The Daily Signal - Dave Donaldson Explains What He Saw in War-Torn Ukraine

Episode Date: August 24, 2022

Dave Donaldson recently returned to the U.S. after his second trip to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of its Eastern European neighbor.  “The city is pretty much obliterated,” Donaldson, co-founder and board chairman of CityServe International, says of the city of Bucha, where Russians are said to have massacred 1,300 people. “It's like watching a sci-fi film.”  CityServe is a Christian humanitarian aid organization that works with churches all over the world to meet the needs of local communities. In addition to visiting Bucha, Donaldson also spent time in Kiev and met with bishops from all over Ukraine to learn about the spiritual and physical needs of the people.  It's been six months since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, and Ukrainians need “prayer that this war will end,” he says. Donaldson joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss what he saw and experienced in Ukraine, and how the people of Ukraine are coping with the death and devastation. Enjoy the show Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We went to a restaurant and the waitress, she handed me the bill and she said, please pay this right away in case you get killed or something. This is the Daily Signal podcast bonus episode for Wednesday, August 24th. I'm Virginia Allen. And that was Dave Donaldson discussing his recent trip to Ukraine. Dave is the co-founder and chairman of the board of the Christian humanitarian organization, CityServe, International. Today, I am sitting down with Dave to talk about the two trips he's taken to Ukraine this year. He shares about his time in the capital city of Kiev and the town of Buccia, where Russians massacred 1,300 people. He also explains how the church in Ukraine is working hard to meet the

physical and spiritual needs of their people. But before we get to my conversation with Dave Donaldson, from all of us here at the Daily Signal, we want to say thank you to all of you who have shared feedback with us and your thoughts on podcast headlines. The response has been overwhelming, and we want you to know that we have heard you and headlines are returning. They are going to be back in September. And right now here at the Daily Signal, we're talking about how we can make them even better when they do return in September. So stay tuned. And if you would still like to send us your feedback and your thoughts on podcast headlines, you can do so by sending us an email at letters at daily signal.com. Now stay tuned for my conversation with Dave Donaldson.

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I am so pleased to welcome to the show, author, speaker, humanitarian leader, Dave Donaldson. Dave is the co-founder and chairman of the board of CityServe International. Dave, welcome to the show. My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me. So Dave, you all at CityServe work with local churches in America and all over the world to really impact communities

and serve those who are in need. Could you just begin by explaining a little bit about what you all do at CityServe? Yes, there are three primary pillars. First, we have a robust pipeline of gifts and kinds, so home furnishings, school supplies, diapers, you name it. And we receive that through great companies like Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, and many more. And we have warehouse hubs that, that, this product first goes to and then that's channeled to pods, points of distribution,

which are typically churches all across America, now in Mexico, about to be in Costa Rica, and then throughout Europe. Secondly, we build the capacity of our partners, help them to adopt what we call the 10 initiatives, everything from programs that fight substance abuse, human, trafficking, to also help people become foster parents, adoptive parents, and so many more. And then the third is collaboration to bring organizations, churches together in communities to find solutions and to execute those solutions to help people move from dependency to sustainability.

Wow, critical. Well, in your work at CityServe, recently took you to Ukraine. I want to hear about that. Why did you decide that you were going to willingly enter a war zone and travel to Ukraine? Well, first of all, we were there soon after the war broke out, serving on the border, the Polish-Ukrainian border. And I can't adequately describe how moving that was to see a tidal wave, a women, children, the elderly, trying to a escape the war. It was about five degrees. And I went into this large tent in there, women, children, the elderly, trying to escape the cold, but also to hide from predators. In fact, two days

after we were there, 40 suspected predators, traffickers were arrested. And so we spent time encouraging the women. I went up to one young woman about the age of my daughter, and she was crying. So I leaned over to give her a fatherly hug, and she was trembling. And as I pulled away, she said, nay, Zalsela, menet, which means don't leave me. Don't leave me.

And so obviously a heartbreaker. The good news is that we're not leaving them. Cities serve and our partners have been surrounding, churches, 1,800 churches throughout Ukraine, and providing vehicles to evacuate women, children, the elderly, but also to rush in emergency, supplies, food, medical, hygiene. And also we're in the process of building these C-train homes that provided temporary shelter. And so that was my first trip. the second we just returned about 10 days ago. And if you'd like for me to share about that, I'd love to. Yeah, no, I'd be really curious to hear a little bit about what life is like on the

ground right now. I know you spent time specifically in Kiev. Explain a little bit of what the situation on the ground looks like there. I mean, are people going to work and sort of going about their lives, or is it really completely a war zone? It's still a war zone and people are trying to live, you know, as normal as possible. Yes, we traveled from Warsaw to Boucher, which, as you know, has had the mass graves. The city is pretty much obliterated. It, you know, it's like watching a sci-fi film. From there, we went into Kiev.

