ORANGEVALE, Calif. — Thousands of Ukrainian refugees continue to embark on a long and treacherous journey to the Poland-Ukraine border each day seeking refuge from the mayhem in their homeland caused by the Russian invasion.
Four staff members from Spring of Life Church in Orangevale are there witnessing historical moments.
"As you see right behind me, the family just walked in so mom with the kids," said Senior Pastor Vadim Dashkevych in a Zoom interview with ABC10. "It's really stressful and full impact over here."
From sunrise to sunset, half a world away, Dashkevych and his team have been assisting Ukrainian refugees in every way possible for the past two days. They've been working alongside military and law enforcement members.
"You see the tents all around. Over here and over there," he told ABC10 during a virtual tour of the situation at the border. "We help them a lot. Serve them, help to unpack things, bring some mattresses, buying food, and support them spiritually."
Missionaries from Germany have also arrived at the Poland-Ukraine border to assist the thousands of refugees that are fleeing Ukraine.
"I can ask you just to pray for the people to come over here," said one missionary from Germany who briefly spoke to ABC10. "They really need all prayers, definitely, of course, as well as support."
Despite extremely long days volunteering, Dashkevych says the mission hasn't necessarily been challenging. In fact, he and his staff have remained in positive spirits and focused on the task at hand to serve and help those in need.
"I think it's more challenging for Ukrainian people that flee, so we thank God that we here can help," Dashkevych said. "A lot of them come here to this land frustrated, like stressed out having panic attacks, so they don't feel well — that's why we spend time with them reading the bible, praying, singing songs, working with kids."
Seeing so many people from different backgrounds coming together to assist refugees makes Dashkevych emotional. He says he's grateful to Poland for accepting Ukrainian refugees.
"That's really touching heart, you know? When you see this, you can't help not to cry," said Dashkevych.
Spring of Life Church has started a GoFundMe page to aid in the crisis in Ukraine. All donations will go towards assisting Ukrainian refugees.
