Operation Bring Ukrainian Grandma Ludmila Home

Here is a simple story to make a world of difference in the life of one Ukrainian Grandmother. Ludmila Polyvannia was born in 1939 (83 years old). At age 2, WWII broke out in her Ukrainian city called Kharkiv. She was born into trouble, and after WWII, there was a famine in Kharkiv for 4 years. She grew up, married, and worked for 50 years to raise her children and care for her and her husband's mothers until they died.

In early May, about seven weeks ago, after months of bombardment, Ludmila escaped with the help of family and friends. Her son's apartment was hit by tank fire, yet he was able to bring food and water to Ludmila, his mother, for weeks leading up to their escape. Their church donated about 5 gallons of gas, and Ludmila and her son decided to risk the long journey to Western Ukraine. Remarkably, they managed to find fuel and refuge, and Ludmila is now living with a woman she met through church contacts 60 miles from the Polish Border. Ludmila's daughter says, "I have no words for what a miracle it was for them to traverse Ukraine unscathed."

Ludmila's daughter, Larysa and son-in-law, Paul, live in Oregon. The plan is to bring Grandma Ludmila home for good. All of the funds raised will go to make this happen and provide Ludmila with all she needs to make a start in a new land.

Ludmila has nothing to go back to. Her own home is on the front line, and she cannot stay where she is now forever. She needs a permanent solution.

Larysa has already applied for a permanent visa to bring her mother to Oregon. The challenge now is to get her here. Larysa, her daughter, is a school district nurse, and she says, "I want to provide peace and tranquility for my mother until the end of her life and provide the comfort of our home."

Larysa's colleague, Margie Johnson, introduced Larysa to her friend Jonathan Booth, the retired CEO of Care for the Family in the UK but now lives in McMinnville, Oregon. Jonathan, with extensive travel experience all over the world, has agreed to go to Europe with Larysa to bring Ludmila back to the USA. This will involve being a guide, handling all logistics, and being an advocate for Ludmila who speaks no English with the USA embassy staff.

The plan is for Grandma Ludmila to be brought, by her son, to Warsaw in Poland, a journey of about 12 hours by train, and then to stay in Warsaw for a few days to deal with the visa issues with the US embassy. Then Grandma Ludmila, Larysa, and Jonathan will set off to return to Oregon and try to make the journey for this 83-year-old as easy as possible. The easiest way to do this is to fly from Poland to Amsterdam, spend a night at Schiphol airport, and then fly to PDX. That whole journey from Warsaw will take about 30 hours with an overnight stop.

The costs to be faced are train fares, airfares, travel insurance, baggage fees, accommodation, and meals. Anything left over from the "Go Fund Me" will be used to make Grandma Ludmila a "start" living in an unfamiliar land with a language she doesn't speak. [If for any reason whatsoever Grandma Ludmila cannot get to the USA all surplus funds will be returned to donors. We will leave for Europe just as soon as the visa formalities are completed. Jonathan will be donating a week of his time from work to this endeavor.]

By donating to this cause you will have done something tangible to help Ukraine and transform the life of an 83-year-old who began her life with the tragedy of WWII and now is experiencing the horror of a war that has destroyed her life as we know it today. We thank God for you as you help make this particular challenge a reality.

Thank YOU, Thank YOU, Thank YOU!