Nebraska leader makes another humanitarian visit to Ukraine

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - State Senator Tom Brewer is back in Ukraine, and hoping to share what’s happening in the war-torn country with Nebraskans at home.

We connected with the state senator in the port city of Odessa, which is the southern end of Ukraine.

“Earlier in the week, we dropped off e-Bibles, electronic Bibles, and those are going to be distributed to hospitals and wounded soldiers,” Brewer said. “Then we went up north to Kyiv, and worked with a group called “Tiny Homes”. These are homes that are pre-fabricated here in the Ukraine. They are taken to locations where the Russians have been, and have destroyed the houses. These homes are intended to just give citizens a reasonable place to live, until they are able to rebuild their home proper.”

“It’s been a hard last few weeks here,” Brewer said. “When we arrived, the Russians started with a barrage of missile attacks on power stations all across the Ukraine. Overnight, the country lost a third of its power. There were many places where we visited that you had candlelight dinners, because the power is out, and that’s just a reality of life here. But it shows the degree that Putin is willing to go. He is willing to target civilians rather than focus on military targets. The civilians are paying a dear price. But, they are not wavering. They are passionate and want to stay free. I don’t think it matters how many power stations he destroys. It’s going to be a hard winter, citizens know that, but they are willing to make the sacrifice to have freedom.”

Brewer plans to work with military pastors to help them reach out to civilians in the near future.

“The civilians are the ones that were left behind,” Brewer said. “Their villages were destroyed, and most of them left behind are elderly. The idea is that we help the military, soldiers where we can, the civilians where we can. But most of all, we want to tell the story of what’s happening here.”

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