"Give me a drink." In the Gospel of John 4:5-30, Christ asks the Samaritan woman at the well to give him a drink of water.  This same request is repeated a thousandfold today in Ukraine, for even though the people find themselves surrounded by water, they remain thirsty.

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam caused extensive flooding along the lower Dnipro River in the Kherson Oblast displacing over 11,000 people.  The devastating flood waters from one of the world’s largest reservoirs, which was vital for irrigating farmland considered the breadbasket of Europe, is a disaster of global magnitude, putting food supplies for millions at risk and threatening fragile ecosystems for decades.

This is but one more effort by the Russia Federation to bring Ukraine to her knees.  However, her people are resilient, and the Lord’s Commandment to love one another runs deep in their veins.  Ukrainians by the hundreds hurried to the region, bringing with them all manner of boats, canoes, and rafts, which they used to rescue stranded civilians on both sides of the River.  Russian snipers shot at them, but they continued to in their efforts, having rescued all the people, they returned to rescue stranded pets, dogs, cats, horses, cows, and anything else in need of help.

However, while the people were no longer in danger of drowning, they remained in grave danger of dehydration, and illness.  Their one source of clean water was destroyed.

“Give me to drink.”  Their words were heard and with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Antony, Prime Hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and Diaspora, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel, Ruling Hierarch of the Western Eparchy and Consistory President of the UOC of the USA, working in cooperation with His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphaniy of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, released funds from the Ukrainian Relief Humanitarian Fund to purchase and deliver over 20 tons of clean potable water to the Kherson region.

It is through this generosity, this provision of clean drinking water, that the Church and her faithful not only save the bodies of those who thirst, but satiate their souls, through their love and concern for them.  This fresh water will nourish their bodies and will prevent fatal diseases which are spread through the use of unpotable water such as cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis.  The hundreds upon thousands of bottles of water, prayed over and blessed by the clergy of the OCU, will be a salve to troubled souls, offering them renewed hope and the assurance that they are not forgotten, and they are not alone, but are loved by others, loved by the Church, and loved by God.

Please consider donating to the Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief Fund of the UOC of the USA, and be like the Samaritan woman, Photine (Svitlana), who having the means to reach the clean water from the deep well, was able to provide drinking water to the One who asked her to, “give me a drink.”

УПЦ США у співпраці з ПЦУ передала в в Херсон понад 20 тон питної води

До парафії на честь Різдва Пресвятої Богородиці в смт Антонівка (передмістя Херсону), яка нещодавно разом з настоятелем і кліром доєдналася до автокефальної Української Православної Церкви передано 20 тисяч літрів питної води.

Воду, яку в Херсоні буде розповсюджено серед потребуючих, було придбано в рамках співпраці Православної Церкви України та Української Православної Церкви США.

Це ще один благодійний проєкт, який втілений за сприяння УПЦ США та її Предстоятеля Митрополита Антонія. Регулярною гуманітарною підтримкою України, яка потерпає від повномасштабної російської агресії, безпосередньо опікується архієпископ Даниїл.

Пресслужба Київської Митрополії
Української Православної Церкви (ПЦУ)