Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said that he and the others in his travel party were determined to make the most of every minute of their recent trip to war-torn Ukraine.
It certainly sounds like they succeeded.
“We didn’t have any down time,” Jones said with a little laugh. “But we never expected to. That wasn’t part of the bargain for this trip.”
Rather, Jones and the other members of the four-man team from Tennessee maintained a hectic schedule during the 11-day excursion that included Poland and Moldova.
They visited refugee camps, formed new relationships with members of the Ukraine Baptist Convention, met with members of Christian Medical Associations, toured the Ukraine Baptist Seminary and much more.
The trip was part of on-going efforts of Tennessee Baptists to supply aid and relief to Ukrainian refugees.
Through an initiative that started last spring, Tennessee Baptists have given $200,000 to the Ukraine efforts over the past 15 months, with the money being used to aid the Ukrainian Seminary, the Romanian Seminary and Send Relief partners in that area. Multiple shipments of supplies, which were donated by Tennessee Baptist churches, have also been sent.
The members of the Tennessee traveling group — William Maxwell, chief administrative officer for the TBMB; Brett Freemon, minister of missions at Brentwood Baptist Church; Terry Smith, layman at Brentwood; and Jones — made the trek as a means of “touching base” with some of the ministries that are taking place.
The group members said the trip was encouraging, invigorating and heartbreaking, all at once.
‘Seeking something to hold onto’
Jones said the group was excited to see that the love and hope of Jesus is being shared and experienced even while many refugees are facing seemingly desperate circumstances .
“The refugees are seeking something to hold onto,” said Jones, “and right now, the Ukrainian church is gracefully using these opportunities to reach people, even though it’s in a difficult time.”
Maxwell said one of his biggest takeaways from the trip was seeing “the resiliency of the Ukrainian people” in the midst of such traumatic times.
“It was amazing to see the faith of the believers who are convinced that God will bring revival through this conflict,” Maxwell said, “and to see the way the refugees from the occupied areas are working to help each other wherever we found them.”
Jones agreed, saying that what impressed him most “was how hard the Ukrainian church, and especially the young church — and I’m talking under 30s — are really going after and ministering to the people in their time of need.
“The Ukrainian church itself has, in large part, transformed itself into a church that meets people’s needs,” Jones said.
200 new church plants
“The young people are really just going after it, serving and going into some dangerous areas to serve their people and not run away,” said Jones, who noted that there have been 200 new church plants/starts since the war began.
Maxwell said the believers in Ukraine have embraced a sense of urgency when it comes to sharing the gospel — and living it out on a daily basis.
“The passion and discipline of the pastors and church leaders that we met was amazing,” he said. “They are well educated and lead their churches to be Christ-centered and ministry-focused.”
Maxwell said the trip was extremely impactful for him, and said it served as a great reminder of the work that remains to be done. Some of the work can be done in Tennessee, he said.
“It was truly an inspiring experience to see how the Ukrainian believers, especially the youth and young adults, were engaged in gospel-centered relief work,” Maxwell said.
“It still boils down to the fact that Tennessee Baptists need to pray for the Ukrainians and their ministry to each other and for the end of the war, give to the physical needs of those displaced by the conflict, and prepare to go,” he noted. “There are some opportunities now, but there will be many more when the war is over.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by David Dawson and originally published by Baptist and Reflector.
