On Thursday, Sasha Shulyahina, who lives in Kiev, Ukraine, celebrated her daughter Bryana’s first birthday with family and friends at the church her parents run.
Briana was born a year ago when Russian forces invaded the city. Now she babbles and makes raspberry noises in the playground at her parents’ church.
Shulyahina lights up when she talks about Briana. “He’s just the cutest kid. He has these huge brown eyes. And he showed his personality from the very first hours we were with him.”
Last March, when Shulyahina went into labor at 2 a.m., an ambulance arrived amid an airstrike and loud explosions. Briana was born on March 16, 2022.
For Shulyahina and the entire family, Briana and the church were a source of joy and comfort during the year of war.
Shulyahina said that so far her little daughter does not seem to have been affected by the war. he doesn’t notice when lights go out or explosions are heard.
“I’m glad he’s not aware of this yet,” she said. “And I’m hoping that we’ll be able to not project our stress onto him, that we’ll be able to have a calm and peaceful environment for him.”
Maya Michaluk and Nick Michaluk, Shulyahina’s parents, remained in Kiev when the Russian invasion began, both to stay with their then-pregnant daughter, but also to continue leading the church they founded, International Ministry Partnerships.
Just days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, they live-streamed the worship service from Michaluk’s living room. Shulyahina played the keyboard, and Nik Michaluk played the guitar.
The congregation met in person the following Sunday, though the sounds of airstrikes wailed.
“I think that experience gave people a certain sense of God’s protection,” Maya Michaluk said. “When you get to the bottom of your fear and look to God, there is this peace that passes understanding.”
In times of war, they say, the church is a place to inspire hope. But Nick Michaluk, who preaches most Sundays, says it’s also important to remind his congregants that theirs is a judgmental God.
“It’s God [a] A God of love, but he is also a just judge,” he said. “It is sometimes difficult for us to perceive, like love and justice. But God is like that. So we have to preach both.”
Although living through war is not something anyone in the family would want for themselves, they say their church and faith are stronger because of it.
“This time really helps us to really rethink our faith, really rethink what we value,” Shulyahina said.
Click the audio player above to learn more about how the family and church survived a year of war.