A Small Church Making a Big Difference

In the middle of a pretty busy city, underneath a giant bank, is an open room with a small office and bathroom attached. This is our church. Biserica Speranta, Hope Church in Craiova, Romania. Nothing special or fancy, just a bank’s basement. But thank God He uses the least likely of sources to drive big change. This tiny underground church has already aided over 250 Ukrainian refugees in just one short month. When Pastor Raul heard about the war happening just one country over, he stepped into action… quickly! Most days Raul is on the phone nonstop coordinating relief efforts from all over Europe. He recently even had a call with the U.S. Navy stationed in Italy, our boys in uniform want to help!

Raul and his 4-5 person team have been going nonstop. They don’t ever sleep. They drive to the border most days to pick up Ukrainians that want to flee the war. They are brought back to Craiova where the church has rented out three houses to put them up in. At one point, they were even living with us and Raul. He helps them get all of their documents in order and either drives them into the countries where their relatives live or he pays for their flights. He was gone last week on his own birthday doing one of these trips. My days look a lot like cleaning rental houses, doing their laundry, buying them groceries, cooking them meals, and my favorite: playing with the kids! We have kid’s days where we play cartoons in their language, play games, tell a Bible story, and sing songs. It is so fun, I love being able to get their minds off of things even if just for a few hours. We have been putting together a convoy to send into Ukraine to bring food and resources to the churches bunkered underground to disperse amongst the community. Even simple things like hours taking inventory of food bank donations are actually really cool when they tell you the inventory is for when the vans get stopped by Russian soldiers to be inspected to see if we are smuggling weapons and supplies to the Ukrainian military. Sick. But anyways. 

The office at the church is now full of food, clothes, and other necessities like toothpaste and soaps. Everything we have these days is from donations, food banks, etc., but in the beginning Raul would just hand us his personal card and pray. This church that has nothing, is paying for things that they can’t afford and trusting that the Lord will provide. They don’t wait for the donations to come in, their sole concern is the “what”, which is taking care of people, they know that the “how” will come later. Every Sunday, someone comes to the front and points to a small box on the counter. He says, “As you know we have very little and what we do have goes straight to the people who need it more than us. If you would like to donate to pay the rent of this church that so many have called home, you can put your money in that box over there.” 

The first time I heard this I was astonished. WHAT?! You can’t even pay rent?! And you’re paying to rent out houses and buying groceries for complete strangers?! What came over them to think that made any sort of sense?” Faith. I guess, just faith. The kind of faith that is not afraid of the future, but trusts that whatever may come, the Lord will provide. The kind of faith that doesn’t ask for every step laid out perfectly to see, but solely asks for what is necessary for each day, for daily bread. I want to be that reliant on the Lord. I want to have that kind of faith.

Raul and his church have been giving everything that they have to serve others, people that they have never met, from a different country, that speak a different language. They aren’t concerned with how it will affect them, they just want to serve God and serve His people. That feels unheard of, but isn’t that what the Acts 2 church was all about?

Acts 2:44-45

    “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

Can you imagine? Think of someone in your church, not a best friend, not a cousin, just someone that goes to your church being in need. Would you sell your car to give them the money? Probably not and no one would ask you to. Neither would I, I love my soccer mom minivan. But I mean, I could probably go without a Chai tea to give that money to someone in need. I could probably go without a lot of things. If living out of a backpack has taught me anything it’s that I have so many things at home. I don’t need eight bathing suits and four sun hats, even in California that is excessive. Some days I think I wanna sell it all and give the money to the ministries I have met along the way. That seems extreme, people tell me that would be crazy, but is it really? Would it really be so wild to give my sweater to someone cold and without one, even if I didn’t have another? Even if it meant I went cold? Would it really be that outlandish to give my last dollar to someone hurting, trusting that the Lord would find a way to take care of me without it.

That is what Raul does every day. That is exactly what this church is doing here in Craiova, Romania. They aren’t giving because they have money to spare. They aren’t giving out of excess, they are giving until it hurts, then more. Like the church in Acts, they are giving all that they have and learning to live with less. Not because they wanted to try out minimalism as a new fad, but because of a little thing called love. The Ukrainians ask us why we are helping, why we care so much about strangers from a random country that can’t communicate with us except through google translate. We tell them that Jesus loves them, so that’s enough for us to love them too. But Jesus doesn’t just love them minimalistically, He loves them sacrificially, so we will have to learn to as well. 

Now, I’m not asking you to sell everything you own to give to the poor, I’m not asking you to give more than you have to Ukraine trusting that the Lord will provide for you like Raul does. Heck, I’m not even asking you to donate to this ministry. But I do challenge you to think of a way that you can bless someone today, even if just through your time or words. Let’s support our brothers and sisters in need like the church in Acts 2. Whether that be within your friend circle, your home church, your community, or yes, even international. 

The Lord has been teaching me this a lot this month. Even when I finally finish cooking my own dinner and use the last of my ingredients that cost my last few dollars, then a refugee walks into the kitchen hungry, marveling at my food, saddened looking at theirs in comparison and the Lord tells me to give mine to them. It’s hard and it straight up sucks when it’s my favorite meal, but He is teaching me to live more like Raul, more like Acts 2, more like Jesus. I wouldn’t take that lesson back for all the nice meals in the world. I pray that He continues teaching me this lesson more and more every day even when it hurts. I pray that He teaches you the same. I don’t know, I just think that God can do a lot when we stop focusing so dang much on ourselves. 

Lord, thank You for this church and the example it sets to all of us. Thank You for the reminder that the church was meant to support each other, to support those in need, to be Your hands and feet. That you provide for Your people even when we can’t see. Continue reminding me, continue teaching me sacrificial love and faith even when it doesn’t make sense to my human mind. 

-K