Emma, the daughter of one of the board members of Teach All Nations, is a missionary in Hungary and the Ukraine and, for the past five years, has been the full-time caregiver to a disabled Ukrainian child. When Russia began its onslaught on the Ukraine, she had to make the difficult decision to take the child and temporarily leave her home and relocate to Hungary until the situation began stable again. Upon her exit, she turned over the keys to her home to the director of a partnering ministry and gave him permission to use it to house anyone in needed. Within days, the living room and every available square inch of space was lined with beds to accommodate the twenty-two people – elderly women, children, teenagers, mothers, and fathers – who took refuge in her four-bedroom house.
As soon as we heard the report, Teach All Nations rushed financial support to the Emma so she could help supply the needs of those in her home as well as another hundred and fifty internally displaced persons who are being housed in the conference rooms, classrooms, and guest rooms of the office building of the mission organization she is associated with. Additionally, some of the funds went to help those in need in the nearby villages and to Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines.
Because of her focus on children’s ministry, Emma shared stories with us of the children who have sat in bomb shelters as their cities are bombarded and of those who are distraught because their fathers are away fighting in the war. One story out of many was of one young mother with three daughters who narrowly escaped when the railroad tracks right behind the train they were boarding was bombed.
At the time of this writing, Emma asked for protection for those sheltering in her home because the fighting has come close enough to them that they can hear the air raid sirens warning them of immediate danger.
