Our Stories - Winter 2023

Called To Be His Hands And Feet

by Nancy & Harold Dalton

Bucharest was never on our bucket list, but I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to go there!

In August my former team leader from Moria (a refugee camp in Greece) emailed me “... just heard from Kim Garrity [of Greater Europe Mission] ...they had some cancellations for a team to Romania in October. Refugees. Let us know if you are interested...”

When I asked Kim for details, he sent us a link to a YouTube video called “The Most Important Thing – UBC’22” [Ukrainian Bucharest Churches 2022]. When we watched it, we were touched by the fact that as soon as the war broke out in Ukraine, churches in Bucharest, Romania formed a partnership to help refugees coming to their city. The churches also committed to send aid back over the border into Ukraine.

After prayer and applying to G.E.M., we arrived at Holy Trinity Baptist Church in Bucharest on October 14th to join a short-term team of ten adults. Surprisingly, seven of us had previously served in Moria. Our shared experiences there helped us to quickly bond as a group.

Holy Trinity Baptist Church has gone all out to create a comfortable place where displaced, frightened, and overwhelmed people can feel cared for and safe. We witnessed many sad looks change to smiles within a day or two because of the warm welcome they all felt from the staff and volunteers. One example of their gracious hospitality is the first-class, free coffee bar serving a wide variety of the best coffee drinks ever. The staff deeply desires that their guests experience Jesus’ love and compassion.

The church feeds 40 to 120 people three wonderful meals a day, seven days a week. To help them, we went to work peeling lots of potatoes and carrots and washing stacks of pots and pans. If you could stand in their kitchen you would be shocked that so much work can be accomplished in such a tiny space. I still can’t figure out how they do it!  Not only that, but after the food is prepared, all of it is carried down three sets of stairs to the dining area!

Basically, the entire church building has been altered to meet the needs of the refugees. The Sunday school rooms are filled with IKEA mattresses, stacked dryers are in the stairwell, large freezers are in the hallway, and there are shelves and shelves of donated clothing -- plus extra storage units that have been built.

The longer we stayed the more we were amazed at not just the quality of Holy Trinity’s commitment, but also the scope of UBC’22’s work. They regularly send convoys of 5 to 12 vehicles into Ukraine despite the danger. The drivers often need to wear heavy flack-jackets and helmets for protection. They travel to various cities with material goods and also take the time to help train pastors in relief work as well as how to share Christ’s hope with traumatized people.

To prepare for these trips, UBC’22 rents a warehouse for $800 a month. To stock it last Spring the cost was $30,000 and now the same supplies cost $50,000. Without the sacrificial giving of many people, churches, and organizations, this ministry would be impossible, but -- by God’s grace -- those trucks keep filling up! The churches in Ukraine know that they are not alone, and many hundreds of desperate people keep receiving life-saving help.

At the end of our two weeks, a five-day convoy, with eleven vehicles and trailers, delivered 20 tons of supplies including 330 boxes filled with basic foods and necessities. A lot of those boxes were funded through the gifts of many of you at Springton Lake. Thank you for your generosity!

What our team did at Holy Trinity Church was a tiny drop in a very great ocean of need: we prepped food, we cleaned floors, we organized the chaos of a room stuffed with clothes, we bagged up the warmest clothes and prepared tactical first aid kits for the convoys to Ukraine. We also cleaned out a basement filled with years of stuff so that the men of our team could begin a renovation project to install new shower rooms and a washing machine area. None of this was very exciting. In fact, a lot of it was hard, dusty, messy work. But for our sisters and brothers at Holy Trinity, it was what they most needed and wanted. They had been going strong for ten months and there seems to be no end in sight. Some of them were feeling burned-out. And so, for us to provide a breather from their daily responsibilities and give them a little TLC and encouragement was a joy.

While speaking with Ukrainians over lunch or chatting with volunteers at the coffee bar, Harold and I heard some of the heartbreaking stories of this dreadful war: newborns who will never meet their dads, brothers forced at gunpoint to join the Russian army, families broken apart, and fearful mothers not sure what their next step should be. So much suffering, but in this special place of refuge and kindness, people are finding hope --- the kind of hope that only Christ can give. The opportunity to be His hands and feet to care for these people and develop friendships with them was the highlight of our trip. It’s amazing to see the depth of comfort a small dose of God’s love can bring to weary souls.

Harold and I were blessed to be a part of what UBC’22 is doing in Romania. We were also grateful to have a body of believers back home who prayed faithfully, gave generously to the needs of the Ukrainians, and who cheered us on. To God be the glory!