On July 4, 2022, the Yatskiv family of 6 left Sibiu, Romania, where they took refuge after escaping from their home in Odesa, Ukraine when Russia attacked.
The Yatskiv family had jumped into the work of the church in their new home with fervor, helping and serving other refugees and using their van to transport refugees to church every Sunday.
On that day in July, the Yatskiv family and a few other passengers were packed into the family’s 9-seater van en route to Caras Serverin, Romania, where they were planning to help put on a summer camp.
The Yatskiv children, who range from age 9 all the way down to 4 months old, must have been excited about the prospect of seeing a new place and getting to participate in a summer camp.
But the 9-passenger van never made it to camp.
The driver of the van fell asleep, allowing the van to careen into a bridge.
By the Lord’s great mercy, all of the passengers survived, but some suffered serious injuries and were taken to 3 different hospitals. Mrs. Yatskiv was in the hospital for a month and a half, but was recently able to return home, attend church and even walk with some assistance.
Several groups, including ITMI supporters and our Romanian partners, Adi and Ema Ban, have come together to replace the vehicle that was totally destroyed in the devastating crash for this family that had already lost so much. With it, the Yatskiv family can continue driving refugees to church when they are ready.
ITMI’s Adi and Ema Ban with five of the Yatskiv family in front of their church in Romania in August. To the far left is their pastor, Pastor Sorin, who the Bans are working with to reach and serve Ukrainian refugees.
Another Ukrainian couple in their mid-60s left Odesa and ended up in Sibiu, Romania. The couple heard about the Baptist Church in Sibiu that Adi and Ema Ban are partnering with to minister to Ukrainians in need.
The couple began attending that church, which provides live translation of their Sunday services for Ukrainian refugees. Through the ministry of this church, the couple received Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
These are just two of the stories of how ITMI partners have used their proximity to the crisis in Ukraine to equip believers for service and outreach in this new reality, and how the faithfulness of believers to welcome and serve refugees (even if they are refugees themselves!) has led to Ukrainian refugees giving their lives to Jesus!
Adi and Ema continue to manage logistics for transporting supplies to the Ukrainian refugee centers they partner with. These centers are run by churches in two Ukrainian cities.
Overall, with your support, Adi and Ema raised funds for and organized donations of food that helped feed over 22,000 people from February to May (June to September numbers are not in yet), donations of supplies that helped over 21,000 people in need, and helped evacuate 2,120 people.
They sent 196.1 metric tons of food and 37.8 metric tons of goods, which required the organization of 25 transports from Romania to Ukraine. These numbers represent many, many stories of individuals’ needs being met in Jesus’ name.
