Martha Hulshof’s sister, Miranda, began work as a missionary in Ukraine in 1997. She’s married to a Ukrainian pastor and has lived there permanently with him and their two children since 1999.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Miranda began to help fleeing Ukrainians match with sponsors near her sister in northwest Iowa and Sioux County.
Through Uniting for Ukraine, the Biden-era program that allowed Ukrainians fleeing the war to come to the U.S. through humanitarian parole, Martha and Miranda helped nearly 150 Ukrainians get to the States. Military mobilization laws in Ukraine prevent men ages 18-60, except those with exclusions, from leaving the country. As a result, 123 of the refugees who settled in northwest Iowa were women and children.
“These are like my family now,” Martha said. “I love these people. We celebrate holidays with them. We go to their weddings. We’re going to have our first Ukrainian baby in June.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is no longer facilitating the Uniting for Ukraine program after President Donald Trump enacted Executive Order “Securing Our Borders.” The order also prevents migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela from accessing the humanitarian parole program.
This past spring, many of the Ukrainian refugees received communications from the Department of Homeland Security that advised them to self-deport, regardless of their current status. This has left the community confused and fearful at the idea of being forced back to their former home that is still a warzone. At least four preemptively moved to Germany and Poland to avoid being deported back to Ukraine.
“There is nothing to go back to. Some of these people have lost their homes. There’s nothing, there’s no jobs, there’s no economy,” Martha said. “I could tell you horrible stories about some of them and how they barely got out with their lives. They’ve lost their family members or they’ve lost everything. Why send them back?”
Martha and other local volunteers have been helping the Ukrainian refugees navigate the immigration legal system to hopefully find a path to staying in their new homes. They said the work is difficult, confusing and expensive, with at least one donor providing funding for legal representation.
We interviewed Viktoriia Baturina via email about her experiences fleeing Ukraine and settling in northwest Iowa, and her fears about being forced to return.
The following has been edited to be entirely in her words, but has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
I was born in the tourist city of Odesa, Ukraine, which is located on the Black Sea. My mother was a chief forestry engineer and my father was a newspaper editor. My mother died when I was a child, and my father died five years ago. My older brother, sister and I were left without parents. My brother and sister are now in Ukraine.
I graduated from school, then got a bachelor’s degree in international economics and human resources management, then got a master’s degree in civil law. We never waited for help from anyone, we coped on our own and created our own life. I had a beautiful home. God blessed me with two wonderful sons. We had two businesses – the production of wooden dishes and a flower workshop. And in 1 second everything changed.
The war began. Bombs and missiles spared no one. Nothing was left from the past life. It was very scary. The eyes saw, the ears heard, but the mind refused to believe in what was happening. You see how the missile flies, how it falls, you hear the explosion, you see how your house collapses. I had to lie to my children that everything would be fine, although I myself did not know how it would be.
I decided to leave my city for the village. It was scary on the road, the only thing that saved me was prayer. All the horror that was happening in different cities of Ukraine cannot be described in words, Ukrainians told about Russians that raped women, children and even babies, shot civilians right on the street. It is impossible to forget and impossible to forgive.
When we moved to the village, there were empty stores, no gasoline. My brother found a farm to buy meat from, and we began to produce sausages and smoked meats, and then sell them at the market, although we had never done this before. But our parents taught us that there is no shame in working, but there is shame in sitting idle.
Then this region also began to be bombed and we had to move again to a completely different part of Ukraine, but there was no peace there either, and we again had to go to another region. The children still remember the sound of rockets and bomb explosions. My youngest son is afraid of loud sounds.
Martha helped us come to Iowa. She was the one who found us sponsors, Sarah and Howard Gulsoff, who became our guardian angels, who provided us with care, comfort and coziness 24/7. They helped us adapt. The children went to a Christian school, where they were met by wonderful teachers. The children really like to study.
For me, this is a completely different life, but I am very glad that we ended up in this region. It is safe here, kind and good people live here. I really like the church community. It is like one big family, ready to help at any moment, without asking for anything in return. At the moment, I work in assisted living. I love my residents, and they love me too. It is so nice to be useful to this society.
Probably, it is no secret to anyone that Ukrainians love to cook, and I decided that my talent will not be wasted. For this reason, I decided to create Ukrainian fares and donate the proceeds to help Ukraine. I also want to be useful to the local population, and I am happy to donate my desserts to auctions, to the crisis center and to Atlas of Sioux Center. This money goes to help local residents in need.
What can we talk about if the war in Ukraine is not over? Every second you will worry about whether to stay or not. The decline of the economy, the increase in food prices. I will have to start from scratch again. But starting from scratch in a country where there is no war is one thing. Starting from scratch where there is a war and worrying every second whether a rocket or a bomb will fall on you is another.
From this news about potentially being deported, my heart beats faster every day. … But I believe that the Lord will help us stay safe. I am very grateful to Martha for giving us the opportunity to save our lives and to the United States of America for offering us such an opportunity to live in a prosperous and safe country.
