ORANGE CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February of last year. Since then, million of people have been displaced and thousands more killed.
Because Russia attacked Ukraine’s power grid, many live in darkness – unable to use lights or even charge their phones. A congregation in Orange City is trying to change this, building one light for Ukraine at a time.
The idea to provide Ukrainians affected by war with solar-powered lights began earlier this year when Ray of Life volunteer organizer Dave Nonnemacher volunteered in the war-torn country.
“It’s really dark, I mean there’s lots of people living in basements, there’s lots of people who don’t have power or limited power or interrupted power. And this allows people to have a little bit of light TO read to their kids at night, they can charge their cell phone which is a big deal,” Nonnemacher said.
Nonnemacher partnered with a friend who builds the solar-powered lights and sent ten ‘Rays of Life’ to areas affected by the war in March. Now, Nonnemacher is back home partnering with volunteers at his local church to build more lights.
“We raised our kids here. We currently live in Duluth but these are my people, so I made a couple of phone calls and the response was very positive. This is the third church we’ve done this build with in Orange City,” Nonnemacher said.
A new addition to the Orange City community is Alina Vlasenko and her family who fled from Ukraine in December of 2022.
“We were at the center part of Ukraine where actually the occupation came to, Irpin City if you know, and so we went to the west first with family, but my sisters and parents, they are still at the east,” Vlasenko said.
Vlasenko said Nonnemacher has helped make moving to Iowa easier.
“To meet him was actually a miracle to me because we came here knowing nobody,” Vlasenko said.
Vlasenko knows firsthand how important volunteer work is for the people of Ukraine.
“As I say always we have two army’s. One which is fighting and the other army is volunteers. We feel that front in Ukraine when people are having nothing like no utilities, no light, no heating system so this kind of help brings hope and brings at least some life into those dark areas,” Vlasenko said.
This week, the volunteers at First Reformed Church helped assemble 50 ‘Rays of Life’.
“The plan is for me to take over 30 to 40 depending on weight and packing in two weeks. Two weeks from today, I’ll be in Ukraine. The initial goal is 500, so we’re almost halfway there,” Nonnemacher said.
It’s all in the name of helping God’s people, says Nonnemacher.
“Light brings hope, hope keeps people alive and you know, God’s people respond when there’s a need, and I saw that in real-time in my two times over at the border and throughout Ukraine,” Nonnemacher said.
“I always say God has his hands and he uses people to do his work, so for me it’s like God’s hands helping there,” Vlasenko said.
With every ray of life that gets sent to Ukraine in July, a water filter will be included to help people affected by the Kakhovka Dam collapse. If you want to get involved and help make rays of light for Ukraine, you can email Dave at [email protected].