Churches Helping Churches Help
Since our hour-long prayer meeting on 26 February ("An Hour in Support of Ukraine"), much has happened.
The needs of the Ukrainian people have increased exponentially—but also, so has your support. As we were in touch with our Ukrainian friends and church leaders, we recognized that there was much that humanitarian organisations were unable to do in the short-term: diapers, clothes, medical supplies, and food were among the most direly needed supplies, and we felt called to help.
We decided to take one van into Ukraine—L’viv, specifically—to deliver supplies that local Christians needed, especially as they were in turn supporting refugees from other parts of Ukraine. However, as we began collecting the items needed, members of the Polish community in Salzburg also shared the donations they had raised for the Quo Vadis supply run. As the numbers of items to bring to Ukraine increased, we were fortunate enough to be able to call a dear friend, who agreed to take his van and join us on the journey to Poland/Ukraine.
Further, we received help from medical staff in Austria, who were able to assist us with information on acquiring necessary medical supplies that were requested from within Ukraine.
Thursday, 10 March
A group of four left Salzburg on Thursday morning at 7 am.* We loaded two vans and another car with blankets, pillows, medical supplies, and clothes to take to a church in Poland, which has been a sanctuary for 60 orphans from Odessa.
After an 8-hour journey to Poland, we stopped at three pharmacies, where we bought a lot of their stock to transport to Ukraine.
We have also been in touch with members of a Polish congregation in the South of Poland, who have driven over 16.000 kilometers (= 10.000 miles) over the last two weeks to deliver supplies and shuttle people out of Ukraine.
One team member recollects the following:
“Crazy! We’ve been sitting in the living room coming up with a plan for tomorrow. One guy has been across the border and back 22 times. We are going to take the two seats out of the van so 20 or so people can squeeze in. Looks like we will do most of it during the night because only humanitarian aid vehicles can be on the roads after curfew, so the traffic won’t be as bad. One of the guy’s trips took 21 hours during the day.”
As a result of the local church’s expertise, we asked an individual to join us on the supply run.
Friday, 11 March
The team decided to rent another van with the money that has been given, to bring more supplies and be able to shuttle more people across the border. One more individual joins the team in Poland from the UK on Friday morning.
In the meantime, Verena and partners of the Quo Vadis Institute are working on gathering information on first, as well as a long-term, aid for Ukrainian refugees throughout Europe.
The Quo Vadis Institute team in Poland is currently buying last supplies and is scheduled to leave for Ukraine late this evening. The plan is to deliver the supplies to L’viv (in Western Ukraine) in the night, and to return sometime tomorrow. Three vans and seven volunteers are currently scheduled to go, and we will be delivering supplies to people in different parts of the city.
*For security reasons, we will not be mentioning who is going, or to whom we will be delivering which supplies.
Please keep us in your prayers as we navigate foreseen and unforeseen circumstances.
Comments