Our driver told us that a week earlier, A sniper had shot a bullet through his windshield, went over his shoulder and hit the passenger behind him and killed the man. Well, I was seated in that same place. Wow. And then he took us to our hotel, the Ukraine Hotel. And I can only describe that as like Hotel California. You know, you can check in, but you can never leave. It was dark.

It had military inside, and so we tried to sleep, but at 4.30 in the morning, the sirens went off. Missiles were coming in, and the missile defense system intercepted four of the five, so one landed just miles from us, and then you try to go back to sleep, and then about three hours later, the sirens went off again with incoming missiles. And so if the siren goes off one time, that means it's coming to your region. If it comes, if the siren goes off the second time, it's coming to you. And so, you know, obviously you are on edge. We went to a restaurant and the waitress, she handed me the bill and she said,

please pay this right away in case you get killed or something. And we were eating outside and, and you were eating outside and, and, you said, and she would come out, hand us, whatever, and then flee back into the restaurant. And so, you know, you're on red alert, you know, always. And the good news, though, is that we met with the bishops from all over Ukraine representing 1,800 churches. And we met some of the bishops, for example, from the Donbos region,

where there are posters of them. that Putin has put up. And these are public enemy number one, if you will, to the Russians. And they are in search of these bishops to arrest, kill them, because they recognize how much influence they have in their communities and how these churches, these pastors of these churches, refuse to leave. They refuse to give up their cities, their people.

And these churches are lighthouses. It's powerful. And so that's who we are helping. We're actually supporting them with funds so that they can survive, but also food, meals, including even meat, provided by our partner, PMI Foods. And then from Kiev, we traveled into Odessa. And as you know, Odessa has been repeatedly bombed. And while we were meeting with the bishops there, they received a report.

that one of their pastors had been apprehended by the Russians, and they had no idea where he was at. And so it's, you know, it's sobering to say the least. But when you were there and you were speaking with these bishops and church leaders, what did they say to you? What do they say about the state of their country and how they're doing personally, how their congregations are doing? They're not victims.

They're victors. And they are convinced that they're going to beat. They call them Putler, not Putin. So a cross between Putin and Hitler. Wow. And so they, you know, they're on, you know, self-defense, protecting their people from, you know, the, not only the artillery, but the really hand.

hand-to-hand combat and kidnapping. But at the same time, you know, they're proactive. And if I can give you an example, they have bought up the billboards throughout Ukraine. There's like 2,000 billboards that they're renting. And on those billboards, they have positive messages. And including scripture. And in working to inspire the Ukrainian people

and the military. And we saw many of them as we traveled throughout the country. We are, you know, we are also meeting with them at their headquarters in Kiev. And it's like a bunker because it's surrounded by military. They turned over their whole compound to the military. And inside, they have one room where they meet to strategize. And we were part of that. And so they're very hopeful. These are great men and women, heroic. And so it's a joint honor for us to serve them. Did you get to talk to any of the soldiers while you were over there? Yeah, the hotel that we stayed at, they put me on one side of the hotel.

Again, we were the only guests. And on my side, it was military, and I actually had two military. station outside my door because of these snipers and they never know when they're going to be attacked and so yes i had a good chat uh with the uh the military there and they are uh resolute that uh that they are going to defeat these occupiers and that their nation is going to be fully restored. Wow. I mean, it's really incredible to hear

that they're that resolved. You know, we see these images totally bombed out buildings. And you mentioned going to Buccio, which of course, such horror stories out of that city of just a total massacre

of individuals, including children, you know, 13, 100 lives lost that we know of so far from that one city. and yet the fact that you're saying that, you know, the people of Ukraine are resolved to keep fighting and to win this fight. It's really incredible. It is. And in Boucher, for example, we were there to dedicate one of the homes that we helped to bring in. They're called C-Train mobile homes. Very nice.

And includes all the amenities, a couple bedrooms, which is critical to provide women, children, elderly with privacy. Many of them have been staying in church safe houses, which are like converted sanctuaries and gyms. But now they have a nice little home. While this one home is on the property of a home that had been destroyed by the Russians. So incredible interview with the mom who shared about how they barely escaped their home getting bombed there in Buccia and how they left, but then they returned and they said, we're not giving up our land. And so right there, we dedicated that new home to them, and they moved in along with their dog. and so again, you hear this mom share with such resolve.

We're not giving up our land, she says. We're not giving it up. We're back. And how can you not support them? I mean, it's only $25,000 to build one of those homes. Our vehicles, we now have a transportation network of vans and trucks, and those are only $25,000. but yet they're rescuing people, they're rushing in product, you know, food and other supplies.

