Distant relatives are heating up due to the war In Subcarpathia, several families in Debrecen welcomed long-lost relatives from Inner Ukraine. Among them, we contacted Irén Balázs, who also gave accommodation to almost forty refugees in this way - through his relatives and reformed religious brothers. The family members who visit him only want peace so that they can go back to our home, that is, to what is left of it.
Irén said: my husband's cousin's family lives with us. Until now, we were on good terms, although we only met at weddings. When the war broke out, my husband and I immediately called our relatives living near Kharkiv to tell them that we would be happy to see their families if we were to flee.
We take turns cooking. As they can, they also go shopping. We do not count the money spent on them. They try to get their share of the work done, whether it's housework or the spring foil work.
Upon their arrival, Bishop Miklós Zsukovszky brought an aid package, and the chairman of the diaconate committee visited them. The congregation, the village, bears the fate of the refugees at its heart: they collected clothes, shoes, and children's toys. Sunday services are also interpreted into Ukrainian.
How long can they stay? As long as the situation requires. We are happy to see them, our relatives, even if they were strangers, we would still have to carry each other's burdens. I'm not saying that living together is always easy, we have to bridge cultural differences. I am now learning to live God's grace, not to force it.
Klára Peterivná Szérová, who arrived in Dercen with her family in mid-March, said the following about the situation of the refugees:
We lived in Balakleja, not far from Kharkov. When the war broke out, we decided to survive the fighting in our nearby holiday home, but when we went there we found ourselves in the front line instead of a shelter. We spent six days in our basement, we went down there during air raids. I sat there and couldn't accept that this was happening to me. I was scared.
We went back to our home from our vacation home to get a few things, risking being hit by a bomb or flying debris along the way. I saw from the yard that our house was in ruins. That was the moment that started me. The basement of our holiday home was also bombed by then, there was no way back.
We are safe, but for example, when combine harvesters walk the street, we are always frightened by their sound, we think of a tank. The weather was stormy today, we were so scared by the thunder and lightning that we ran out into the street several times, thinking the village was under fire.
All we can do is pray. I started going to church services here in Dercen. I and the congregation pray for peace, please do the same. I believe the Lord will listen to us, even though the politicians don't want to.
My husband had his own car repair shop, I am a world literature and Russian language teacher. Life is strange... I'm going to work abroad, my husband can't cross the border, so I'm alone. Unfortunately, close to retirement, we have to start our lives anew.
Source, full article and featured image: reformatus.hu
