Brief report from Ukraine - Ukraine's military asks us not to gather for Orthodox Easter

Brief report from Ukraine, April 26, 2022, Ukraine. Last week was the Holy week in Ukraine, which is the week before Easter, starting with the Willow Sunday, and finishing with the Easter Sunday on April 24th. Unfortunately, Russia’s government has rejected an Easter ceasefire, despite the calls of the United Nations chief. And Holy week started for us with four missiles launched on our town on April 16th and with four missiles launched on Lviv City two days later. Ukraine’s military has warned residents not to gather for Orthodox Easter in the churches. So, we tried to be very careful in our community and went to the church just briefly to sanctify the baskets with food, which is the ancient Ukrainian Easter tradition. We were hospitably and warmly congratulated by the local community in the village where our families settled in Western Ukraine. On Easter eve, our host brought us twelve Easter pies and various other treats. Special thanks to WFWP-Ukraine for the donation! We could buy a lot of food for our community on Easter eve, as well as we bought vegetables and fruits for the local Center for the internally displaced persons, which serves more than three thousand IDPs from different parts of Ukraine. We celebrated Easter Sunday together, 43 members who are staying in the Lviv region, in our small and friendly village. Despite the fact that the war did not allow us to feel the fullness of the holiday, we tried to cheer up and please each other. Thank you for all your support and prayers!