Ukrainian archpriest with 12 children loses house to fire

Stavische, Ukraine, February 13, 2020

Photo: zhytomyr-eparchy.org     

An archpriest of the canonical Ukrainian Church, his matushka, and their numerous children lost their home to fire last week.

Fr. Alexei Busko is a cleric of the Zhytomyr Diocese of the UOC in the village of Stanische in the Zhytomyr Province. The accident occurred in the afternoon of Saturday, February 8. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the family with its 12 children, including 3 adopted, lost their home and most of their belongings, reports the diocesan press service.

“All our lives, Batiushka did everything with his own hands, with God’s help,” the message reads. “He repaired the church, built a small house at the church, and then began construction of a new church and a new house. After more than a decade of work on the new home, it was recently completed.”

“But a great misfortune occurred. On Saturday 2.28.2020 around 12:00 PM, someone noticed smoke coming from the second floor. Attempts to put it out with a fire extinguisher and buckets of water led to nothing, except for the loss of time, which was barely enough to get all the children out on the street, barely in their around-the-house clothes,” the message continues.

“In the end, we managed to save some little things, but everything else, equipment and other things turned into ashes. An hour later, the roof collapsed and the first floor burned. Firefighters drove for more than an hour and extinguished the fire at 5:00 PM. Resigned to God's will, the priest went to serve Vespers, without waiting for the firefighters to finish…”

Photo: zhytomyr-eparchy.org     

The Zhytomyr Diocese is actively seeking arrangements for the family and to gather funds towards new housing.

If any readers of OrthoChristian are able to help, donations can be sent to the PrivatBank card of Alexei Alexeevich Busko (Бусько Алексей Алексеевич), no.: 5168 7573 9250 1039.

May God have mercy upon Fr. Alexei and his family!

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