February, 23 … It is uneasy in Krasnogorovka and Maryinka. There were firings and shootings there a couple days ago… The local authorities offered the residents yesterday to help them with evacuation. Of cause, if anyone wants. But no more people left in these towns who want to leave. But wanting to go to the frontline of these cities remained. The people settled down with the war. They got used to the cold, sounds of guns and rattling of machine guns. It is impossible to move them from their places. But they were concerned by the news about evacuation. Why did it occur? Nobody offered them to get evacuated in spring 2014, when everyone was happy to leave. And now … Are they afraid of the front line to be moved?

In short, there are many conversations in the streets. Each person on their own colors a tape of their days. One colors the days with anxiety, the other – with frank horror stories, the third – just goes and smiles as if nothing bad there is in the whole world. Someone even hears the angels’ singing in a wet trench because a girlfriend wrote that she loves and would wait and prays every day and waits for the meeting…What does the war mean for such soldier when his days are colored by love even under the bullets?

These thoughts were wondering in my head on their own because there was a sunny and a very warm day. 13 degrees above zero in February is a gift from Heaven. As if everything says: don’t worry, get warmed, smile…

So, we lived through the day in such way. We were afraid to go to Maryinka but we came. The bad thought came to my mind that there can be hot not only from the sun today, February, 23. We were driving the alarm away. What did we need it for? Remember what Martin Luther wrote? Birds can sit down on our heads, but it is up to us not to let them nest on our heads. The same thing is with our thoughts… The people live here, in Maryinka, anyway. They were and are waiting for help. It is warm now but it can be snowstorm in a week. How will the people still having no stoves get warmed? And what would the elderly people do without food?

At this time, besides the food packages, there were 43 stoves in our truck. Their production was financed by “Helpage” organization. The brothers from “Christ the Savior Church” installed two stoves the same evening in Krasnogorovka. It was interesting to watch people becoming dumb and lost in surprise.

– I … was registered for getting a stove just recently, – Nadezhda Korniyenko said, stumbling. – I have never thought that you would bring it so quickly… I have no even an iron sheet to put it on the floor under the stove…

We found an iron sheet and installed the stove and even rejoiced together with grandma Nadia when the firewood flamed up in the iron stove and it began to sing as wind inside of the tunnel. Nadezhda Kornienko is 66 years old. Her husband is sick. They spend much money for medicaments. And the cold weather came then. The heater hardly warms one room, and water almost freezes in kitchen, toilet and bath-room.

– I’m so grateful to you, – grandma Nadia repeated many times. – You are sure to tell the people that have paid for stoves, thank you very much and a bow low from us. I’m so grateful to them…

We heard the same thing in the house of Victor and Elena Scalo. They had no problems with heating while there was gas in the town. While the city was gas, they were not aware of problems with heating. They live like all other people in Krasnogorovka now. It means warm in apartment if it is seven degrees above zero. It is like a place of resort if it is ten degrees above zero. Viktor was in such a hurry to install the stove that he broke out the glass of small window while putting the pipe through it. The stove was singing also in his house after 15 minutes. Elena immediately put a tea-pot on the stove.

– Let’s have some tea! Will you?

This elderly woman looked like a happy little girl of seven years old, who was given a gift she was dreaming for a long time about.

It was an ordinary day … The war paints it with its own colors. And God colors it with His own colors. Death is walking around the Earth and scares the people. But Life is walking too, encouraging, warming, supporting…

We thank «Helpage» for stoves for elderly people of Krasnogorovka and Maryinka. We thank brothers from “Good News Church” (Slavyansk) the church “Good News” (Slavyansk) for their faithful and selfless assistance. The wheels of their cars know every crack and every pebble on the road to the front-line towns and villages. We thank restless Galina Kucher, who manages to bring together donors and volunteers in the most difficult for life points not only from different cities, but also from different countries.

Praise God for everyone who colors the days of their life with love for God and love for neighbor.

Gennady Novikov, the press center of “Emmanuel” Association.
We just remind that “CBN-Emmanuil” continues to help the people from the South-East of Ukraine.
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