“Good Samaritan” point of invincibility opened in Znamianka, Kirovohrad Oblast

Today, Znamianka has more than 4,000 IDPs from the frontline areas and dangerous regions of Ukraine. The parish community of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the UGCC, which was founded in 2008, actively serves internally displaced persons.

On November 7, 2010, the first solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated for the faithful of this UGCC community, led by Fr. Ivan Prots. The first place of worship was the premises of the district road state enterprise, but now the community has its own temporary wooden chapel. On January 29, 2011, Bishop Vasyl Ivasyuk visited the parish and served the Order for the Blessing and Consecration of the cornerstone for the construction of a new church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fr. Ivan Prots conducts the construction of the new church. The parish community needed additional space for effective pastoral ministry and support for those in need.

Fr. Lyubomyr Yavorskyy, Patriarchal Econom of the UGCC, in concelebration with the local pastor Fr Ivan Prots, Fr. Ivan Tretiak, Protopresbyter of the Kirovohrad Deanery, and Fr Yaroslav Valyukh, blessed the next “Good Samaritan” point of invincibility.

“It took us two days to set up the point, which will be equipped with the most necessary things for people in need. It has benches and tables, shelves, a stove with all the necessary hoods and pipes, a heat accumulator, a generator and a modern Starlink communication system,” says the church’s pastor, Fr Ivan Prots. “The point will be open daily, and at night if there is a need for blackouts, at 30 Oleksandriyska Street, on the church grounds.

Each invincibility point is designed to provide heating, recharge mobile devices and other gadgets, and provide an Internet network for contact with family and friends. At the same time, priests on the ground prepare food, provide spiritual care through communication, and distribute food packages to residents, including those who have been internally displaced. Thus, this space helps pastors successfully conduct social ministry for those in need.

As Fr. Lyubomyr said during the opening ceremony: “The Church opens invincibility points in order to save lives, keep warm, enable all those in need to feel warm, to contact their families via the Internet, and to be together and not break down.”

Along with the consecration of the invincibility point, about 500 food packages were handed over to the parish community to conduct social service and support those in need.

“In such a difficult time, it is crucial to value not only the safety of people’s lives, but also to help overcome the various challenges that church communities and individuals have faced as a result of the war. The activities of the Patriarchal Foundation Mudra Sprava are in line with the activities of other charitable organizations. We are now delivering the boxes of food packages on behalf of the Canadian charity organization CNEWA. Today, more than 500 boxes of food have arrived at Znamianka parish,” explained Father Lyubomyr Yavorskyy. “The mission of such charitable activity is spreading throughout Ukraine, and I personally am going on a further trip to Poltava, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, Kryvyi Rih and Zelenodolsk.

Father Ivan Prots said that the mission of charity will continue in the future and urged to follow the announcements on the parish’s Facebook page.

Anastasia Savinkova, an internally displaced person, lives in place of compact settlement of IDPs. She said that this is not the first time she has asked the parish for help. She recalls how in 2022, Father Ivan Prots helped her family, who had just arrived in Znamianka, with food, clothes for children and adults, detergents, and hygiene products. The woman speaks of this with special gratitude and warmth.

“We are very grateful for the realization of this opportunity and the constant support of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Patriarchal Foundation Mudra Sprava, within the framework of whose project we now have the point of invincibility. I am also grateful to our bishop Mykhailo Bubniy, whose coordination work helped a lot in this matter,” added Ivan Prots.

“The most important thing we want to do is not only to satisfy people’s need to keep warm, drink tea or get high-quality mobile communication, if necessary, in the cold season. Everyone can also bring things, clothes, food and take it all if they need it,” said the priest.

The “Good Samaritan” point of invincibility in Znamianka was established with the support of the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians of the Byzantine Rite in Germany and Scandinavia, which is headed by Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh.

Press service of the Patriarchal Foundation Mudra Sprava