Romania
Our partner, Adi Ban left over the weekend to take supplies to believers in Ukraine who are operating a refugee center.
Adi sent a quick video update before he left, and below that are some photos and information from a previous trip to the refugee center.
After returning, Adi wrote,
These past several days I traveled from Oradea to Chernivtsi, in west Ukraine, to visit our ministry partners who are working round the clock in the refugee centers they coordinate, making sure that some of the goods which reach them also get sent to places in the East, in the Donbas Region.
What I saw at the border was disheartening …. lines, very long lines of people, mostly mothers and children, shivering in the cold weather …. lots of crying and despair ….
May the Lord provide for them!
We continued to be “on call” with our friends in Ukraine, as well as various mission and relief agencies willing to get involved.
A good friend who saw our facebook posts called last week, and they were able to quickly raise funds for a truck full of goods which was driven into Chernivtsi several days ago.
When my friend Dan and I left on Sunday afternoon, we made sure we grabbed a few items which were on the “most needed” list before we took off.
Adi and Romanian believers load supplies into a van for the refugee center in Chernivtsi.
Adi and another believer, ready to leave for Ukraine.
One of the places we visited was a refugee center. There we saw mothers with young children.They said so far, they've had some 3000 people pass through daily in need of food and temporary shelter.
I was impressed by the sober faces and quiet paces.
One little girl who came out of their room caught my attention and I tried striking up a conversation. She did not raise her head when she replied in broken Romanian.
When I asked, “What is your name and where are you from?”, she replied with a question: “Are you a Christian?”
“I love the Lord,” I replied.
“Me too,” she said, looking at me this time.
She told me her name and that she was from Odessa. We spoke softly for several minutes, and then I had to leave.
How precious are the children in God’s sight!
All in all, we were very grateful to have been able to visit and talk with the people there who are doing the “hard work” of hosting tens of refugees, making sure they are warm and fed.
Of course, many are still in need of food when they cross the border, so we have helped with that as well. Here is a picture with children getting sandwiches and sweets at the border a few days ago.
It was good to see them smiling as they reached down to help themselves, but we know they all had long roads ahead.
We pray the Lord will continue to bless and provide, and intervene miraculously to end the plight of the Ukrainian people!
It's hard to imagine what’s next, but there are thousands of people who are still coming into Romania on a daily basis, and we are doing all we can to help either by sending goods over or hosting them.
One of the families we were in contact with, and provided funding for their drive from east Ukraine, is now in Oradea.
They are being hosted by a family of friends. We had them over on Saturday, and they told us that even though they did not know what to expect when they decided to leave their home and come to Romania, they have been overwhelmed by the brotherly love they have are receiving here from us and their hosts.
Our God is so gracious! Part the vision we had for the Association for Family Integrity has always been to look out for families in need, especially the vulnerable.
We did not envision that a war will bring us so close to addressing this vision. The young couples we’ve been discipling (the Young Couples Fellowship) have been close to us in prayer and in helping, whether logistically or financially.
They keep in touch on the phone with some of these families from Ukraine, letting us about those needs so we can all together find solutions.
How grateful we are for ITMI and its partners who have come alongside, enabling us to be instruments of His grace to the suffering people!
Blessings,
Adi and Ema
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