“We have to love each other”: Winnipeg Ukrainian community holding onto to hope through faith, fellowship – Winnipeg | 24CA News

It’s one thing nonetheless vivid in Iryna Mykhalyk’s thoughts: February 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine and the day her life modified eternally.

“The 24th of February changed our lives, all Ukrainians,” Mykhalyk informed Global News.

“We didn’t know what to do, we were in panic.”

The panic has since pale, however the ache continues to be uncooked. Mykhalyk moved to Winnipeg along with her two youngsters three months in the past. Her husband continues to be in Ukraine.

“Missing (him) and want (him) to come as soon as possible. We are waiting for that time and it will be freedom,” she stated.

“We don’t need to fight, we don’t need to die.”

She says she moved to maintain her youngsters protected, and so they can’t wait till the day her husband is ready to be a part of them right here in Manitoba.

“I am happy that Canada gave us this choice to protect our children. Because I could stay there with my husband but my children, especially my son, they’re scared of the alarms that surround us everyday,” Mykhalyk stated.

“And you don’t know what to do because something can happen at anytime. The rockets could come in your apartment and you will be destroyed or could even die.”

“(My son) always looked white, his ears and his face, and I had to do something, I had to take them (away),” she added.

“My son misses his father so much, he always tells me ‘I’m dreaming when my father comes through this door and I will see him’.”

Mykhalyk says she longs to see the day the warfare is over.

“I’m dreaming about the last day of this war, and I couldn’t imagine this could happen in the 21st century,” she stated.

“We have to love each other. We don’t need to kill each other.”

Mykhalyk is now working at Sts. Vladimir & Olga Cathedral, the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral on McGregor Street in Winnipeg, a spot that she says has supported new and quite a few different Ukrainian newcomers.

“Here we can feel like we are at home,” she stated.

Pastor Ihor Shved says he by no means thought the warfare would drag on this lengthy.

“Now, to be honest, we’re used to pain, but it’s still painful,” Shved stated. “We’re still in fear and we don’t know where future will be, (but) we believe Ukraine will win.”

Shved says the church is a spot the place many turned to initially of the warfare, and nonetheless do at the moment. He says the church has nearly welcomes lots of of Ukrainian refugees, and sees about 200 new faces every Sunday. The church additionally has offered help for refugees by offering clothes, meals, and kitchen and home items.

But, he says, most significantly, the church supplies a spot the place folks can discover a sense of group by means of fellowship and religion.

“(Religion) gives hope, it gives spiritual strength. And church is always a place of worship, the Christian church is a place where we worship Jesus and Jesus is our piece of hope and strength,” Shved stated. “But church is also a place where people meet each other, where people support each other, and it’s a place where God helps people through other people.”

“A lot of people (who come here) will say, “I feel at home, I am moving to Canada, but once a week I am coming to your church, and I feel like I’m in Ukraine.”

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