukraine they took a flight to Canada to meet a relative who lives in Ottawa until the war is over. They are going to be picked up tomorrow. They are in disbelief with what is happening. But they have each other.

There was a beautiful woman with her 2 year old son who was alone and who looked desperate. When the war broke out she and her husband decided to flee to Poland and try to get to a friend in the U.S.. Her husband was stopped at the border by a press gang who told him he had to serve in the military, and failure to do so will be treated as a desertion offense in wartime. He was taken away but she still drove to Krakow, and took a flight to Canada hoping to take another flight to the U.S.. But upon arriving she found out her credit cards and debit cards were no longer working, she has no cash to buy a ticket. and their friend in the U.S. does not want her to come!!!!!. So she is now stuck here with no friends, no money, and no place to go.

But the family that really took my heart away was this father, around 30, with his three young daughters. His wife is in transit, and should be arriving in Montreal tomorrow. They immediately fled the country when they heard that Russia was invading. They always heard that Canada was a great place to start a new life (and it is), so they decided to fly here and either make a new life, or go back to Ukraine when the war was over. What struck me was how happy this man was. His smile was infectious. And his three daughters .... sighhh .... beautiful young angels with wide eyes filled with excitement to find themselves in Canada. They took my breath away. And my heart.

In the end I did something that I have never done before in my life. I directly gave money to strangers and my phone number if they needed help. I went to an ATM machine. Took out the max that I could, and returned distributing it equally to the people that were there.

The look of shock and gratitude that I received will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Driving home my mood changed. 

There is only one thought in my mind right now.

War is evil.

Update: The day/days have caught up with me. I am burnt out and this old man needs sleep. Blogging will return tomorrow morning. Be grateful with what you have.