At the beginning of July I had the privilege to join my daughter and a team from my home church of Liberty Bible Church in serving the missionaries in both Ukraine and Romania. What a joy it is to see my daughter thrive doing the ministry work that I love!
Liberty Bible church is one church with three campuses in Chesterton, Valparaiso, and La Porte, IN. Our team was unique in that all three campuses were represented in our team, and included Kevin Cram, the Pastor of Global & Local Engagement at Liberty. Some of us had never met until we planned this trip, so it was a blessing to bring together such widespread church members for a common purpose. Every one of us felt God calling us to make a difference to the people of Ukraine and Romania.
The trip was not without its difficulties. We had less than half the time than we usually have to meet and plan the trip, and for every meeting there was one or more team member who was unable to make it due to other obligations- the first time we all managed to come together was at the airport leaving for Romania! We also struggled to prepare for our trip, as there were so many unknown factors involved in travelling to Ukraine.
One of our major set backs came on the morning we were meant to leave. Two of our team members were a mother and daughter, but right before we met at the airport we heard that the daughter tested positive for Covid and would be unable to leave with us. Her mother was of course devastated not to serve with her daughter, and all of our plans in Ukraine had to be changed last minute to accommodate the smaller number of team members. This trip was certainly a lesson in flexibility!
Thankfully we all arrived in Romania on schedule, and the next day drove to Ukraine without incident. The line of trucks to the border was several kilometers long, but due to our humanitarian purpose, we got through the border in under an hour. Once there we met up with the Ukrainian missionaries and unloaded the supplies that we had brought.
UKRAINE
In Ukraine we split up into 3 teams to minimize travel and the size of our groups: Kevin and I met with missionaries and refugees and preached in several churches. David and Carole (husband and wife) went into the city of Chernivtsi and did street evangelism and radio programs. Martha, Sarah, and Elizabeth visited refugees and did children’s programs in different villages. At the end of our time in Ukraine, we gathered with all of the Ukrainian missionaries to have fellowship and share how God was working through this trip.
I’ve asked the team members to describe in their own words what they experienced in Ukraine.
David and Carole
Carole and I came home from the mission trip with a deep sense the softness of our life here in the USA is a barrier to our pursuit of closeness with Christ. We saw lives in Ukraine and Romania visibly poured out for Christ. The Ukrainian missionaries expend themselves selflessly showing love to the refugees. God is bringing so many to them and they create more and more ministries to reach the lost from sewing bullet proof wear to children’s camps, providing food and shelter when needed.
Martha
I am humbled and so very grateful to my Lord for using me to be his hands and feet in Ukraine. I am thankful for all of the refugees who allowed me to tell them about Jesus. All praise, honor and glory to God when the woman from Igor's village repented! I am also thankful to the missionary wives who shared their prayer requests with me. What a privilege it is and will continue to be to lift you up to the Lord in prayer.
Blessings to each pastor and wife who are so faithfully working with the refugee crisis despite their exhaustion. Each of them are a true testimony to what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus in such difficult circumstances. My time serving with you in Ukraine was much too short. May God bless them all!
Sarah
In Ukraine many of the stories that stuck with me were those of the refugees we visited in the mornings and evenings. In one household, a grandmother was taking care of her two grandchildren, and she worried because the boy was acting out. I suggested that she bring them to the children’s program we would give later that day. I was so thrilled to see both children come, and that little boy participated and had a lot of fun! He said that he was looking forward to returning for VBS in a couple of weeks.
I could really feel God at work as we visited the refugees. Martha usually took the lead in those visits, but I often felt the Holy Spirit compelling me to add a verse or some words of my own. I pray that God used me to tell those people exactly what they needed to hear.
Elizabeth
The days we were in Ukraine I assisted with a short one day VBS in three different villages. First village had 15 kids. The second one had 20-25 kids. So we thought that two medium sized bags of snacks and a single gallon size bag of candy were enough for the third day. Boy were we wrong. Lol. 55 kids showed up! And there was no way any of what we brought would be enough.
The pastor of that church opened a door to a small room full of extra snacks from previous events. Telling us that they don’t have any events coming up for a long while. Please use as much as you can. Which we gladly did. At the end we handed out the individual wrapped snacks and candy. Each child leaving with both arms full of snacks. After all the kids left we realize we still had the original bags of snacks and a half bag of candy left. Jesus just fed the 5,000 again! But on a much smaller scale.
