My Abayudna Family

Never in my life have I heard the expression, Abayudna. Never before did I think that one word could bring so many sweet emotions and memories to the surface. That was until I met this special family of five a few months ago. We were asked by the police to help with a mandatory evacuation of families living too close to the front lines. We came with our vans to a small rundown farm and as we walked inside we saw a mother and her four children living in a cold, uncomfortable, and unsafe environment. A place they called home. They refused to leave at first because they didn’t believe that we would actually take them somewhere good, they had been evacuated twice before by other organizations that left them at the train station with nowhere to go. Eventually after their heartfelt goodbyes to their neighbors, we started on our way to our IDP shelter in Dnipro. In the hours of driving with this family we got to know each other better, sharing future dreams, listening to their scary stories of war, and jammed out to their favorite songs quite loudly. My favorite part was when they taught us their favorite word, abayudna which is expressed with placing their fist against their mouth, blowing out their thumb and pinky and exclaiming abayudna! They said it means “together”. In that moment we were.

Fast forward a few months and my “abayunda” family moved from the place we arranged for them previously to another apartment closer to our base. They reached out and asked for a bunkbed which we were able to bring to them today. We were greeted by two siblings running toward us and yelling our names in excitement! We toured their new home and drank chai, shared more stories, hugged, and prayed together. God brought us together again. I’m forever thankful for my “Abayudna” family, and for God’s protection in all of our lives. I believe God has good plans for each one of them, and I know we will be “together” again, in this life or the next.