Mission to Ukraine

On Monday morning in West Berlin, I arose early in the morning to catch a bus and two trains for a small town in East Berlin. Waiting for me at 7 am were 4 men. 1 from Kazakhstan, 1 from Iran, and 2 from Germany. After receiving instructions and directions, we prepared to depart.

We loaded our personal belongings into the Sprinter van and started traveling east towards Warsaw, Poland. After 5 hours of uneventful driving, we arrived in front of a modest and well-maintained home where two more Sprinter vans were waiting for us. Quickly transferring the cargo from the original van into the two waiting vans, we worked fast so we could continue our journey across Poland. With the original van returning to Berlin, we were now two teams of two men each.

After a quick coffee with the sweet owners of the home, we snaked our way across the city to a warehouse where 4 large pallets of food had been purchased to feed hungry, war-weary Ukrainians.

The pallets consisted of flour, sugar, pasta, tomato sauce, beans, and cooking oil. We carefully loaded the cargo into the vans to begin the 5-hour journey to the border of West Ukraine. We drove steadily, unsure of what was waiting for us.

At the border of Ukraine, we were surprised to discover a line of cars snaking back from the border crossing towards the west for over a kilometer. We learned these were Ukrainians trying to reenter their country and waiting for the opportunity. Some of them had been there for days.

Fortunately, we were able to use a lane meant for humanitarian purposes and after only waiting 3 hours, we were inspected, our passports stamped and given permission to enter Ukraine.

By now it had grown quick dark and it was after midnight, so we quietly drove into the country, hoping not to catch anyone’s eye. We didn’t want to draw undue attention to ourselves. After all, we were now in an active warzone.

The first thing I noticed was an extremely long line-up of semi-trucks waiting to leave Ukraine and enter Poland. I estimated approximately 15 kilometers of trucks silently waiting on the side of the road, one after another, like a train. Some of the drivers had been waiting for more than a week. This helped explain why the rest of Europe has been experiencing shortages like Sunflower Oil and flour.

As we drove through small villages, we started to have an eerie feeling. All the lights in the houses were extinguished and even the streetlights that normally illuminated the road were dark. We learned that this was to prevent the Russians from targeting their homes. We continued driving deeper into Ukraine.

Finally, at 3am, we entered the city of Lviv. It was hard to see the city because of the deep darkness, but after driving through the many armed checkpoints, we could tell the city was on a war footing. After parking the vans in a safe place, we walked quickly through the city to a refugee shelter who had some spare beds.

Exhausted, I fell into bed fully clothed and slept for just 2.5 hours. It wasn’t enough, but the sun shining through the windows hit my eyes and signaled the start of another day. The sound of roosters crowing confirmed it, so I swung out of bed, brushed my teeth, and grabbed my things.

After a quick coffee with our generous hosts, we returned to where we left the vans and drove across the city to meet up with our Ukrainian contacts. They were already waiting for us, eager to drive deeper into the country to make their deliveries. We swiftly exchanged vehicles and leaving them with the vans full of food, we started our journey back to Berlin.

Driving in the daylight was much easier and we noticed that the villages still had many people living and working in them, hoping for a better future. I think our vans which were marked as humanitarian vehicles, were an encouragement to them.

This time we crossed the border at a more northern location to try to avoid all the trucks lined up trying to enter Poland. Myself and my German colleague had no problem crossing, but our Kazakh and Iranian friends found themselves in some trouble.

Desperately they negotiated with the border guards for over an hour and were finally released. They joined us a few kilometers into Poland, and it was good to see their relieved and smiling faces. All was well as we were together again and eager to return to Germany.

Traveling consistently, we drove for more than 10 hours across Poland, switching drivers every 3 or so hours. It was again after midnight when we arrived in East Germany, exhausted, but relieved that everything had turned out so well.

The purpose of this trip was a humanitarian one. We delivered food and other supplies donated by loving and caring Christians from America and other western countries.

The people receiving the aid were Ukrainian Christians who have remained in the country to serve and take care of refugees and other displaced people from the war. Disregarding their own safety and comfort, and at great personal cost, they have stayed to demonstrate how much God loves by taking care of those who are in great need.

Pray for the people of Ukraine who are suffering in this needless war. Pray also for the soldiers on both sides of this war that they would understand their need for the Grace of God and work for peace.  

Update: as we drove from the Ukraine/Polish border into Poland, we received a news update that the Russians had sent several missiles into the city of Lviv, knocking out their electricity and injuring several citizens. We had slept just to the north of where they hit, but it was a sharp reminder of the danger the citizens of Ukraine are in.