And so it's actually a relatively small price for what we're able to do in these cities. Wow. Really incredible. Now, I would be curious to know, since you were over there at the very beginning when really the war began and then have just come back now, what were some of the differences that you saw from the first time you were there when the were first broke out to now? Yeah, that's a great question. The first time I was there like in LeVive, people were, you know, I mean, I would say totally on edge, exhausted, wary, and you had a lot of refugees that had. had moved from other parts of the country,

hoping that it would be safe there. Many of them moved towards the Polish border and then into Poland. But many are trying to return to their cities or to other cities that are safe. And so I would say that, as you mentioned earlier, they're trying to live a normal life as much as possible now versus previously.

An example of that is that we were visiting a refugee center in Moldova. And here Moldova is the poorest European nation. And yet it's taken in thousands, thousands upon thousands of refugees. And so we're at this church safe house center and we hear this party that's happening down the hall And we walked down there and the refugee families are all meeting.

And this mom, this wonderful mom named Ella, she was putting on a party for her son, Edward, but she was also putting on a party for everybody there. And so I interviewed her and I asked her, what's it like to have, you know, this party in another country? And she said, we want our children, you know, to not have to worry about, the war. And we want things to be as normal as possible. And if we can provide some joy, then we're going to do it. And she has just a beautiful countenance. And I said to her, thank you, Ella, for making all of us happy, all of us. And we have this on video. You'll see it on our website, cityserve.us. Powerful. Absolutely powerful. And there's just so many stories.

like that of people that have they have an innate joy and I believe that's the joy of the Lord who is their strength and they they're lifting each other up and they're filling

rooms and cities where they have every reason to feel like a victim instead they're you know they are victorious and I'm seeing that throughout the country. Wow. So incredible to hear you say that and to hear the stories of the people that are choosing, like you say, to be powerful in the midst of such a challenging situation. Just absolutely incredible. For you personally, you know, when you're in your hotel and you're hearing sirens go off,

What's running through your head? Did you feel scared for your own life as you were there? I've been in war-torn countries before. I was in northern Israel during the Lebanese battle and had missiles flying every direction. And, you know, on one hand, it is, you know, scary, you know, I mean, is this it? You know, am I going to die here? But at the same time, I believe that the safest place is in the will of God. And if God sends you to a place to serve,

I believe he will protect you. And so I had a great peace about it. I think more than the, the missiles, it was the snipers. So for example, my balcony, it's a little balcony that oversees Liberty Square. And to the right of my balcony, the room next to me, a guy was killed by a sniper. And so you just, you know, obviously you just don't know,

when a sniper is going to start shooting and from where. and I liked the car that we were in. And so you're especially on edge as relates to the snipers. But I had a piece. You know, that was my third trip. I had a piece. And, you know, when you're with these leaders, with these people who are so brave, so courageous, so uplifting, how could I be scared?

What are the people of Ukraine need right now? Well, first of all, prayer that this war will end. And secondly, I think prayer for safety. Secondly, we've got to continue to purchase and station these vehicles, bands, and like sprinter vehicles strategically. so that we can move people out of harm's way, evacuate them, but then rush in emergency food and supplies, as I mentioned. So we've got to continue to expand that fleet.

The safe houses that are there in Poland, Moldova, Romania, we're going to continue to support them with food and other supplies. As you know, there are literally millions of refugees that have planned. poured into Poland and Warsaw in particular, stretching its infrastructure. We have right now another million meals that will be going in next week into the Odessa region. And so we're grateful for the donors who provided the meals and also the distribution. But we need vehicles to move that around more. And then as I mentioned, I think the housing is. is a big deal.

As you would imagine, this has gone on since February, so the refugees have been in these church safe houses where they don't have privacy. There's very little normality. And so by providing these sea train mobile homes, for just 25,000, they can have somewhat of a normal life. And so we need to purchase a lot more of those. exactly where they need to go. And because they're mobile, we'll be able to move them around.

For example, if the Russians return to Boucha, we would be able to move those homes out of there to a safe place, out of harm's way. So those are the greatest needs right now. And for those listening who think I want to be a part of meeting those needs, I'd love to partner with CityServe, how can they do that? Just simply go to our website. website, cityserve.us.us. Cityserve.us. And you'll see right now the whole first page is devoted to Ukraine. And it's really simple to give through our website.

Excellent. Well, Dave, we really thank you for the work that you're doing and the work that CityServe is doing. And we really appreciate your time on the show today and encourage all of our listeners to check out the work of CityServe. and how you all are making an impact, not only in Ukraine, but really all over the world. So thank you for your time today. Thank you. My joy.

And that'll do it for this bonus episode of the Daily Signal podcast. Thank you all so much for listening. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to subscribe to the Daily Signal podcast on Google Play, Apple Podcast, Spotify, IHeartRadio, wherever you like to listen. And please leave us a review and a five-star rating on Apple Podcast. and encourage others to subscribe. Thank you all so much for listening. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.

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