It’s so easy to feel helpless when watching the news and social media about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I’m here in a coffee shop writing a blog while a mother loses her son and a bomb blasts through someone’s home.
What’s even more crazy is that we just left a border country of Ukraine about two weeks ago, right before the conflict began.
Since my last blog, I headed out to Romania to finish up the first month with my brand new squad! Dragging a couple steps behind almost the whole time (only two weeks) I feel like Romania might be one of those countries I have trouble remembering. It was so quick and so busy and I felt so administrative. God used me no doubt but certainly in a different way than I’m used to. Instead of being out there spreading the gospel myself, I was behind the scenes empowering and enabling the squad to do that most of the time.
We were with an incredible ministry that I really wish I had more time with called Hope Church. Some of the work we were involved in was delivering groceries to elderly and people affected by Covid, planning events for local youth, inviting people to church and doing street evangelism. We even put on a health event to get locals glasses and check their vitals.
There were other pieces of the ministry that felt important like media work done to help support other missionaries and churches. A lot of strategy, a lot of business. The work for the Gospel is never done and you can feel that buzz at Hope Church.
Raul, the pastor, and his family live among people like us that they host to help do work for the church. They sacrifice a lot to ensure there are more hands and feet in the mix. I can’t imagine living with groups of 25 people over and over in my home. It would feel like the ministry seemingly never ends.
What I learned from them in my short time there was that everyone has something to contribute to the body of Christ and utilizing those gifts is a beautiful thing to harness. I learned that being selfless and inviting to anyone who hears the same call as you is a way to grow closer together and to God. I learned that prayer takes precedence over action but action get’s you somewhere too. I learned that sometimes God will call you into places you don’t want to go and into positions you don’t want to have, but if He does, He’ll provide what you need along the way.
Hope Church does what God asks in faith, before the funds arrive and before the plans are baked. There is a wildness about it, that I love.
So I wasn’t surprised when I heard they were loading up in vans and heading to the border to give refugees safe passage. Gas is expensive. They have other things to do. Other places to spend their money. They are trying to plant a church.
But people need refuge and God says very clearly in His word to care for the refugees. So they go.
No red tape, no rules, just going and doing what God says in His word. Simple. The simple Gospel.
My kind of church.
They are posting about the families they are transporting and the needs they have. If you want a personal connection to the conflict, check out Hope Church Romania on Instagram or Facebook. They want prayer above all but could also use your financial support for gas, food, lodging and transportation for these people back to some of their home countries like Spain, Germany, Italy, etc.
I keep thinking about the beauty of a captive audience. Can you imagine loading into one of their vans as an unbeliever afraid, angry and in need and hearing the Gospel while being cared for by the family of Christ? Wow.
I also keep thinking about the biographies that will get written about this conflict. Imagine a grandfather surrounded by little ones telling them He met Jesus when a Christian picked Him up from a war zone and got them to the country they would raise generations of family in.
I’ve seen God do a lot with a heart blasted wide open, with the vulnerable, with the ones who have nothing else to turn to. That’s what’s before us, friends.
Being a part of the stories that God writes to reconcile the ones He loves to Himself is a beautiful thing and I plan on being a part of it.
If you want to join me, you can donate here.
God Speed Hope Church!
