Craiova, Romania April 25th
We arrived at the train station sometime that afternoon and were met by one of the men working with Hope Church. Along with him were a few others who were volunteering with the ministry which for that day had involved picking up our squad from the train station and driving us to the mission house we’d be staying in for the month. Myself and a few others got into a vehicle with one of the guys. I sat in the front seat and begin to ask him questions not at all prepared for the answers I received. As we were talking, I found out that this guy was a Ukrainian refugee. His family was one of the first families to arrive at Hope Church soon after the war started. Some how they had made connections with someone who knew about Pastor Raul and Hope Church and were recommended to go there. This may seem like such a small thing, but there I was having just arrived in Romainia to help with the refugees and I was sitting in a car with one helping pick me up. He had chosen to stay at Hope Church and help volunteer with the ministry to help more Ukrainians get to Craiova.
Craiova, Romania May 3rd
I was in the office sorting through donations the church had received. This older man came in the office to look through the refugee donations to get what he needed for him and his family. Pastor Raul saw that he had his dog with him, and asked him if he would like a toy for the dog. I’ve never seen anyone so grateful for a dog toy. We asked him if he had any more pets with him, and he told us he also had a cat. I remembered seeing one of those house things that cats climb on when I was going through donations earlier, and I went and grabbed it to bring back to him. When he saw it, he almost started to cry. As I had this interaction with this man, I realized what he must be feeling and thinking. He had fled his country for safety and I bet you the last thing on his mind is for him to think about getting toys for his pets. I’ve reflected on this interaction lots of times this month.
Craiova, Romania May 5th
I met a refugee man and his mother-in-law. I was asked to take them grocery shopping and buy what they needed. This was one of my first conversations with refugees about the war in Ukraine. As I walked around the store with them, I heard statements and comments and stories about how they didn’t expect to end up here and how they just couldn’t believe what was happening in their home country. They told of family who were still there that they had to leave behind. One of the most humbling things I did this month was buy these people cooking oil and vegetables at a grocery store that they didn’t expect to end up at and listen to them tell about their experience. There I was in Romania, an absolute privilege that I chose to be there, and was buying groceries for someone who for sure didn’t chose to be in Romania but had to be.
Craiova, Romania May 10th
This day I helped make sandwiches for 2 families that were arriving from Ukraine. We served them dinner at the office, and someone collected their information. While the adults were occupied with passports and documents, we found some toys and coloring books and bubbles in the back of the office to keep the 5 children entertained for a little bit. They had a blast, and you could tell they just wanted to play and have fun after their journey to Craiova. Pastor Raul told us it’s moments like these where parents have told him this is the first time they’ve seen their kids laugh or smile in weeks.
Craiova, Romania May 20th
I was upset about something, I don’t even remember what. I went to the back of the office to sit for a minute. As I was sitting there, I was looking at the board with the names all of the long term families and the houses they were in and all the transit families on the board. Most of these names are women, children, or elderly who had to leave sons, fathers, and husbands behind. As I sat and looked over their names, I immediately felt the weight of their situations and suddenly whatever my problem had been all of a sudden didn’t really matter anymore.
These are just little snap shots of some of my very simple thoughts from a few different days over the course of this month. Honestly, I don’t have a lot of words and most of my thoughts, feelings, and emotions I haven’t quite processed and might not for a minute. This month was good and hard, but I’m super grateful for the opportunity to be in Romania at the time we were there. Hope Church is incredible and is doing so much to help Ukrainian refugees in any way they can while also still being a fully functioning church in Craiova with Sunday morning worship, bible studies, and youth group.
If you at all feel led to help, I would ask you first to pray. Pray for the church, their leadership, volunteers, the Ukrainian refugees, their convoy trips to the Ukraine border, and their drivers. If you would like to donate, I will also attach the link below. This link is directly for the Ukrainian ministry they are currently doing with the refugees.
https://togetherformission.com/hope-for-ukraine
Thanks again for all the support from back home. We are currently in route to Greece for our last month of ministry! Please continue to be in prayer for our squad as we enter our last month. This time next month we’ll be in route for Georgia, USA!
