To Stand Alongside - When War Comes Home
At the end of August, my close friend Andrii and his family experienced for themselves the reality of war that he has spent so many years helping others to face.
Andrii serves God and the people of Ukraine through his work with our military and chaplains. He regularly travels to areas close to the frontline, bringing faith, encouragement and God's light to those who need it most. One simple Ukrainian phrase has become a principle of this ministry: “Бути поруч” - “To stand alongside.”
But one night at the end of August, the war came to Andrii's own home.
An air-raid warning had been issued in Kyiv because of the threat of a ballistic missile attack. Andrii told me that he felt a particular need to be cautious that night. His apartment is on the ground floor, which the family had always considered relatively protected. Inside were Andrii, his wife and their two sons.
Around midnight, powerful explosions shook Kyiv. One of the strikes hit very close to their home.
The force of the blast tore out the windows and ripped even the heavy reinforced entrance door from its frame. When Andrii later invited me into the apartment, it looked as though a tornado had passed through it. Walls were cracked, mirrors shattered and fragments had torn through the rooms.
Yet it was the ordinary things that affected me most.
On the stove was a cooking pot containing food for the children. It had been pierced by sharp pieces of shrapnel. The refrigerator had also been struck, yet still attached to it was a magnet from our National Day of Prayer for Ukraine - the project of prayer and Christian unity that Andrii has helped us organise for many years. Among the damaged rooms was a family photograph of Andrii, his wife and their two boys.
These simple reminders of ordinary family life somehow told the story more powerfully than the destruction itself. Looking around the apartment, it was difficult to understand how anyone inside could have escaped injury.
Yet, by God's mercy, all four of them did. Not one member of the family was injured.
When Ukrainian television interviewed one of Andrii's sons afterwards, his response was simple and deeply moving: “I am a believer. I am grateful to God that He saved our lives.”
For Andrii, and for those of us who know and love this family, those words say more than we could add. Their home was seriously damaged and many practical challenges remain, but what could never be replaced - their lives - was preserved.
For years, Andrii has stood alongside soldiers, chaplains and families through some of the hardest moments of this war. His service repeatedly takes him to places where explosions and gunfire are part of everyday reality. It is demanding work, physically, emotionally and spiritually, with little opportunity for normal rest.
This time, Andrii was not standing alongside someone else in their suffering. He and his family were living through it themselves.
The experience has touched him deeply. In the midst of the destruction, it has also strengthened his faith and reminded him that the God he serves has not forgotten him or his family.
And perhaps this is where the words “Бути поруч” become even more meaningful. For so long, Andrii has lived them through his service to others. Now we want him to know that he and his family will not stand alone either.
To stand alongside is not only a principle for the frontline. It is a principle for all of us - to be there for one another wherever faith, love and hope are needed most.
Vadym Preobrazhenskiy
Representative in Ukraine