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The Aftermath: UKRAINE WAR


Underground Churches Lifeline for Refugees


Humanitarian leader Dave Donaldson describes a dangerous mission to ease the misery of millions of Ukrainians without food.


I BY DAVE DONALDSON


t’s the dead of night just inside Ukraine’s border from Poland. The temperature is 5 degrees


Fahrenheit and the snow is blowing horizontally. I’m in a seemingly end- less line of humanity. Mothers, crying infants, frail older


folks bundled up and hunched over canes — they’re all waiting to cross into Poland. They’ve left everything behind.


The trains were so packed with those fl eeing the Russian assault, passen- gers were ordered to toss their luggage


8 NEWSMAX | MAY 2022


out of the window to make room for others. Now, they’re in a fi ght for survival.


After a three-hour, standing-room- only train ride, they’ve been waiting, hungry, exposed to the elements. Children cry. Adults sob, moan,


sigh. Every once in a while the line moves and they shuffl e forward anoth- er foot or two. I’ve joined the line to better under-


stand what they’re going through. But before long, I’ll hop on a return fl ight back to the safety and security of the United States. The refugees, by contrast, will face


a daily grind dealing with the chaos and insecurity spawned by war as they try to rebuild their lives. Ahead, I see the source of the com-


motion: It’s a woman in her late 70s who has fallen. We help her regain her feet and secure her scarf. “Dyakuyu,” she whispers. “Dyakuyu” . . . “Thank you very much.” Other refugees, strangers almost as


weary and spent as she is, step up to support her. Together, they resume their silent march into the dark unknown that lies ahead, leaning into the wind-whipped snow. When we fi nally reach the other


side of the border, my friends and colleagues at the European division of the global relief agency CityServe, headquartered in Bakersfi eld, Califor- nia, help guide them to tents set up by


COURTESY OF DAVE DONALDSON


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