Izyum

Yesterday we returned to a town in Eastern Ukraine called Izyum.  It was occupied most of last year and there was great destruction and loss of life!  The damage is throughout the City but most of it is apartments, schools, grocery stores and churches- all places where there would be a crowd of people and the greatest number of casualties- it is just demonic!  

I was taking a picture of one of the apt. buildings that was cut in half with a 40 foot gap between the two sides.  I stepped off the path to get a better picture angle and everybody started yelling- there are mines planted everywhere, even in the playground I was standing in!   About midday we went to visit a Youth Center. There were actually 3 homes, each having one couple that parent about a dozen kids. When the invasion occured the kids escaped and Russian military officers moved in to the homes. In the back area of these homes there is about an acre of land that was used for soccer and different events. The Russians put up 20 tents there for regular soldiers.  When they were forced out they left the homes and area badly damaged, completely destroyed a beautiful bus given by German sponsors of these foster homes and  mined that entire back area used for the childrens' sports!  They even tore down the fence around the field so  the whole field is accessible to any unsuspecting people or animals that might walk through it!  We were stopped from walking in there by friends who work at the Youth Ctr. but no one else would know!  

Tomorrow we head to some towns and villages that are near the Russian border to bring food and supplies! These dear folks have suffered greatly and we are praying that we can not only bring material goods but real encouragement and hope!   It is so strange, even though there is mass bombing going on throughout Ukraine, many areas, as Rolfe mentioned, look pretty normal but others have changed forever and the death tolls on both sides just continue to mount daily...how we must grieve our dear Heavenly Father!!