by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org
LEAWOOD — “I look at life through daily miracles, and I know those are happening here,” said Konrad Milewski, a parishioner of St. Michael the Archangel Parish here.
Milewski is a native of Poland, whose work brought him, his wife Ola and their three children to the United States six years ago.
Since Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Milewski has been desperate to get involved.
Although he can’t be on the front lines in Poland assisting Ukrainian refugees, he’s found himself in a different position to help.
Milewski has become a connection between St. Michael, Poland and Ukraine, bridging the gap between the three with help from fellow parishioners and connections back home.
“It’s a beautiful network of people,” said Shawna Davidson, director of religious education at St. Michael. “It does seem like there’s something really big [happening] — that God’s hand is in this.
“It can’t all be a coincidence.”
‘There is no escape’
It began with a simple question: “How can we help?”
When Milewski’s children Szymon and Kornelia were preparing for their first Communion, and his daughter Paulina was preparing for the sacrament of confirmation, Davidson and religious education coordinator Jane Gregory got to know the family.
“It started in friendship and love of Christ through the sacraments,” said Davidson.
From there, a relationship began to blossom.
The parish was curious how they could assist families in Poland and Ukraine.
Milewski reached out to Polish native Helena Anderson, who had connected her own parish, St. Paul in Olathe, with a Polish priest in need of support earlier this year.
Eventually, Milewski learned about another group in need: Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo of the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine and his parishioners.
“This is true poverty,” said Milewski of their situation, “and they don’t know where to go. There is no escape.”
‘Constant fear’
Every morning, Bishop Sobilo is confronted with the sound of air-raid sirens, a stark warning to seek shelter in the basement.
“Everybody is living in constant fear,” he said.
Bishop Sobilo, who was born in Poland but was sent to Ukraine after he became a priest, is based in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast part of the country.
The Catholics in his care are spread out among seven regions from north to south in the eastern part of Ukraine.
In Zaporizhzhia, the situation is particularly dire.
The Russian army has taken control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest one in Europe.
“They’re sending rockets or missiles every day,” said Bishop Sobilo, “mainly now [to control] the critical infrastructure [of] the gas, electricity and water.”
“Still, millions of people stay in these towns,” he added. “They’re in very, very bad situations now.”
For around four hours at a time, people lose electricity, and Bishop Sobilo predicts that in the near future, they will have no electricity at all.
He said people are drinking water from a river. He and a few priests were forced to build a water well close to their church, but it will no longer pump water if they lose power.
“These are very hard times in the parish,” he said. “And winter is coming. Winter is here.”
If people don’t starve, freezing to death is a major concern, along with the potential bombing of the power plant.
“That would be a huge humanitarian crisis never seen before,” said Bishop Sobilo.
Despite the treacherous conditions of the war, Bishop Sobilo has also witnessed good things, especially as his own city takes in refugees from other parts of Ukraine.
“Everybody’s in great poverty, and [they don’t have] much to share,” he said. “But they are welcoming other refugees to stay with them.
“They’re sharing the last piece of bread they have with them.”
‘A very teachable moment’
Since learning about Bishop Sobilo’s situation, parishioners and staff at St. Michael have moved quickly to help.
The parish opened a fund for parishioners interested in donating to Caritas Sandomierz, a Catholic charity based in Poland. Milewski has a connection there who has ensured that donations will go toward the purchase and transport of life-saving items to the Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia region.
Items include food, medicine, power generators, sleeping bags, wood burning stoves and winter clothing.
St. Michael School is also taking action.
Dean Wheeler, seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher at St. Michael, joined Milewski in a presentation on the parish’s efforts at three religious education Family Night sessions held Nov. 8 and 9.
Wheeler explained how, with Milewski’s help, his students reached out to a school in Chelm, Poland, near the Ukraine border.
The school is now home to Polish students and Ukrainian refugees.
Wheeler’s class made cards with drawings and notes, which they shared with their “sister school,” saying “hello” and informing them of their prayers.
Since then, the schools have built an ongoing relationship, sharing photos and videos digitally.
St. Michael hopes to find a way to send Christmas gifts to its sister school this winter.
“It’s a very teachable moment,” said Wheeler. “You really can be directly involved. We’re not all going to go volunteer in the rubble. But if you send a card to a kid whose parents just died and they’re now living in a monastery, that’s pretty direct.”
His presentation at Family Night was a way for even more youth of the parish to learn what children impacted by the war are going through.
