Newton community finds different ways to support Ukraine

Support for Ukraine is strong in the Newton community.

One week after the Eastern European country was invaded by Russian military forces, sparking public outcry and condemnation from world leaders, residents of a retirement community held a prayer service for the people of Ukraine while DMACC Newton Campus and the local brewery hosted a bake sale fundraiser.

Father Bill Reynolds and Pastor Roger Swanson led residents of the Park Centre Senior Living Community in prayer and held a moment of silent consolation for the Ukrainian people. We must acknowledge that evil abounds, Reynolds preached, but we must also affirm that grace prevails. But grace is not easy.

“There is a certain word that became more family to us and entered our vocabulary in a powerful way in the 1980s. The word is ‘solidarity,’ from the solidarity movement in Poland,” he said. “That movement led to the elimination of communism in a number of the smaller, former communist countries.”

It is now time for solidarity, Reynolds proclaimed.

Recognizing Newton as a faith-based community, Reynolds and Swanson wanted people to get together and offer their prayers to Ukraine at a time when the country is vulnerable to destruction and violence. Reynolds said it is good for communities to hold services like this in support of the Ukrainian people.

Newton is more than 5,300 miles away from the war, but the town is very much connected to Ukraine through its 30-year history of strong sister city relations. Gathered inside the garden room of Park Centre, residents prayed for God’s spirit to comfort and guide their sister city neighbors.

Reynolds prayed for God to replace the greed in the heart and soul of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He prayed for the world to rally around the Ukrainian people. He prayed for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to be a strong presence in the defense of the country.

He prayed for world leaders to offer support and assistance to the Ukrainian government. And he prayed for states and for other individual communities to welcome and support refugees. As people of faith, Swanson said, we want to “join our voices with those around the world who are praying for peace.”

Swanson wholeheartedly believes in the power of prayer. He has seen it first hand, too. When he was in Florida some years ago, he witnessed another pastor pray — or, rather, command — an oncoming hurricane to change course. Was it purely luck? Or divine intervention? Swanson believes the latter.

“I really believe that and I really believe the result of prayer can do something for people all over the world,” Swanson told Newton News. “I don’t know if there has ever been this kind of response to an act of aggression. If this has happened with Hitler, we probably wouldn’t have had World War II.”

About 30 residents and a handful of staff attended the service, which was organized in a last-minute effort. Reynolds and Swanson were glad to see the support. Peg Troyke and Loretta Miller, both residents of Park Centre, said it is important to them to pray and to sympathize with the people of the Ukraine.

“Those poor people,” Troyke said, shaking her head. “They did nothing wrong. Look at the mess they’re in.”

Miller added, “And those innocent little children. They’re uprooted. It’s awful. If the world could bend their knees, wouldn’t that be a miracle?”

When Reynolds and Swanson allowed a few minutes of silence for residents to reflect and pray, Troyke thought about the Ukrainian people and what they’re going through — although it was tough to imagine, she admitted. Troyke just hopes they have faith.

SUPPORT COMES IN MANY FORMS

About five hours after the prayer service, members of the community were lining up inside Gezellig Brewing Co. to show their support for Ukraine. The brewery, DMACC Newton Campus and the college’s Iowa Culinary Institute organized a bake sale whose proceeds went towards Razom, a Ukraine nonprofit.

Students of chef instructor Ryan Binney’s pastry arts class created 20 chocolate cakes, available for $25 each. Within a few minutes, every cake was sold. Kim Didier, executive director of DMACC Business Resources, said the sale modeled others across the country using the hashtag #BakeForUkraine.

Seeing such an energetic response from the bake sale is exciting for head brewer Joe Kesteloot, whose family is currently hosting a high school exchange student from Ukraine. Romana Koshtura, 16, of Uzhhorod, Ukraine, has lived with Kesteloot and his family since the beginning of January.

From the moment Russia invaded, Kesteloot worried about Koshtura and her friends and relatives still living in Ukraine.

“You feel pretty helpless because there’s nothing you can really do,” Kesteloot said. “The only thing we can do is just ask, ‘Is there anything we can do?’ Which, unfortunately, isn’t very much. Doing events like these is the biggest way we can think of to give back.”

Koshtura chose the nonprofit organization benefitting from the bake sale, which will continue in the future with donuts. Kesteloot said the brewery will also be teaming up with NoCoast Beer Co., of Oskaloosa, to create a new beer. Brew fans can expect it to be a wheat ale, a nod to one of Ukraine’s highest exports.

Again, proceeds will go to Ukraine.

The past week has been difficult for Koshtura. As of March 3, she has started to feel better, but only because she has gotten used to the idea her country is at war. She never believed it would actually happen. Ukraine has been facing aggression from Russia for a long time.

“But even when I was talking to my parents a few days before it happened they weren’t worried at all because, you know, people in Ukraine are so used to a lot of provocations from the Russian side that no one actually expected it to get that bad,” Koshtura told Newton News.

It was evening stateside by the time Ukraine was attacked by Russian military. Koshtura said her parents were asleep at the time of the invasion, and she had actually woken them up to give them the news. Since then Koshtura said she has received a lot of support from her peers, her teachers and her host family.

Even the smallest gesture of buying a cake to support Ukraine brings a smile to her face.

“It’s really pleasing to see that, because we’re like really far away from Ukraine. We have all different lifestyles and mentalities, but it’s really nice to see even different people from different countries support you,” Koshtura said. “It’s really nice.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com