My heart breaks as I write this. As I have been processing our time in Poland over the last week, so much has changed already. Lviv is now under heavy attack. More lives have been lost, more people are displaced. It seems that nowhere in Ukraine is safe anymore. The humanitarian crisis that continues to evolve in front of us in incomprehensible. I can’t stop thinking about the faces we saw and the stories we heard. And we barely scratched the surface.
While our time in Warsaw was short, it was life changing for me. I had been praying about what I could do to help when Dr Tao spoke to me about taking medications to Poland with hopes of getting them to Ukraine. My heart jumped and my first thought was that we could take twice as much if I went with her. My husband Marc didn’t hesitate when I told him I wanted to go. He simply said he wanted to help, and he was coming with us. We knew the needs would be great and that there was no time to waste as every day that passed meant more bombings, more people fleeing with what little they could grab, and more lives potentially lost. We also knew that we didn’t know what to expect.
In my heart, I knew that God had reasons for us to go with the Taos, but it was not all clear in the beginning and I believe some things are yet to be revealed. God clearly laid the path before us and His provision was clear throughout the entire experience. Dr Tao and I put together medications to order and she was able to get them shipped in record time to our house in Colorado. Tickets were booked and everything came together very quickly and rather seamlessly. Marc and I were able to get 300lbs of the medications we ordered packed into 6 huge suitcases. We were shocked as we breezed through security at every check point getting to Poland. Once in Poland, customs simply waved us through without checking anything. The Taos were close behind us with another 4 suitcases of supplies with life straws and trauma kits and so on. When we got to our hotel, it was clear that many the guests staying there were Ukrainian refugees
When we came to the train stations through which the majority of refugees are coming into Warsaw and to the Expo center where so many of them are being sheltered, the vastness of the situation made it easy to feel overwhelmed. While there is some access to health services once inside Poland, the system is overloaded, and supplies are limited. Though the medications we brought were intended to go to Ukraine directly, there were so many needs in front of us that we had to respond. It was actually hard to not be able to do more. We gave what we could and helped where we could. I am sure that the antibiotics and the oral rehydration packets that were left at the Expo helped save lives as they had completely run out of antibiotics and they were starting to see cases of rotavirus and the associated dehydration.
One of the most incredible blessings I experienced in Poland was attending the Ukrainian church service on Sunday evening. This room was packed with people who have lost everything, left their homes, and left loved ones behind. The love and the hope in that room was so tangible and palpable. They poured out their love for Jesus and for one another. They prayed for Russia and for the Russian troops in Ukraine. They poured out love on us. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
While our time in Warsaw was short, it was life changing for me. I had been praying about what I could do to help when Dr Tao spoke to me about taking medications to Poland with hopes of getting them to Ukraine. My heart jumped and my first thought was that we could take twice as much if I went with her. My husband Marc didn’t hesitate when I told him I wanted to go. He simply said he wanted to help, and he was coming with us. We knew the needs would be great and that there was no time to waste as every day that passed meant more bombings, more people fleeing with what little they could grab, and more lives potentially lost. We also knew that we didn’t know what to expect.
In my heart, I knew that God had reasons for us to go with the Taos, but it was not all clear in the beginning and I believe some things are yet to be revealed. God clearly laid the path before us and His provision was clear throughout the entire experience. Dr Tao and I put together medications to order and she was able to get them shipped in record time to our house in Colorado. Tickets were booked and everything came together very quickly and rather seamlessly. Marc and I were able to get 300lbs of the medications we ordered packed into 6 huge suitcases. We were shocked as we breezed through security at every check point getting to Poland. Once in Poland, customs simply waved us through without checking anything. The Taos were close behind us with another 4 suitcases of supplies with life straws and trauma kits and so on. When we got to our hotel, it was clear that many the guests staying there were Ukrainian refugees
When we came to the train stations through which the majority of refugees are coming into Warsaw and to the Expo center where so many of them are being sheltered, the vastness of the situation made it easy to feel overwhelmed. While there is some access to health services once inside Poland, the system is overloaded, and supplies are limited. Though the medications we brought were intended to go to Ukraine directly, there were so many needs in front of us that we had to respond. It was actually hard to not be able to do more. We gave what we could and helped where we could. I am sure that the antibiotics and the oral rehydration packets that were left at the Expo helped save lives as they had completely run out of antibiotics and they were starting to see cases of rotavirus and the associated dehydration.
One of the most incredible blessings I experienced in Poland was attending the Ukrainian church service on Sunday evening. This room was packed with people who have lost everything, left their homes, and left loved ones behind. The love and the hope in that room was so tangible and palpable. They poured out their love for Jesus and for one another. They prayed for Russia and for the Russian troops in Ukraine. They poured out love on us. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.