SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento man originally from Ukraine just returned from a trip to Poland -Ukraine border where he assisted several refugees.
"I felt so helpless just sitting here looking at the news," said Paul Feitser with Flame of fire ministry.
That feeling of helplessness led Feitser to spring into action. He assembled a ministry group from the flame of fire church he attends in Rancho Cordova. They bought various essential items before buying plane tickets and flew nearly 20 hours to Kharkiv, Ukraine to aid in the crisis at the border.
"It was heartbreaking to see tens of thousands of people coming across literally every few minutes you see another group of 500 to 1,000 people just crossing and they were getting bussed out," said Feitser.
On the ground, they provided food, medical supplies, and humanitarian assistance to those thousands of refugees. Feitser recalls going to a few buildings where many were temporarily being housed. He describes the scenes from inside as a war zone.
"There was people sleeping, medical aid, all in the same building," he said.
Feitser also describes the harrowing stories from some of the refugees.
"We spoke to people that crossed the border," he said. "One lady had her husband shot in front of her. another lady said that she was in a household where soldiers barged in, demanded food and shot the owner in the leg."
Amid heartbreak and turmoil, he says he's grateful that the people in Poland have been extremely welcoming to Ukrainian refugees, assisting in every way possible.
"It was mostly women and children, so you would see a mother with one or two children in their hands so the polish soldiers would carry them once they crossed the border," Feitser.
As for Feitser's own family, some were able to escape to Poland while others fled to Western Ukraine where they're sheltering in place. He says Ukrainian people are resilient and will not give up the fight.
"I don't see them backing down," he said. "This is gonna be a fight that's gonna drag on."
And Feitser isn't done helping out Ukrainian refugees just yet. He says he plans to return to aid in the crisis at the border in a few weeks.
