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-Written by Will Cumbia (posted 03/21/2023)
From February 5-10, 2023, a team of Virginia Baptists had a chance to see firsthand the work of our Baptist brothers and sisters responding to the war in Ukraine. A team of ten individuals from nine churches visited Bucharest, Romania and had a chance to travel across the border into Ukraine to the small town of Izmail where Romanian Baptists have been supporting Baptist efforts in Ukraine. From packing boxes of food aid to send to Ukraine, to hearing stories of service over the past year of war, the short trip was rich in experience.
Virginia Baptists have a longstanding relationship with the Romanian Baptist Union which included a partnership from 2010 to 2015 and the support of Brittany Garton as Field Coordinator for that partnership from the Goshen Baptist Association. When the war broke out, BGAV supported efforts through the European Baptist Federation, but also reached out directly to partners in Romania to see how churches could support work in Ukraine’s neighboring country.
Romanian Baptists were among the first to respond to the war in Ukraine. Thousands poured across the borders of Ukraine and Romania in the first days of the war and Romanian Baptists were there to ferry people in need toward city centers, give them temporary shelter in church buildings, and provide for their physical needs. Within a few weeks, Baptists had organized an informal “Uber” service to efficiently and safely transport refugees to where they needed to go in Romania. Though many refugees continued on from Romania toward western countries, about 100,000 stayed through the first three months and around 10,000 have stayed in the greater Bucharest area throughout the past year.
Project Ruth, a Romanian Baptist project aimed at providing education for local Roma children, was among the many Baptist communities in the country to shift efforts toward refugees, housing hundreds of refugees in their dormitories and reaching out to those in need in the community. Through relationships with Baptists across the border, Project Ruth has been able to sponsor an aid project called “4:7 Boxes”, food and care boxes that are able to provide for four people for a week. Since the war began, Baptists have sent 120 boxes a week and a total of 5,700 boxes in 2022. BGAV churches have been giving faithfully to support the cost of packaging and sending these boxes since spring of 2022. 
Even before leaving Virginia, the cultural experience began as the team discovered at Dulles International Airport that Igor Bandura, the Vice President of the Ukrainian Baptist Union was on the same flight as the team toward their connection in Frankfurt. Interacting with Igor at the airport was the best possible orientation for the trip as Igor and his team in Ukraine have been tirelessly working since before the war to equip churches to care for displaced peoples in Ukraine. Igor shared about the 3,000 people who have been baptized and 25,000 new people who have been coming to church in Ukraine since the war started. He also emphasized how important it was to have support from US partners in order to sustain responses in Ukraine. Though it has been difficult, he trusted that God was at work in this warzone. The team was able to pray over Igor as he prepared to head back home to Irpin outside of Kyiv.
Upon arrival in Bucharest, the team immediately dove into helping package the 4:7 boxes at Project Ruth. For Skyler Daniel, a pastor from Manly Memorial Baptist Church, who had previously lived and worked in Bucharest, the simple experience of packing boxes was healing. “It was so personally helpful to have a tangible impact on the war, even just doing something simple to support efforts.” The team packed 253 boxes throughout the week which translates to over 21,000 meals for those in need in Ukraine. In a sermon he preached the week after arriving back from Romania, Daniel spoke of the chain of support that extends from churches across Virginia, to Project Ruth in Romania, across the border to a church in Ukraine, and finally directly to those in need in combat areas in Ukraine. The team members were able to trace this chain of support and pray for those along the way who are making this project possible.
On Thursday, the team woke up early to head east toward Ukraine. Though they had packed a truck full of boxes the day prior, they went in smaller cars as the customs lines into Ukraine extend miles at the border as ground shipping has become the main ways of entries for goods into the country. Driving into a country actively at war past the armed soldiers at the border was nerve wracking for some, but the beauty of the country and its people quickly quelled any anxieties of the team. As they arrived in Izmail, they were greeted by Pastor Edward and deacons from his church who have been serving some of the thousands of refugees who have come through the small border town over the past year.
As the war broke out, an old, disused communist era retreat center outside of town came into the possession of the church. Pastor Edward was so anguished to see the fighting in the east when the war started, but relieved when refugees started pouring into his town. He knew what God was calling him and his church to do with the center. At the center, hundreds of refugees have stayed temporarily as they moved onward or have stayed long term in the relatively safe corner of the country. In addition to hosting refugees, the team from the Izmail church receives the donations of the 4:7 boxes and then drives them further into the country toward combat areas where it is needed most.
The BGAV team was able to visit the center briefly and see a glimpse into the lives of those who have been forced to flee. Many refugees were happy to see them, but the trauma they had faced was clear in their faces. Many women who are displaced help to run the camp themselves, but when they finish a task you could see their faces return to a state of blank shock. Kids played around the camp, but hearing bits of their conversations, often referring to brutal deaths they had witnessed, one could tell these kids had experienced far too much for children their age. There were a few fathers who were there who busied themselves with construction work on the camp. Numbers have stabilized at the camp at around 200 people, but more are expected to come as Russian forces amp up a spring assault.
Still, despite the clear pain and trauma that the team could see, they also saw the glimpses of God’s Kingdom at work. The best example of this was the church in Izmail itself, which has had to start offering a second service time to accommodate the numbers of people coming to church. Hope is being preached in spite of the darkness that surrounds the war. For Betsy McGinnis from Rhoadesville Baptist Church and the Goshen Baptist Association, she saw the Kingdom of God “ at work in all of the lives we encountered, from Pastor Oti Bunaciu, who first had the idea of the 4:7 boxes, all the way down to those willing to carry the boxes to load the truck, and those church members who brave customs and sit at the border for days on end in order to carry them across.” Indeed, God was at work in this warzone.
Before the team left Ukraine, they sat down with Pastor Edward and asked how he and his family and church leaders were doing after months of intense work with so many traumatized people? He responded, “Running the center is normal stress, but it is the work that God gave us to do. As long as we are able to do something about it, we are alright.” His service along with other volunteers in the center like those taking care of the women and children as well as the Romanian Baptists show how God has raised up unexpected people to do the important work of creating safe places for those who have had to flee their homes. Their resilience, strength, and grace bear witness to Christ’s light shining in the midst of the storm. BGAV is proud to support them in these important efforts.
Impact Missions, BGAV and BGAV churches will continue to support the work of Project Ruth in Romania and their 4:7 Boxes for as long as they need support. BGAV is also looking at ways to connect with crisis care teams on the ground and provide support and encouragement as needed. If you are interested in supporting relief efforts through our partners in Europe, see here for details.