From the moment we arrived I felt at peace. As if a piece of me was found. No I had never been to Ukraine before. Yet I felt as if I were home. I found information that I wasn’t expecting to find. On the questions I had held since I was 12. Though they were not answers they have directed my steps. I can’t wait to see where God leads me next.
Kevin
Throughout our time in Romania and Ukraine, we witnessed numerous examples of God answering prayers above and beyond what we anticipated. Leading up to the trip, we weren’t sure what to expect – knowing only what we saw on the news, we weren’t sure what our experience would be like visiting a country currently affected by war. What we found in Ukraine was an area of the country that was relatively untouched by the conflict. However, in every life that we encountered, there were real-life stories of the war’s impact. At one point, Cornel Stef and I attended a gathering in one of the villages with families who had fled the war. One particularly story broke my heart – we listened to a mother with her 10-year-old daughter share how they survived the bombing of Kharkiv living for 2 weeks underground in a metro station. There were tears in everyone’s eyes as we concluded that gathering. Perhaps the most blessed interactions I had while in Ukraine involved spending time with many of the PIEI missionaries serving in the region. Certainly, there were great moments of ministry with numerous outreaches, home visits, and preaching opportunities. But, I’ll always remember the mornings spent sharing time with Igor and his family as we talked about the joys and trials of ministry. These Gospel laborers are working so hard under incredible circumstances – it was an honor to experience life with them for this brief time.
ROMANIA
When the team returned to Romania, we invited all the missionaries there to the Christian Center in Alba Iulia for a 3-day retreat. We spent some time hearing each missionary’s story, and had some fellowship together. We also had sessions scheduled throughout led by Kevin, David, Martha, Carole, and even Sarah.
David and Carole
I am so humbled by the commitment I see in the Romanian believers to be God’s hands and feet. They live sacrificing all their time and energies assisting and bringing Jesus to all the lost. They see the harvest is great and take every opportunity to find ways to help people and children in need of a Savior. They are so spent in their energy and you can see it in their faces. How I pray that there would be more to share their burden. They carry a burden not many could understand without seeing and hearing them. Each has the people living around them that are trapped in a culture that doesn’t understand God’s love besides the people entrapped by war. We are praying for their strength and more workers as God enlarges their ministry.
Martha
I am thankful for the rapport the Lord gave me with the pastors wives and cooks. The time spent with the missionaries’ wives was a blessing and they welcomed me, but I was told what they really needed was counselors, mentors, and pastor's wives who could relate to them. They are struggling and I pray the next mission team will include women who are able to truly provide what is so desperately needed.
Sarah
In Romania I saw a group of missionaries with an immense passion for the Gospel. However, I also saw that they were disjointed and often felt isolated. I was so grateful that this retreat gave them the opportunity to fellowship together, and I hope that in the future they learn to work together more often and lean on each other for support and fellowship.
Elizabeth
I was able to spend time with a few little girls during our stay in Romania. They were an absolute blessing. Even though I couldn’t speak their language and didn’t have any translator we connected. It was amazing seeing one of the young girls come up to me later and pull me to come play with her again. It so warmed my heart. God showed me once again that kindness and love needs no words to be understood.
On this trip I briefly mentioned my desire to work with special needs orphans. God gave me the biggest response! I wasn’t prepared for the information I was to receive. I know God had led me here, but there was no way I would have even considered finding the information that I did. That wasn’t even the reason why I went, but God clearly had something bigger planned for my time there.
Kevin
We spent several days in fellowship with the PIEI-Romania missionaries at the PIEI center in Alba Iulia. It was amazing to connect with these wonderful servants of Jesus. Gratefully, I was able to facilitate times of teaching and discussion in the Scriptures that were a welcomed blessing to these new friends. My fondest memories though involved all of the incredible stories of God’s working in Romania that I got to hear. We stayed up late one night listening to Traian share story after story of witnessing and church planting during the Communist era. I can truly say that our time in both Ukraine and Romania was a significant encouragement and blessing for me as I pray that it was for the missionaries we were serving alongside.
NEXT STEPS
God was clearly watching out for this team, as he kept us all safe throughout our travels. The rest of the team went back to America after the trip, but I am staying in Romania until August, when I plan on bringing another shipment of supplies to Ukraine.
Continue praying for all the missionaries in both Ukraine and Romania, as they are overworked and exhausted. I am so happy that this team was able to bring them some encouragement, and look forward to seeing what God will do next in their lives.
God Bless you all, and thank you for your support!
Cornel Stef - Chairman for Romania and Ukraine