Ukrainians fleeing war find comfort in Steinbach church
Mennonite church opens its space to Ukrainians who'd been worshipping in a home
Nadia Bondarchuk would be in medical school by now if Russia's invasion of Ukraine hadn't uprooted her life and dashed her dreams.
Instead, the 17-year-old is thousands of kilometres away from her home country. Sitting in a pew beside new friends in Steinbach, Man., reminds her of what she's missing.
It feels like home.
"This is very important because this is part of my normal world before the war happened," she said through a translator.
A year after the invasion of Ukraine began, the arrival of an estimated 300 to 350 Ukrainians in the Steinbach area has brought out the city's generosity, and it's had the inadvertent effect of building up a church.
What was once a weekly gathering of three families in the pastor's home is now, thanks to the influx of Ukrainians, a thriving faith community that needed a bigger venue and has been occupying the basement of a Mennonite church since last summer.
Church helps newcomers
Nikolai Usach, pastor of the Ukrainian Slavic Church, considers it a privilege to support these families looking for a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar country.
"This is a chance for me to help people, to serve people," he said.
The Pentecostal church usually sees 60 to 80 worshippers in the basement of the Steinbach Mennonite Brethren Church, but it occupied the main sanctuary last Sunday for a special prayer event, attracting double the usual number of parishioners, including guests from Alberta, Minnesota and South Dakota.
The church is for Russian speakers. It is the first language of millions of Ukrainians.
Nadia Bondarchuk appreciates that the growing Ukrainian church also offers a youth group.
"Having that group that knows your background, that talks the same language that you talk, it means the world to you," Nadia said through a translator — her older sister Olga, who has lived in Canada for 14 years.
Olga said the church has helped her sister meet other recently displaced Ukrainians who know the first-hand realities of fleeing a war. Other Ukrainians, more established in Canada, don't have the same perspectives, she said.
"Church and faith played a big role in our lives and her life back in Ukraine, and it continues here," Olga said.
Inna Muliqr and her husband Serhii have only lived in Steinbach for a few weeks — the weather's colder than they're used to, they say — but already they're choosing to give back to the community.
Inna was helping a few other ladies cook meals for the parishioners.
"The church has been crucial to them adapting here," said Illia Usach, the pastor's son, who translated for them.
"When they just landed here, they already had a home to move into — furniture, clothes, everything was there — because the church was able to find them a place in advance."
Shortly after the Russian invasion started, Walter Fast, lead pastor at Steinbach Mennonite Brethren Church, said his church decided to open up their facilities to help Ukrainian evacuees whichever way they could.
Not only is there a weekly church group now, but the church has expanded its English-language classes and hosts a weekly meeting group for Ukrainians, both of which require no religious affiliation.
Fast hosted one Ukrainian couple in his family home for a few weeks, and even officiated the wedding of another couple.
"One year ago, nobody knew that anybody would be coming into this church building to meet, either for worship or just for connecting with each other. Nobody had an inkling," Fast said.
"Here we are, one year further down, and I look back and I say, 'Praise God.' We've responded to a huge need, a tragedy in the making, and I'm just glad that we've been able to facilitate other peoples's welcome here in Steinbach."
Task force supports Ukrainians
Former mayor Chris Goertzen is co-chair of the volunteer-run task force supporting the arrivals of Ukrainians. The committee estimates 300 to 350 people have settled in the Steinbach area over the last year. The city has a population of close to 18,000 people.
Goertzen said people have hosted families, provided rides to appointments and donated furniture. Some landlords have given rent breaks to newcomers.
"We continue to see people coming from Ukraine, and we just hope that we can create a welcoming place for them, that they feel somewhat at home, and hopefully, they can establish their life here for a short time or for a long time; we would welcome either one," he said.
Whether the newcomers stay or go, Nikolai Usach, who settled in Canada before the pandemic, wants his Ukrainian church to be part of Steinbach's fabric for years to come.
"In the future, I see our church will be part of the Steinbach community; children grow up here and work and the area will have strong families," he said.
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