From Ukraine with love – a message of hope
Bourke can feel like it is a long way from world conflict and international events, but a visit by a family – Daniel, Priscilla, and Ellie Gollan – last week brought the war in Ukraine closer to home.
Daniel and his wife Priscilla have lived in Ukraine for more than 30 years and their daughter Ellie was born there but the family’s close friendship with Bourke’s Alan and Pat Amos from Koinonia Christian School sees them visit the school and catch up on old times whenever they visit Australia.
This time, Daniel and Ellie brought a powerful message with them – that the combined will of good people, no matter how far from the conflict, would eventually overcome Vladimir Putin’s evil intent.
Despite the war, Daniel, Priscilla, and Ellie still have a deep love for Ukraine, its natural beauty and its resilient people.
“Ever since I was a young kid of nine or ten years of age, I had an interest in that part of the world,” Daniel said.
“I attended a Christian schools and encountered a lot of missionaries as a kid and I was attracted to the special life they lived.
“God put it on my heart to go to Ukraine and be a missionary, so when I was about 20, I took up that challenge and have been there for more than 30 years.
“Thirty years ago, the Ukraine was darkness – grey clothing, dark colours, a subdued culture, and my understanding of communism is that it often has that effect.
“But in the last 30 years the country has changed so much - there is a sense of freedom, light and colour, you hear laughter on the streets and public transport – 30 years ago you didn’t see that.
“Then a year ago, on February 24, we woke to the news that Russia had invaded to the north and east and were doing a lot of damage, and it is a daily concern.
“As I look at the general attitude of Ukrainians, I see a remarkable stoicism. Two years ago, many Ukrainians would have felt an affinity with Russia and would have wanted closer ties - all that has changed in the last 12 months.
“Now they say they will defend, they will stand and fight – they say ‘this is our land and this is an outrage being committed before our eyes’,” Daniel said.
For Daniel’s daughter Ellie, Ukraine is home, a place of peace, gardens, close communities and friendship.
“The first days of the war were crazy, filled with the unknown,” eighteen-year-old Ellie said.
“There was a lot of fear but there was also a lot of peace in our hearts.
“I didn’t know if my dad would die when he was driving out to these cities to pick people up or if my friends would die, but I did know I could trust God and that was a blessing and gave us peace.”
During their visit to Bourke to catch up with Alan and Pat Amos, the Gollans also visited the students at Koinonia to tell them about their experience of war.
“I told them about the first couple of weeks of the war, when it was kind of crazy, because it seemed like we should be sitting at home, not knowing what was happening,” Elie said.
Read more local news in the printed edition of The Western Herald.
To subscribe call (02) 6872 2333 today and receive The Western Herald in your letterbox next week!