They were introduced, both through the presentation and an activity, to the concept of human dignity as understood by St. John Paul II, as well as human value and merciful love in the context of the war.
Adam Alt, who has four children in religious education at St. Michael, said the event had an impact on his family.
“My children enjoyed the evening and learned more about the human toll of this conflict through pictures of other kids and their living conditions,” said Alt.
“Since that evening,” he continued, “my family has had discussions about sacrificing some of our own Christmas wishes to allow us to send more help to Catholic relief organizations in the war-torn region.”
‘A mirror of John Paul II’
Davidson and her colleagues can’t help but notice the many “God moments” the parish has witnessed these past few months.
Bishop Sobilo’s church, which he helped build, has an outdoor statue of St. Michael nearly identical to the one outside the Leawood parish.
St. Michael is also the patron saint of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
In August, the Leawood parish hosted a first class relic: the blood of St. John Paul II. Bishop Sobilo met the late pope 11 times and was formed by him throughout his priesthood.
The late pope had a deep concern for Ukraine, and Bishop Sobilo provided guidance to the pope on the country’s situation over the years.
Even though his help was meaningful then, said Bishop Sobilo, “I believe now from heaven he’s doing even more.”
Milewski said the connection he sees between Bishop Sobilo and St. John Paul II is uncanny.
“To become a saint, one must experience a lot of suffering and offer it to God,” said Milewski. “He went through this unbelievable process, John Paul II. And Bishop Jan is a mirror of John Paul II to me.”
‘Vibrant faith’
Father Brian Schieber, pastor of St. Michael, is grateful to have a parishioner like Milewski, who’s given his parish a personal connection to the war and to the Catholic Church in Poland.
“The Polish people have such a vibrant faith,” he said. “We see that in Konrad. He’s really passionate about his faith. That’s leading him to help those in need, those refugees.”
That same desire to provide relief is nothing new for his parishioners.
“The people here have a much larger global vision of the church that they see,” said Father Schieber. “Our local community goes out from here to help others.”
He called to mind how intertwined that giving spirit is to the Catholic faith.
“How beautiful [it is, what] we’ve seen in Poland — where they haven’t had to set up any refugee camps,” he said, “but the Polish people are so faithful in taking the people into their homes.
“We from the United States then can lend certainly our prayer, but also our support, to help these refugees and the Polish families who are taking them in.”
‘God is with us’
Bishop Sobilo said war “is a strange thing. War brings refugees, funerals, extreme poverty.”
“There is a huge pain when you look [at] the people who are losing their life. There are so many people who were killed,” he said. “Many people are wounded. Many people are without legs, without arms.”
But the sorrow he’s observed hasn’t altered his faith in God.
“I see this and realize there are evil things happening around me,” he said. “But I have a deep and great peace when I’m praying.”
The bishop is especially comforted while saying Mass, which he still does regularly for many of his parishioners.
“God is giving a lot of gifts to help this internal peace,” he said. “[My priests and I] have it, and we share it with our parishioners.
“They go back home, [and] they are strengthened by this. The spiritual life hasn’t stopped. God will give us enough strength, enough power, to survive.”
Bishop Sobilo believes that what’s going on in his country is “a war for a civilization of love.”
He encourages people of the world to pray and fast for Ukraine. He hopes his own people will realize their faith is being tested, and it’s an opportunity to grow closer to God.
“God is with us,” he said. “God loves us.”
“The nation is united,” he continued. “We are feeling solidarity of the whole world. Polish people brought millions of people to their houses. They welcomed them. American society [is] . . . sending humanitarian aid, a huge amount of resources and money.
“An egoistic world is uniting in huge solidarity because of huge suffering.”
Help Bishop Jan Sobilo’s community
St. Michael the Archangel parishioners are encouraged to contribute to the Disaster Relief Fund online at: stmichaelcp.org/donations-payments. Checks can be mailed to the parish office at 14251 Nall Ave., Leawood, KS 66223. Make checks out to: Disaster Relief Fund.
Those outside of St. Michael the Archangel Parish may con- tribute directly to the dedicated fundraising page at: https://crs.donordrive.com/campaign/saving-live or contact the relief coordinator, Konrad Milewski, by email at: konrad.milewski@yoolovemee.com or online at: http://yoolovemee.com.
Quick stats
As of Nov. 8, according to the Operational Data Portal of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 7,431,013 people had crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland and 4,699,333 Ukrainian refugees are registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe.
