God’s Church as a Witness to the World

UKRAINE REFUGEES IN ROMANIA, PART 2

CRAIOVA, ROMANIA AND BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

UPDATE: M Squad and I are just about to wrap up our ministry in Romania and begin the journey home. We are doing a fundraising push with the goal to raise $1000 by the end of this week towards helping with Ukrainian refugees. The financial funding will help with paying rent for 8 refugee houses, transporting refugees to Hungary, vehicle repairs, and purchasing / delivering humanitarian goods to war torn areas of Ukraine. If you would like to partner with us and this ministry financially, please feel free to donate using this link: (https://togetherformission.com/hope-for-ukraine/). Thank you! Also, PLEASE MESSAGE ME if you are interested in serving as a short term missionary or driver in Eastern Europe on the ground 🙂

After being on the Race for 11 months, God’s church has always been an interesting topic to navigate. We are all members of the Body of Christ, called to be witnesses to the world demonstrating God’s love and Jesus’ invitation to His kingdom. Yet during my years as a Christian, one of the hardest and most challenging things I have had to navigate though is the Body of Christ. The church is also made up of people who are broken like ourselves; yet God is transforming us to be more like Christ. God is using it mightily to reconcile the nations to God, and it is the Bride of Christ. However, throughout history, countless people have been hurt by the church- especially from those who profess Christianity but whose fruit (Matthew 7: 15-20) contradicts living like Christ. This has become a very routine topic of conversation while evangelizing (both in an overseas and stateside context). Furthermore, it’s discouraging to look at the news back home and see stuff like this (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-widespread-is-the-sex-abuse-scandal-in-the-southern-baptist-convention/ar-AAXHuMM, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/may-web-only/southern-baptist-abuse-apocalypse-russell-moore.html, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/hillsongs-brian-houston-resigns-from-megachurch). These issues linked above are not to be ignored. Especially as the American church (and the global Church as a whole) is challenged to be a witness for a Kingdom that is not of this world.

Let me share a story that greatly impacted me during this last month on the World Race and showcases the global Church in action. I share it to encourage, challenge, and raise the bar for the Church. By both our words and actions, people are drawn to Christ. Read on to discover this testimony and may this drive you to go after the lost and help the Body in radical, selfless, Christ-like living.

A couple weekends back, three people from my team stayed at the transit home for Ukraine refugees for a couple of nights. I was part of that group of three. Four refugees arrived on Saturday night: a young man and three ladies. The three ladies arrived close to midnight, and we welcomed them and got their info before going to bed. The next day, they had breakfast, and I was getting ready for church. Just as I was about to go to church, the young man was standing next to me. I asked him if he wanted to come to church with me, and he said “yes”. That “yes” paved the way for the crazy three day adventure ahead.

We went to the Hope Church service, where many of my friends were at. Just after the service ended, the young man and I were invited to lunch with a group of YWAMers from Spain. We all ate together at one large table, and friendships were made. Many of these people are scattered across the world but came to Craiova to bring the Kingdom to this earth. Meanwhile, the idea came up to ride with the young man that I became friends with in a refugee transport van to Hungary. At first, it was just an idea. But after communicating and evaluating this as a possibility, it was greenlit later in the day. The three other refugees that arrived Saturday night, along with two other World Racers and Pastor Raul and his wife, joined us.

On Monday morning, we tended to the needs of the refugees as we left at 6 am bound for a lengthy trip to Budapest. We helped make sure that their documents and other items were good to go for the border crossing. Meanwhile, I continued to get to know the young man. This was the first time that he ever saw a mountain range in person, which brought both of us a lot of joy (especially as I grew up in the mountains). God opened the door to have deep convos and learn about his past. It’s amazing to see the Spirit lead these convos as God pursues him. As we continued on the road, the busy-ness of Craiova ministry was left behind as I sat in His presence. It provided the perfect opportunity to intercede for the refugees and be with the Lord. It was one of my favorite moments of the month, as I felt a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit and moved to tears.

At Budapest, we dropped off the refugees at a church just outside the city. We were immediately welcomed by the Hungarian staff and fed lunch together- again at a big table. This church houses refugees, feeds them, and prepares them for transport to other areas in Europe (i.e. Germany). They had a large pantry stocked with food for the Ukrainians, and we also learned about the church planting that God is using them to do in the Balkans region of Eastern Europe. Later on, Pastor Raul (who drove the van) shared about the Eastern European church coming together to help the refugees. Churches from Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Germany, and other places have been brought together because of this crisis, creating a “refugee pipeline” that takes people all the way from Ukraine to Western Europe- complete with transit houses, drivers, food, staff, pastors, and Christian witness at each city (Bucharest, Craiova, Budapest, etc). Most of these churches did not even know each other nor worked with each other before the war. Now they are partnering despite not even meeting each other in person. It’s a beautiful sight to see. Most of the operations are funded by the church and through generous donors in places like the US. God’s church is rising up, and it is amazing.

On our way back, we faced engine failure in our van, which disabled our car. We were stuck at a gas station inside Hungary for a decent chunk of time as we figured out what to do next. A handy deck of Uno cards allowed us to pass the time. Immediately, M Squad mobilized to intercede, pray, and help launch fundraising efforts for  repairs (SEE MEMO AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG). Late in the evening, a Christian man sacrificed his night’s sleep to drive into Hungary from Romania to pick us up and take us to a hotel in Romania to spend the night. This really touched us as he informed us of a business trip that he took the next day. Meanwhile, another man drove through the night in Romania to reach our car near the border to fix it. Both of these men laid aside their plans to help us at a time of need. On the way there, it was us being the church to the refugees. And on the way back, the church helped us in our time of need.

The next day, we borrowed a car and went back to Craiova. The drive took us through the mountains, and we hung out with Pastor Raul and his wife. He challenged us as we all gave praises to Jesus despite the hardship that we went through. This is very powerful, and the moment showcased demonstrating Christ-like joy in the midst of hardship. To me, it took most of the Race to make a crucial realization that changed how I view joy and grief: they can coexist together in the same space (https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/joy-and-sorrow-they-can-co-exist/, https://bible.org/seriespage/3-secrets-joy-midst-trials-1-peter-16-9). It’s a beautiful thing to walk in the fullness of joy and its emotions of thanksgiving and oftentimes happiness. But it’s also crucial to be able to grieve and invite God into that space as He meets us in our mourning / hardship. In my experience, divorcing the two and treating them as contradictory things can lead to depression (dwelling in the grief with no joy or hope) or an “all sunshine & roses mentality” (surface level joy and happiness only without confronting the hard stuff). It’s hard but beautiful to rejoice in the midst of the trial. It’s also important to celebrate the mountaintops while also remembering the “valley” moments.

In the afternoon, we reached Craiova and began a period of Sabbath rest. We were exhausted, but God really moved in this time. And so, this is the story of the church rising up to help the Ukrainian people in Eastern Europe. God allowed us to be part of this special story, and we hope to remember it for years to come. Our time in Romania is wrapping up, and we are about to go back to America soon. Please pray for us as we return home and begin a new life season.

ALSO, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DONATE (https://togetherformission.com/hope-for-ukraine/) IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THIS MINISTRY. THANK YOU!!!