In My Heart Forever (Part 1)

WARNING!! This post contains elements that may cause you to consider how God has richly blessed you because you live in a land that is free from war. This may pull at your hearts and possibly release tears from your eyes.

Recently, we were able to move from our hotel room (we had been there since January 25th when we were evacuated from Ukraine). We moved into a house in a small village called Nieder-Wöllstadt. It is so nice to have a real kitchen again with a full-sized refrigerator. Later that night, we received a call from the secretary of the Europe Area presidency to fill a temporary assignment to help with the refugees flowing into Poland from Ukraine. On the 21st, we flew to Krakow, Poland and after checking into our hotel, we went straight to the work at hand. There is a small operation centered at the branch here in Krakow to find and assist members of the church coming across the border. With that being said, it is not limited to just members as we do, on occasion, assist any that come to our doors. Most of the refugees are transiting Poland and headed elsewhere in Europe. We assist them with temporary housing, food and transportation. This is a very brief description of what really happens here. I will attempt to portray the pathos that accompanies us on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.

One of the first things we did was to accompany Elder and Sister Foote to the mall where 12 rolling suitcases were purchased. 

Distributing suitcases with the Foote's

We rolled them to the lower level where it connects with the train station. Many, far too many, come with only plastic shopping bags to hold the sum of all their worldly goods. We began to look for someone who really needs a suitcase. It doesn't take long. You can see it in their eyes - a look of shock and despair, juxtapositioned in a place where happy voices are usually raised at the arrival of relatives and friends. Ukrainians are tough. Their culture has been peppered over the centuries with hard things -- very hard things that they've had to endure. As a people, they are very affectionate, but they are also very stoic when it comes to the harshness that has often followed them. As we approach a few and offer them a brand new suitcase, they think we are trying to sell it to them. Having been through so much terror and very difficult things, it is hard to think that someone would just give them something that would be so needful. Through hand gestures and halted attempts to speak words that we can both understand, the realization finally hits, and they are so grateful. You would think that we handed them a million dollars. They want to hug you and some will want to kiss you. It shakes you to the core that such appreciation for a simple kindness can be so overwhelming.

We move on to others and soon the gesture, that did not go unobserved by others, is repeated, with many now coming up and asking for a suitcase. Soon, we have given them all away. We go back into the mall and buy several more. Back to the station we go for another round. When the last one has been given away we return to the branch building nearby. 

I can't speak for others, but my experience has been that when I have given freely of my money/time/attention to complete strangers, especially people with such great need, heaven lets me know in a very certain and profound way that the angels rejoice. My sweetheart, MaryAnn, who knows me better than anyone, upon seeing my tear-filled eyes, smiled and asked, "Well, what did you expect would happen?" She knows how these things affect me.

Planning for each day is usually a dicey proposition because things are so dynamic at the border. One night, a bus arrived with 51 people on board. We were expecting 6. We managed to handle 20, and 3 of them were physically crippled in some way. One man had a bad infection on his leg. He was taken to the clinic and was told that it might be gangrenous. We put them up for 2 nights.  

In the meantime, we have had several volunteers from America and other places, who have come, at their own expense, to help. They drive to the border each day and pick up our members who are coming from Ukraine. One family, the Fosters, from Gilbert, AZ, have been here all week to meet up with their father who came a week or two earlier. It is a family tradition with them to do such meaningful projects like this during spring break. We had two Finnish men drive a van all the way from Helsinki to bring supplies and offer assistance. While in the central room that is used for sacrament meeting on Sunday, it is common to hear all kinds of languages being spoken. 

Eating their simple meal after a prayer

As we tried to provide transportation to an elderly couple who wanted to go to Finland, we were attempting to persuade them to fly (95% discount) rather than drive back with the Finns. Here you have a Finnish fellow, speaking his best English over the phone to the couple's son who is speaking his best English and then translating in Ukrainian to his parents about how much better it would be to fly. It worked and they flew out yesterday. What a wonderful thing to see how much people can really care for one another in the midst of such challenging times. In small, oftentimes, unobservable ways, doors are opened for individuals who have certain gifts, talents or resources to make their way here. One of the Finns asked his boss for time off to come here. Of course he had to tell him why he needed so much time away from work. When the boss learned of the reason why, he firmly announced, "You must go!" He later related his experience to me about handing out suitcases at the train station.  Again, overwhelming emotion, followed by tears. Alas, I have a kindred brother!

Singing hymns before leaving.

There are wonderful people assigned here to organize our daily unknowns into elegant chaos. We have found our niche by doing the shopping for food and anything else that might be needed. We have figured out the public transportation and so we can get around pretty cheaply. 

Keeping the larder stocked

Quick meals and snacks

One of our drivers, Brett, told us that he gives away his baseball caps to the young boys that come across. Anything with a western or American logo is a hit with them. We decided that we would find him more hats. In our shopping we found them to be more expensive than we had hoped. We were resigned to settle for a mediocre (non-logo, plain vanilla) model when we passed a second hand store. Sister Allred discovered a big box of caps. I rummaged through them and pulled out 20 caps. They cost 24 cents a piece. Things like this happen everyday where someone or something has been prearranged to benefit the work. Brett told us of an exchange he had with a Ukrainian boy. He had just given him his hat and the boy offered in return, his matchbox car. He showed it to us. It was probably the only toy the boy had. I told Brett he needs to mount that car on something to always remind him that the quality of mercy is not strained.

Our bountiful cap collection

A middle-aged woman, in broken English, is trying to tell us her story. Between heaving sobs, filled with so much pain and sadness, we learn of how much has been lost: houses, livelihoods, schools, playgrounds, neighbors, friends and family members. She emotes the feeling of an orphaned child, bereft of everything that is dear. She faces an unknown future in a land, not her own, among people that don't share her culture or her native tongue. And yet, she moves forward, a daughter with the DNA of the many women who went before her, coping with centuries of struggles, loss and tears. Yes, many tears.

Today is the Sabbath. A time to decompress and slow down. The branch building is filled, almost to capacity. It is a huge melting pot of the followers of Christ, all with so many different backgrounds and languages. Most of those who came are from the USA, volunteers of the highest quality. Many from Germany and neighboring countries. After visiting with local members, I begin to see a pattern of Americans (mostly) who have moved to Poland for work opportunities. In the work of the Lord, there are no coincidences. No happy mistakes. Everyone that has shown up at this location, at this time in history, was brought here by the hand of the Lord and they came with talents and abilities that were years and even decades in the making. God is good . .  always.

When our eyes are opened to a larger view of the world outside of our own, we begin to see that our giant gripes about life seem very small and trivial by comparison.

Stay tuned for Part 2