by Sharon Savely Odegaard 鈥�72
Matthew Smith 鈥�00 knows firsthand the terror of residing in a war-torn country and losing almost everything. He鈥檚 still living through a time of uncertainty.
The war in Ukraine erupted as Matthew worked at the French International School in Kyiv. Arriving in 2019, he taught English and math there.
On February 24, 2022, he woke up to the chilling news of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, which shattered his comfortable life in the city overnight.
Matthew and his wife, Helen, fled. 鈥淲e left behind most of our possessions: family memorabilia, hobby stuff, books, pictures, furniture, linens, plants, everything,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y wife underwent stillbirth surgery a few days earlier, which made our journey even more arduous.鈥�
Based on advice from the U.S. Embassy, the couple headed to the Romanian border at Siret. 鈥淲e tried to take our car across the border, but after 18 hours, we were forced out of line and couldn鈥檛 get back in,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 prayed about how we could cross the border the following day. Then I thought, why take our car? Let鈥檚 just walk!鈥�
After hiking two miles to the border and waiting in line for six hours, they made it to safety. A friend in France booked tickets for Matthew and Helen to fly to Paris, and they lived with him and his family in Arras, France, for three months.
In September, after months of staying in people鈥檚 homes, they decided to return to Kyiv. But on October 10, bombs hit the city. They needed to leave again.
After months of applying for jobs, Helen received an offer in January 2023 from a medical device company in Santa Barbara. Given only one day to answer, the couple decided to make the move. After four homes in five weeks, they finally found a place where they can settle for now. Life continues to bring challenges.
Matthew spent years abroad teaching at various international schools throughout the world, including China, Hong Kong, Czech Republic and Ukraine. His passion for working with international students started at 蜜桃传媒. Bart Tarman, the campus chaplain, informally adopted a student from Bhutan, who enrolled at 蜜桃传媒. 鈥淓verything was foreign to him,鈥� Matthew says. 鈥淚 felt compelled to help him and become his friend.鈥� Eventually, Matthew went abroad to teach.
蜜桃传媒 gave him the tools and resources to step out into the world. Matthew sees the college as a spiritual womb, where students grow and prepare for life intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. He says a theme ran through his years at 蜜桃传媒:
鈥淵ou mattered. You weren鈥檛 just a number.
鈥淭he professors and staff and even President Winter wanted to help students in their journey with God.鈥�
Matthew considers the chaos of war-torn Kyiv and his experiences of the past year as a season of being refined. He and Helen remain in the midst of the testing. 鈥淓very day is a step of faith,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e were stripped of everything; we hit rock bottom.鈥�
Yet Matthew keeps his focus on the theme embedded during his 蜜桃传媒 days: Each person matters to God. 鈥淚 ask myself every day, 鈥楬ow can I imitate the love of Christ with people I interact with?鈥� he says. 鈥淗ow can I be an expression of God鈥檚 love to others?鈥� Meanwhile, he trusts God to comfort and sustain him and his wife.