It’s a difficult story to understand, both from the language standpoint and the war-torn aspect. Most of us here in America have never had to flee in the middle of the night from foreign invaders. The Bayevs, from Kalanchak in the Kherson region of Ukraine, have an app on their smart phones to help with difficult translations from Ukrainian to English. They are fluent or have been exposed to four languages in their flight, starting with their native Ukrainian, then Russian, then Czech and now English.

On February 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, their pastor called and said, “Go, now! To the north.” Like 8,000,000 other Ukrainians, they fled their country. Nastasiia, age 29 and now seven months pregnant with their third child, doesn’t remember the sound of bombs so much as she does the sight and smell of smoke from explosions.

They went to the Czech Republic where they spent a year. Nastasiia and her husband Ivan, also 29, helped to found an Assembly of God Church for Ukrainians. They both taught in the church and Nastasiia played the piano. They would like to do that again for Ukrainians here in the United States, as Nastasiia’s missionary grandparents did in Russia 10 years ago. Kalanchak is about the size of Mt. Pleasant, that has 15 churches. Kalanchak had five.

They made their way to Canada where they intended to make their home. They were there for six months and were planning a trip to Norway to see Nastasiia’s mother and brother (where they had fled), and had the tickets bought. However, they found out they had received a sponsor in Mt. Pleasant, Lea Bradley. The Bayevs canceled their tickets and headed for the US of A!

There was a major problem at the border with passports and documents. Pastor Trey Hegar of the First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, Tammy Shull of the Iowa WINS program and Lea Bradley worked furiously with government officials to get the problem resolved. After two weeks of waiting at the border, Nastasiia and Ivan Bayev and their two boys, Natan and Tikhon, ages two and four, were allowed to enter the country. There was car trouble. Tammy Shull and Lea Bradley met the Bayevs in Cedar Rapids and brought them to the home Lea Bradley had arranged for them in Mt. Pleasant. Many people from the Presbyterian Church and community donated furniture and dishes, and labor to prepare the house, for which the Bayevs are thankful.

In Ukraine, Ivan farmed wheat and barley with his father-in-law. Ivan tells of Russians living in his house and sleeping in his bed. Every month, Russians went into his father-in-law’s house and tried to change his thinking about territorial occupation.

Nastasiia is very creative. She has a degree in agronomy and was a baker in Ukraine. She is from a large family of three sisters and three brothers, with loving parents, and hopes that Ivan and she can have four boys, because there is so much love in a large family. Because of the war, her mother and father are separated, with her mother and youngest brother living in one room in Norway, and her father trying to save their home in Ukraine from the Russians. Nastasiia hopes she can bring her mother to live with them, but she needs a sponsor. Anyone interested in being a sponsor go to: welcomeus.service-now.com > ukraine.

Ivan is in the process of obtaining a Social Security number and work permit. They try not to hope. They had hope in Ukraine and it was dashed. They just want to have a normal life, with a job, raise their family in a good Christian home and pray that someday the world will be at peace.

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Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at [email protected] or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com.

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