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Aug 31Liked by Darya Zorka

I think my one word is justice. I have no familial ties to Ukraine and no emotional ones before the war started. Actually, before the first photos were released from Mariupol. I knew it was wrong and that russia was prosecuting an illegal war of imperial aggression and I wasn't surprised when genocide evidence started appearing.

I'm here because it's the right thing to do. Because my faith demands I fight for justice and stand up for the oppressed. My faith won't let me be silent. God keeps leading me deeper into the work and doing more and I'll keep saying yes as long as he leads. Because he's a God of justice who punishes evil. My own pastor disagrees with me on on principle in some of my advocacy work, but it's personal. He has no doubts whatsoever I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, doing exactly what I'm supposed to do right now. I respect his position as well because it's consistent and in no way related to kremlin propaganda.

I refuse to sit back and let evil run rampant. Because justice matters.

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Thank you for your support, Rachel! I strongly react to any injustice, but when it happens on such level, it is impossible to sit back and do nothing. I think even if I didn’t have ties to Ukraine, I would still become involved in activism and help in any way I could.

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Amen, and Godspeed.

Btw, I drive my pastor nuts sometimes, too!)))

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With love like this, there’s no way evil will win.

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❤️

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Aug 31Liked by Darya Zorka

Best poem ever for these times. Your husband is a man of deep heart, and also a very lucky man.

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Thank you!

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I'm very similar to Rachel. As a Christian who reads her Bible and knows that the hearts of men are capable of immense evil, I cannot be silent. I cannot ignore. I made decisions, decades ago, to do the right thing no matter what. Because I understand from the Bible that if we persevere, we will win through - whether in this life or the next. And russians will - definitely - face justice, either in this world or the next. Not one will escape. Knowing and believing that comforts me.

As a child and young teen, I read many books about WW2, both fiction and non-fiction. Probably much to my mother's distress, as she was a young child during WW2. While I learned comparatively little of the USSR and its actions, I did learn about the Nazis and their treatment of spies (including torture practices) and POWs. So it's been very easy for me to translate the evil of one into the evil of the other. Especially when I'm told now by Ukrainians that it was russians that taught the Nazis everything they did.

A further reinforcement, for me, was reading a book written by a Dutch Christian who travelled to Warsaw in the early 1950s. He later smuggled many bibles into the USSR. But that trip... I reread the book in 2022, and how he described Warsaw... Mariupol is an exact copy. Entire original city in ruins, remaining original population living like ghosts in those ruins, and a "model city" to "show off the success of communism" to the world. 🤮

This is a beautiful poem, and I love how you care for one another. So long as you're both aware that you're doing it...

And yes. Ultimately, it is love that is the driving force. I've fallen in love with Ukraine and Ukrainians, and Eastern Europe by extension. I could not forgive myself if I did nothing.

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Thank you for sharing, Laurel, and for your continuous support! During the last year, I thought a lot about evil, that it existed all the time that humans exist, and how there is a constant fight against it that never stops. Whether it is on a smaller scale, such as fighting against abusers and bringing individual criminals to justice, or on a larger scale, such as stopping and preventing wars, genocides, and oppression. It is so obvious to me that everyone must contribute to this fight for our civilization and humanity to continue existing, yet so many people think that they can ignore it and it won't affect their lives.

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As always so beautiful and relatable 🫂🤍

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Thank you!

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Sep 2Liked by Darya Zorka

Music saves me all the time. So I just wanted to share a song. Not because it is necessarily relevant to anything but just because I think it’s a great song. SWAY by The Rolling Stones — https://youtu.be/0ym_57YSHa4?si=VpwCr2fgW9V3--o- Please don’t mind the album cover art photo, its the Stones. Lyrics https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rollingstones/sway.html Thanks, Darya

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Thank you for sharing, Paul! It’s a good song. “Love is the way.” Music helps me, too.

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I wish there were something I could say. I live in rural Alabama, and it is very frustrating to *me* to watch as American and other Western leaders betray Ukraine time after time. Many of them have been Russian tools since it was called the Soviet Union. I pray for Ukraine. Ukraine and Israel are the only two nations clear-headedly fighting their evil enemies. Those enemies are the enemies of us all, but our leaders are compromised and don't really help where it counts. If they did, things would be much different.

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Thank you for your support!

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