World Refugee Day 2025: Behind Every Number Is A Story
- Shawna Sheahen
- Jun 20
- 6 min read
Every year on World Refugee Day, the new number of forcibly displaced people is released. This year, the number is staggering -- 122 million. Never in history has there been so many people forced to flee; left without a home. That number has more than doubled in just 10 years. Almost 50 million of those are considered refugees -- people who have fled their country to escape war, persecution or disaster. 50 million people forced to leave their homes, their cultures, their friends, in some cases their families, and the only life they knew.
In 2010, Eh Soe became one of them.
In 2015, Gideon became one of them.
In 2018, Sarah became one of them.
In 2021, Brishna became one of them.
In 2023, Shamsia became one of them.
But behind every number is a story. And those stories matter.
In February, 2022, two of our StreetLeaders, Ivanka and Nadia, and their family became part of the 50 million. Today we want to share some of their story as told by their mom, Valeria.
Can you share what life was like for your family in Ukraine before the war began?
In February of 2022, Vitaly and I were co-directors of the Ukrainian Education Center, a college ministry in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Our four girls, aged 13, 11, 10, and 7 at the time, went to school. Life in Ukraine was finally getting back to normal after all the restrictions due to Covid.
What were the moments or events that led you to make the difficult decision to leave your home?
On the morning of February 24, 2022, we woke up to the sound of explosions. I ran upstairs to get the girls, and we could see the missiles exploding outside of their bedroom windows. We stayed hiding in our downstairs bathroom for the next two days trying to figure out if it would be safer to stay in our home or try to leave Kyiv. The media reported traffic jams on all major highways leading outside the city. We lived in the suburbs in the northern part of Kyiv, and we were hearing reports of Russians getting close to where we were. At this point, we decided we could not wait any longer. We only had half an hour between missile attacks to pack our belongings (the important documents, a couple of changes of clothes, and some food and water).
What was your journey like from Ukraine to the U.S.?
As we drove, we had no destination in mind. Our goal was to get as far away west as possible. My job was to check the news for missile attacks and navigate our route around them. We finally stopped to rest for a couple of hours at the house of our friends’ relatives. We had never met this family before, yet they opened their home to us and fed us. At this point, more and more reports of missile attacks on every area in Ukraine were coming in, and Vitaly and I realized we had to try to leave the country. Our choice fell on Slovakia, since our girls' passports were expired, and Slovakia opened its borders to Ukrainian refugees without requiring a passport. We drove to the border for one more day. The traffic was getting heavier as millions of refugees from different areas of Ukraine were trying to get out of the country. As we got to the border, the line to the checkpoint was so long, it was clear we would be spending many hours there, in the forest without access to clean water and food. Vitaly and I were brought to tears when, after half a day of waiting, people knocked on our car window and offered us hot tea and sandwiches. We learned that volunteers from the nearby city started a campsite where they cooked food, made hot drinks, and gave out basic supplies to people waiting in the line. We lived in our car for two days as we slowly made our way to the border checkpoint. In that time, our friend connected me to a family in Slovakia that would open the doors of their home to us as well as dozens of other refugees from Ukraine. We stayed with this family packing humanitarian aid and helping other Ukrainian families however we could for the next three months. In April, the US government announced a United for Ukraine Program for Ukrainian refugees. Vitaly and I were realizing that we needed a more long-term plan, especially for our children. In May, we started our journey to the US.
What were your biggest fears or concerns when arriving in the U.S., and how did you begin to navigate this new life?
Both Vitaly and I had spent considerable amounts of time in the US being exchange students, doing internships, and later visiting friends with our daughters. We assumed our move to Nashville would not be difficult. We were wrong. In the coming months, we learned that we could not rent an apartment or a house without a credit history or rental history, we could not buy a car or receive a driver’s license without having a permanent place of residence, we had to figure out how to navigate our way through the very complicated application process for a work authorization, and then wait to receive it for seven months, meaning we could not get a job. Our American friends and churches that supported our ministry in Kyiv were our rock and huge help throughout that challenging time.
How has your perspective on "home" changed since coming here?
When our family moved to Nashville three years ago, we thought we would only stay here for a year, two at most. Our plan was to return to Kyiv, our home, as soon as the war was over and return to our old life. Now, three years later, the war is still not over. The concept of “home” is becoming very vague, especially as our girls are getting more and more adjusted to life in Nashville, becoming fluent in English and getting an accent in Ukrainian, as we are making new friends and growing professionally.
How has the UPN community been helpful for your girls?
The UPN community has helped our girls to open up and grow in their faith. UPN has become their faith community in ways that the youth group at church did not. Both Ivanka and Nadia keep telling us how much they love and miss “their” kids. UPN has been a blessing for our girls and our family through them.
What hopes do you hold for your family's future now?
As our status in the US is temporary and the war in Ukraine is not over (on the contrary, civilian losses have doubled in the past months), our hope for the future is to find a permanent and safe home for our family.
What does World Refugee Day mean to you personally?
It’s a day to raise awareness about the dangerous and difficult journeys of refugees to safety. These journeys sometimes last for many years and are not over when a refugee crosses the border of their new country. It’s a day to celebrate and embrace diversity in our community.
Vitaly, Valeria and their girls didn't chose to become refugees. No one does. But every one of them chooses to carry hope — hope for healing, for a future, for a place to belong.
Becoming a refugee is never a choice, but how we respond is.
Your support has already shown refugee youth like Ivanka and Nadia that they are not alone — that they belong, and that their future matters.
Now, imagine the power of showing up for them every single month.
By becoming a monthly donor, you provide stability -- something that every refugee is desperate for. Your consistent support gives us the ability to dream bigger, expand our programs sustainably, and be there for refugee youth and families in moments when it matters most. At UPN, we don’t see refugees as numbers — we see them as people made in the image of God. We offer a community that says: You belong here. You matter. We believe in you. And time and time again, we see how that kind of welcome changes everything. Will you join us in this life-changing work?
To celebrate World Refugee Day, when you sign up for a monthly gift of $25 or more in the month of June, you'll receive a free Love Your Neighbor yard sign or t-shirt!
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