Howard Frost

Excerpt of message from Moldova Baptist Union, April 15, 2022
(photos directly below are from this report)

In Moldova we try to meet the urgent needs of the Ukrainian refugees who have been crossing the border of Moldova to escape the war in their homeland and who are enjoying shelter in our country during this very difficult period in the neighboring country. We provide them with three meals a day, spiritual counseling, medical care, children’s activities and we preach the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord yet.  

Every refugee has their own sad story or even drama. Women have left their husbands in Ukraine, children – their fathers. The number of orphans has increased. Refugees coming to our shelters are frightened, tired, confused, shocked, terrified. Here they receive assistance, can rest physically (a lady after a very long drive from Ukraine could not walk at all while getting out of the car), they can eat, drink, calm down, receive hope, etc. Some people need to stay in Baltata for one or two nights and continue their way to other countries, others prefer to stay for weeks, maybe months hoping to be able to return to their homes.

Many of them write us short Thank You messages already from Germany, Romania, Poland, the Netherlands, etc. and express their gratitude for the help and direction received in Moldova.

 We have established an average cost of $25 per day for each refugee which includes:  

— Breakfast – $4

—  Lunch – $7

—  Dinner – $6

— Utilities: heating, electricity, hot water, sewage – $7

— Toilet paper, soap, detergents, washing sheets – $1

We host and serve about 300 refugees per day. 

We need about $7,500 per day. Most of the support is coming from abroad. As Moldovan people have been very open to help, we discovered that Christians all over the world have been ready to help as well. We have received support from the European Baptist Federation, Children’s Emergency Relief International (CERI) and other organizations. Local churches can help us by sending volunteers, but the ministry is not easy and many of them get tired. We do not receive any support from the Moldovan government yet.

Prayer needs: 

— We pray for peace in Ukraine and in the region; 

— For more volunteers; 

— For the refugees: the women without husbands, the children without fathers, for orphans, for those who lost their houses. 

— For our pastors that God would grant them wisdom, vision, positive and nice response. 

We need prayer and financial support in order for us to be able to continue helping refugees during this difficult time in Ukraine. Thank you so very much for your help and may God bless, protect, strengthen and reward you abundantly!

Report from Marriage & Family/Outreach Director, April 16, 2022
(photos directly below are from this report)

We buy tea, coffee, water, groceries, diapers, wipes. After the refugees cross customs, they are brought to a distribution point. From there, volunteers direct them to buses that take them in different directions. Some go to Romania, and from there to Europe. Some stay in Moldova for several days and weeks and decide what to do next. Some remain in Moldova and wait for the end of the war to return home. We fed them hot meals. They were treated to tea, sweets, fruits. On the way we offer water and hotels.

Comments from front-line workers in the relief effort about supply sources:

March 22:

Food was bought and brought [to the Palanca, Moldova border site, not far from Odessa]  by various churches and missions. The state never gave us food. All the food supplies are from churches and Christian organizations.

 March 31:

UDG has been a part of the [refugee relief] effort since day one and together with many other churches, Christian organizations, non-governmental organizations, and charities, Moldova managed to embrace bravely and lovingly the first and the biggest wave of Ukrainian refugees that came into Moldova.

April 7:

[There is] very little information available about the involvement of the Orthodox church. From what is observed, their involvement is less significant than the one by the evangelicals. They weren’t involved as much with providing shelter (probably because the building themselves aren’t fitted for that –The buildings themselves usually don’t have additional rooms in which people could be placed, except for the main sanctuary. In the evangelical churches, the Sunday school classrooms have been repurposed, where beds and mattresses were added).  At the level of the Orthodox Union, they provided food and supplies for approximately 20,000 Ukrainian citizens with a material value estimated at  6,450,000 lei (around $350,000).

In terms of the state managing this crisis, they kind of took the “back seat” position and intervened only after the situation was getting out of control in the first days of the war. The state allocated some resources for that. but it is quite hard to trace where the money was spent, based on the information available. The government is managing around 104 placement centers that can host around 5,000 refugees. Taking into consideration that we have close to 100,000 refugees in Moldova, most of them are being taken care of by the citizens themselves and by the Christian community.

April 10:
The leadership of the Orthodox church of Moldova declared that they don’t support this war, but they are still being very cautious.

On Orthodoxy in Moldova, see the Wikipedia article “Eastern Orthodoxy in Moldova“

The Eastern Orthodox Church in Moldova is organized by the Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova, commonly referred to as the Moldovan Orthodox Church, a self-governing church body under the Russian Orthodox Church, and by the Metropolis of Bessarabia, also referred to as the Bessarabian Orthodox Church, a self-governing church body under the Romanian Orthodox Church. According to a 2011 Gallup survey on religion, among the Eastern Orthodox of Moldova, 86% belonged to the Moldovan Orthodox Church, while 13% belonged to the Bessarabian Orthodox Church.[1]

Slavic Verenciuc, MMN’s Marriage, Family, and Outreach Director, shares a video of the work of his team at the border crossing site at Palanca, in southeast Moldova (the border crossing nearest Odessa). Slavic and his team, along with MBU volunteers, provide food, fellowship and compassion. (The blue and white tent was donated by ministry friends several years ago to help with Outreach and Family Ministry in Moldovan villages.)

Here is an explanation for sections of the video:

     — At 0:25-0:37: Refugees gather waiting for transport. Due to the large number of refugees, there were not enough buses or time to transport them from Palanca to Chisinau.
     —  At 1:11-1:14: Refugees arrive from Ukraine, then they are taken to Chisinau and distributed in different places. Chisinau was not ready to receive so many refugees. Therefore, every day there were new places developed. There was a distribution point in Chisinau where there was information about free places, the addresses of these places, and telephone numbers made available.
   — At 1:25 -1:36: Food was bought and brought by various churches and missions. The state never provided us food. All the food supplies are from churches and Christian organizations.
   — At 2:02 – 2:17: Refugees wait for transport from Palanca.
   — At 2:37 – 2:55: Note the very large flow of cars.
   — At 3:15 – 3:20: It was very cold outside and two small tents were set up so that the children could warm up while they were waiting for transport. A few days later, someone brought a larger tent so that families could change the children’s clothes and keep warm. In this tent, we distributed baby food, wet wipes, water for children and adults, cookies for children and more. It takes three hours to drive from Palanka to Chisinau.

Marriage, Family, and Ourtreach Director Slavic Verenciuc reported that his relatives and friends from America and friends sent already by this time a substantial amount of money and that he delivers food two or three times a week. He reports he is tired, but is working, because refugees need on-going help. He reports that refugees also live in homes and offices in Chisinau.

Please help our Moldova ministry friends provide much-needed relief for Ukrainian refugees. The situation has worsened as the biggest European refugee problem since WWII grows. Since February 24 over three million have left Ukraine, with 300,000 fleeing to little Moldova (WSJ, 15 Mar). About half the 300,000 refugees coming to Moldova have remained in the country, according to a US AID official on March 14 (WABI-TV, Maine).

Ukraine Appeal, March 17, 2022

The University Divitia Gratiae as of March 17 is housing 170 Ukrainian refugees at its Vatici Retreat Center and 70 refugees at its university campus. The Moldova Baptist Union, another MMN partner, reported that as of March 17, more than 100 churches (as well as homes of their parishioners) and other Baptist facilities are housing approximately 3000 refugees. At the Vatici center some families remain, other families stay for a night or several days on their way to relatives or friends in other countries.