Katya is about to finish a certificate program at the local seminary called “Beyond Suffering”, which is designed to help students know how to minister to and communicate with veterans that have experienced trauma and / or are amputees. In this post are several pictures from the last class that she took with Oleksandr Tereschenko, a double amputee that lost his arms while throwing a grenade away from himself and his friends while defending the Donetsk Airport from Russian invaders and their confederates.

Oleksandr is an example not only of heroism in the face of death but of persistence and steadfastness as a human being after loss. Regardless of his disability, he not only teaches and travels around Ukraine by himself without aid, but also worked as the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the Ukrainian government from 2019 to 2021. He also wrote a book called “Life after 4:30pm”.

We also have a friend in church named Sashko that lost a leg from a land mine recently—he and David hang out regularly. He sent us a documentary about the center where he received his prosthetic and did rehab. Here is the video on YouTube:

Please pray for us as we look for ways to serve people that have lost arms or legs in this terrible conflict. Right now we are looking for a new job and place to live for Sashko after he finishes his stay at the local military hospital.