Seth Richardson: Crisis Aid to Ukraine Recap
Ten Men Initiative - Crisis Aid to Ukraine
Thank you for supporting our aid mission to Ukraine. Thousands of people were helped and everyday people were putting their faith in Christ during our outreach.
On August 2nd we set out from Pennsylvania to JFK to fly to Bucharest, Romania. Each member of the team carried with them three, 40lb bags of medical supplies and $10,000 cash. Once in Bucharest, we spent the night at a hotel waiting for the remainder of our team to arrive from Oregon. In the morning some Romanian believers from a local church drove us 5 hours to the Ukrainian border near the Black Sea. We crossed Danube River on the ferry and entered Ukraine. There we were met by a group of Ukrainian pastors and our team was split into two. The medically trained members of our team set out for Odessa to help work in warehouse full of donated medical supplies. They also transported the bulk of the medical supplies we brought to Odessa and then on to the frontlines where trauma medical supplies were greatly needed.
The rest of our team, of which I was a member, remained in the small border city of Izmail. Izmail was a town of 80,000 people however the region was overwhelmed with 400,000 refugees from the war-torn areas of Ukraine.
We stayed with the pastor of the church we were partnering with at his uncle’s house. For the 7-8 days that we were in country our routine was basically getting up and eating a breakfast in the home. Then we headed to the market and bought clothing and school supplies for the refugee children as well as toys and candy for our evening outreach. By late morning we would leave the market and go the church for a brief worship service and then distribution of supplies to the refugee families that came to the church.
The church was a small basement that was packed elbow to elbow with about 100 refugees every morning. There would be a worship song and then two of our team members would share brief gospel messages through a translator. Then, after the service we would hand out food, diapers and school supplies to the refugees that came.
After this we would have lunch at a local believer’s home and then we would head to a city park or a village near the city and set up music, trampolines and some games and invite refugee families to the event. At these events we gave out more food and school supplies and a gospel message was always given. As I mentioned earlier, every day at these events and at the church services people were putting their faith in Christ! These events took us into the evening, so we then had dinner at another believer’s house and then went to bed late and repeated it all the next morning.
Highlights of the trip were being able to share the gospel openly, numerous times and seeing people come to Christ. We heard many heart-breaking stories both from the refugees and the believers serving in the church but it was inspiring to serve alongside the Ukrainian local church that was serving like this before we arrived and has continued to do so even after we left.
We were able to minister to thousands of people while we were there giving out food, clothing, medical supplies, school supplies and much more. We were able to provide widows with ovens to cook and hot plates for refugee families who had nothing to cook with as well. We were able to load a large truck full with food and diapers to be delivered to the city of Mykoliav. Mykolaiv was a city that was being hit with 30 rockets a day while we were there. In our location we were quite safe. We were very close to the Romanian border and Izmail had not been attacked since early March. There was a curfew in place so we had to get home quickly at night and we heard air-raid sirens periodically, however the people in Izmail mostly ignored them since they had not been attacked for a long time. It was a little unsettling at first but we just followed the lead of the local believers and did as they did. They were incredibly hospitable to us and we got to enjoy many different Ukrainian dishes and learn a lot of about Ukrainian history and culture.
The churches in Izmail and Odessa requested that we pass along their gratitude to anyone who donated or supported our aid mission, and past and future missions as well. They were touched that Christians in America were praying for them and seeing how they could support them.
It was undeniable that God’s hand was upon the trip. We were physically safe and we saw the Holy Spirit at work before our eyes changing lives and people turning to Jesus for salvation.
Thank you so much for all your support! Our labor is not in vain. Please continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and what the local church is doing during this national crisis.
Sincerely,
Seth Richardson.
Contact Information
Seth Richardson 267-358-7917 seth.richardson@hotmail.com
Ten Men Initiative Contacts:
Pastor Jay Stoltfuz - 970-209-0542
Jenine and David LeMaster - 970-640-0454
