Guest Article: Ted Knight, Evangelist to Romania
This letter was submitted by Ted Knight, an evangelist to Romania. The letter is from Dragos and Sorina Vintila of the Cluj Church of Christ, whom we’ve heard from previously.
Dear brothers and sisters,
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1:3.
May “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV)
In times of trouble, insecurity, fear, and suffering, when you don’t know what to do or where to go, God is sending help! Maybe the help He is sending is not the one that you expected, but He is definitely holding you and carrying you! Maybe He sends a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or maybe someone you have never met!
Every day we see people going through so much pain, questioning God and His love for them, being in a foreign country, surrounded by people that they don’t know, without even speaking the same language… But in these times of trouble, you have offered each one of them God’s help! You are “the stranger” that God had sent to offer them comfort and support, to give them hope, and to rebuild their faith.
At first, we have been confident that the war will not last long, but now…after two months, we feel hopeless!
Because we have been doing everything that we could to help the Ukrainian refugees in every possible way, we have come to the decision to have the free food store open just on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. By 10 am the Churchyard is already full. People are waiting their turn and they are provided with food supplies for their families. They are all very grateful. Some come with their children, because they don’t have anybody to leave them home with, and for sure they can’t hire a babysitter. That’s why we have decided to build two wooden rooms in the backyard and provide a place for Ukrainian refugee mothers to leave their children when they are at work. We know that this decision implies hiring someone to help us with the children, and the plan is to “hire” some Ukrainian ladies/mothers. In this way, we will help her (or them, because we might need two or three ladies) and we will also help other mothers too. We need someone who can speak the language and that’s the best solution we found.
You have also provided help with medicines (the most important are the diabetes medicines, such as insulin, and heart medicines) and other needs, such as doctor appointments (when it is impossible to go to the main hospital for free), dentist, glasses, clothes and shoes, toys, school supplies, kitchen dishes, luggage, bed covers, blankets, matrixes, sleeping bags, and many other needs that they had. Brothers and sisters, you have helped in so many ways that you can’t even imagine, especially during these times of insecurity and fear. May God bless you for your good heart!
This message is from a post of mine on Facebook.
“This Ukrainian lady came to me today and asked if we could help to buy some Betadine, bandages, and some medicines for her son, who had undergone surgery a few days ago.
I went right that moment to the pharmacy and bought everything that she needed.
When I came back and hand her the medicines, she was shocked, especially because I have also bought some allergy cream for her, because she has a few big stains on her hand and body.
I don't remember seeing someone so happy for receiving medicines! She kept saying "thank you! Thank you!" , jumping around and hugging me! The pictures can never really capture all the emotions that people have!
I am the direct receiver of all these gratitude, but please remember all these are made possible by your sacrifice!
Thank you for this happiness you bring to these people ”
“This lady is fighting cancer. She had asked for some medicines and when we brought them and offer them to her, she was very happy. Her next question was: "how much do I have to pay???" She was so grateful that someone could go to the pharmacy and buy the medicines for her, that she didn't expect us to offer them as a gift. She was very grateful and happy, as you can see in the picture ”
Dragos and Adi Voicu (a brother from Craiova Church of Christ, a city in the south), continue to drive in Ukraine both in Chernivtsi (at the Church building) and Lviv region, in Muchacho (orphanage and refugees camp) and take supplies. Usually, they sent us a list of what they need, and we make sure to provide them with all the supplies that are on their list. The Church in Chernivtsi shares and delivers the supplies in four different areas, including Ivano-Frankie.
In general, they go one time per week in Ukraine, but sometimes they go two or three times. Monday and Tuesday they went to Chernivtsi not only to take supplies but also to pick up some brothers and sisters from Ukraine. They came back yesterday with 13 Ukrainian brothers and sisters. We are providing housing, meals, and transportation for them.
A week ago, Adi brought a young man from Ukraine, who is from the orphanage. Aric is 16 years old and he is under our responsibility while he is in Romania. So, we told the girls we have “adopted” a boy. They couldn’t believe that they have a brother, and I couldn’t believe they are so happy about it!
Galina, a mother of two who took medicines, clothes, sleeping bags, and food supplies that you have provided for some families who lost their houses and now live in a school, gave us the contact of the volunteer who is helping all the refugees in that area. The refugee Camp in Yasinia is where Adi went today, together with our translator, to take food supplies, baby formulas, and diapers. We found out that with our help and with other people’s help, they could help 270 people at a time, so, they are very grateful.
Tomorrow we will send more medicines to Ukraine. We’ve been asked to send some military tourniquets to help stop the bleeding, but it is not that easy to find this kind of tourniquets. They are also more expensive and we need time to order them. We will try our best to help next time.
We are housing right now a total of 27 refugees: 7 refugees at the hotel, 11 in the rented house of our neighbor, 5 in an apartment, 2 in an apartment, and 2 in another apartment. Last night we had 12 in the hotel.
Nothing could be done without your love and support! We want you to know how much we appreciate your sacrifice and how much we appreciate each and every one of you.
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor. 13:14
In Christ love,
Dragos and Sorina Vintila
Cluj Church of Christ
Romania