Supplying food in the war-affected zone in eastern Ukraine is still a vital need for many locals. Along with the distribution of food sets for the residents of front-line towns, CBN- Emmanuel continues to support a soup kitchen in one of the temporarily occupied towns of Ukraine. About 100 people in need have the opportunity to receive hot meals and listen to the word of comfort from God on a daily basis.

Ada Petrovna is a pensioner and she has a vision disability of the second group. The old lady lives alone without any relatives or family. She started visiting the soup kitchen back in 2015, when there were no payments and assistance at all. Thanks to the hot meals provided at the soup kitchen, Ada Petrovna survived the days of hunger and continues to visit the soup kitchen every day.

“I come here to the soup kitchen not only to eat, but also to hear the Word of God. It feels so great here! You have become like a family to me!» – shares Ada Petrovna. Local pensioners can not afford to buy meat for each day with their small pensions. For a lonely pensioner in an occupied town, having a chance to eat a hot meal at lunchtime is a great help.
When Ada Petrovna first started attending the soup kitchen, she wouldn’t want to hear anything about Christianity or the living faith in the Lord. However, after listening to the sermons before dinner every day, the lady turned to Christ with all her heart. As a devoted believer, Ada Pertovna now attends all Sunday services and home group meetings. Thanks to the financial support of CBN- Emmanuel, Ada Petrovna found her Christian family and has a chance to eat a hot meal every day.

Sveta started attending the soup kitchen not long ago. When hostilities broke out in her home town, Sveta lost her passport and rest of her documents. Without any ID, Sveta is not able to restore her passport. She tried to find a job but no one is willing to take her without her passport. Her only family member is a very old and blind grandmother who needs help herself. Despair and hopelessness led Sveta to a grave depression. In this state the woman came to the soup kitchen for the first time.

She looked completely exhausted and lost – Sveta hand’t eaten for several day and was starving. When Sveta sat down at the table in the soup kitchen for the first time and saw her bowl of soup she could not start eating for a long time. She was just sitting there and looking at the food.
Because of starvation, her stomach couldn’t take food. For the whole week, Sveta would eat only a couple of spoons of soup, increasing the quantity of food gradually. WIth the help of missionaries, Sveta received some medications for her stomach and started feeling better after eating. Local missionaries are now helping Sveta to restore her passport and find a job. Every day they talk to her trying to find the right words of comfort and hope. Thanks to this support, Sveta finally started smiling and seeing something good in life.

After seeing so much help and care and listening to the Word of God, Sveta turned to the Lord with a sincere prayer of repentance on a Sunday service. The woman is grateful for all of the assistance: “I had given up and did not want to live before I came here. I don’t know how to thank you for helping me to get out of depression. Now I want to live!»
Now the woman knows that the missionaries will support her and will not leave her until she finds a job and will be able to provide for herself. Her life has changed due to the existence of the soup kitchen!

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