SLM Ukraine Relief Initiative
By Ron Barnes
A few days into the war, I sat on the floor with my grandson playing in my lap. Like many of you, I once again watched the news of the conflict in Ukraine, and perhaps like you felt somewhat helpless. My grandson, vying for my attention grabbed both my index fingers, his cue for me to help him stand. He didn’t then have the strength or balance to do so on his own. Back then, he just needed a little help from his Papa.
Out of the corner of my eye on the TV, I saw a mother with her own 7-monthold son trying to navigate her way out of Ukraine alone, her husband not allowed to leave the country, staying back to defend their home. My eyes teared up again as I thought about how helpless this woman was and how as a husband, father, and now grandfather, I wished someone would come to her side. It occurred to me, that just like my grandson, they just needed a little help. It was then I determined to actively pursue a way to help, instead of waiting for a request. They needed help right then and I couldn’t imagine SLM being in a better position to respond quickly.
Immediately, we reached out to some partners and put into motion some plans with the help of our European Regional Director, Scotte Staab, Romania Director, Cristian Oprea, and ministry partners we have served alongside for many years, Mike and Marylou Rummey, with a partner mission.
Early on we discovered refugees were flooding across from Ukraine into Romania on a barge that crosses the Danube River at the Isaccea border. From there they were greeted by our partner’s church members and could take a two-minute walk to the church in Isaccea.
There they received a place to stay, food, hot tea, coffee, diapers, beds, clothing, really anything that would help them continue their journey on, as well as information and transportation to other destinations.
Many were looking to continue on to family or friends elsewhere, but some had no destination in mind. For those we looked to coordinate with Cristian Oprea and Hope Baptist Church in Brasov, Romania, which has summer camp facilities that could accommodate refugees.
The Romanian churches in these areas and others sacrificed a great deal to respond to this crisis, but their money would run out quickly as the crisis continued, and that’s where we attempted to respond. Within two hours of the plan being in place we had commitments of $20,000, and within 24 hours the first installment was already on its way.
Over the following weeks and months, we raised over $100,000 and continued to provide these ministries with enough resources to fully meet the needs of these refugees.
Some of the funds we received were also passed along into a few churches inside Ukraine, helping to feed communities hard hit by the conflict.
We also helped a couple of partners in Hungary, both pastors whom I mentored and discipled. They too received many refugees, and we were able to help them significantly as well.
There have been many challenges in these ministries. No one was really prepared for the short-term response and now the long-term effects.
Grief counseling was greatly needed. Each attempted employing varying methods of help, mostly through the internet, but those efforts have been complicated by language. Few of the refugees spoke anything but Ukrainian and Russian, and the Hungarians and Romanians spoke neither. But God intervened and they were able to get them some help.
We now face challenges for those who have no place to move on. Their homes, in some cases their entire villages or cities, were destroyed. They had no place to flee to, and now no place to return.
The church in Brasov began to work with these refugees on longer-term plans like learning the language, getting local jobs, and finding affordable housing. But even these kinds of plans take resources, and so we have tried to budget the resources entrusted to us to carry those ministries beyond the immediate needs.
At the same time, as the war continued some of those furthest from the conflict chose to return home to Ukraine. We know that those who encountered our partners at some point heard the Gospel. Some were saved, but all of them were given resources to follow up. We are thankful for this promise in Isaiah 55:11:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Really, this whole thing has been unpredictable. Much of the response was just that … responding. We had no way of knowing what to do at times, but God gave direction when it was needed. But it’s much easier when our missionaries are yielded to the will of God and have servants’ spirits. They have been the real heroes in this season. Day after day they used every ounce of energy treating their “strangers” as if they were Jesus Himself.
The tired, the thirsty, the hungry, the weary, each and every stranger had their needs addressed with love and care. We now pray that the greatest need they have beyond material and the perils of war will be met in the person of Jesus Christ.
