May 2023 Update From Bob & Andrea Burnham
SNAPSHOTS FROM UKRAINE
Newsletter from Bob & Andrea Burnham, serving with Mission to the World in Odessa, Ukraine, but currently living in Brasov, Romania
Challenges Ahead
While there have been many positive developments for Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s attacks, the future is still very uncertain, and especially so for displaced Ukrainians. In this edition of ‘Snapshots’ we’ll share some of the events that have both encouraged us and challenged us.
Romanian support for refugees ending?
Seeing off some of our first, dear arrivals in Brasov as they, more than a year later, return to Odessa
Last month we received news that Romania’s refugee program would begin changing and winding down on May 1st. While additional limitations are introduced this summer, financial aid will continue throughout the end of the year only for those who meet strict parameters. For a majority of refugees this impacts their ability to pay for housing, utilities and food. And although most Ukrainians don’t consider it safe to return to their homes in Ukraine, they are faced with few other options. Many of the women have younger children and aren’t able to work full-time, and the salaries that Ukrainians receive here are typically less than salaries for Romanians - not enough to live on. Others with older kids cannot enroll them in required Romanian schools since they do not speak the language. Some in our community have already returned while others are trying to fulfill requirements allowing them to stay as long as they can. Please pray that God would lead us in His wisdom to explore sustainable ways to help these families.
We’re putting our vehicle to work, helping Ukrainians pack up and move
to more affordable housing or back to Ukraine!
Visitors from Georgia churches!
A joint team from northern GA came April 1st to help guide children (and a good many teens and adults!) through experiences in 8 stations depicting Jesus’s final week, his crucifixion and resurrection! This occurred 10 days before Romania & Ukraine celebrated Easter, so it was perfect timing to bring to their minds these history-making, life-altering events. Restoration Presbyterian, Christ the King Pres., and 12 Stone churches loaned us some dear people who served with excellence & humility, demonstrated the love of Christ, and invested in becoming even closer friends with our communities throughout the week ~ Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you Philip, Elaine, Michael, Justin, Carol W., Eddie, Carol K. and Diane!
On 3 different occasions this team set up their elaborate craft & activity stations for participants to “Walk Through Holy Week.” Interpreters were used so that three different cultures could interact using their heart languages: Romanian, Ukrainian/Russian, Hungarian.
Above, Denis (Ukrainian) helps Justin dramatize Peter cutting off the ear of the high-priest’s servant, and Jesus healing the servant’s ear before being arrested.
Diane and her interpreter Anya ask Ukrainian kids if they can imagine what motivated Jesus to wash the disciples’ dirty feet - a job only the lowest servant would do. This is just one example used by our fellow missionary, Catalina Kreider, (who wrote the curriculum and an accompanying devotional for families to use) to help participants explore more fully Who Jesus was, how He loved people when He lived 2000 years ago, and to understand the miraculous events of Easter which give the strongest evidence that He is alive and with us today and always!
In Eastern European fashion, the week was full of delicious, homemade meals shared with our Ukrainian community, as well as with the Romanian and Hungarian congregations. Thank you to all who served Christ by supporting this outreach and those who came!! It really made an impact on many families here in Brasov!
We greatly enjoyed our dear friend, Diane Hood, staying extra days with us to catch up and sightsee in beautiful Romania. She also introduced playing Quirkle (and her patented “Quirkle dance”™ moves) with many of our friends, including neighbors Lydia and granddaughter Anya (Diane’s Ukrainian interpreter.)
Back and Forth to Ukraine
Bob has made several trips to Ukraine since our last newsletter, taking in humanitarian & medical aid and moving Ukrainians’ belongings back to their homes. The trip usually takes 14-16 hours one-way (depending on the border crossing), along two-lane roads through mountains, villages, and farmland.
Due to medical items, Bob usually opts for the two ferry crossings across the Danube river, which take him directly from Romania to Ukraine, by-passing Moldova.
It’s worth the grueling drive time to bring in much needed aid and be able to see friends, like our teammate Lauren, her new husband, Vanya, and Pastor George and his wife Snezhana.
Speaking of Snezhana ~ last fall she bought a dehydrator and for 10 months has been curing healthy fruit, vegetables and lean meats to send to soldiers and troops who are personally connected with our believing communities. (We tasted it! Delicious!) We just provided her with a vacuum sealer to send these foods in more sanitary packaging. You can see what she does by clicking here.
She is in need of donations to financially offset the rising meat costs ($80/month) and a one-time need of $100 to buy extra trays for the dehydrator to increase the amount she can do at once.
Please contact us if you are interested: burnhamsnapshots@gmail.com
Easter in Romania
The 6th station of our “Walk Through the Holy Week” event involved each child nailing their name to a wooden cross, in order to identify their own sins with the reason Jesus was nailed to the cross. On Easter our church featured the same cross, but covered in beautiful flowers, signifying the resurrected life Christ gives us through His sacrifice. Here we are, with Iris, and Odessa teammates (l to r) Jill, David and Ruth Anne Martin.
Each week new visitors have joined our church gathering! However, Easter day worship was bittersweet, celebrating God’s abundant provision, while at the same time missing Ukrainian friends & family members who were observing this high holiday in danger of missiles or army attacks. Please pray for a swift and just end to Russia’s attacks against Ukraine, so families can be spared & reunited and the country rebuilt.
Of course we celebrated Easter as a family, with a big meal!
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1,2
Ironically, while helping our friends load their moving boxes in February & March, I, Andrea, developed a separation in my tummy muscle! I was very hesitant to have ANY kind of operation, having never had one. But the thought of Jesus being pierced for our sins, under intense pain and emotional agony, afforded me needed perspective for my planned, sanitary, anaesthetised laparoscopic procedure.
And outside my hospital room window rose a scenic, misty mountainside to remind me of the power and beauty of the One Who was allowing this situation in my life. I gained appreciation for the Romanian health care system last week and am glad to report that my epigastric hernia surgery was successful. I am 80% recovered with the added help of Mango, our geriatric orange tabby.
So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
Andrea and I were reflecting the other day about people in our lives who have begun to grasp more of the depth and beauty of God’s inspired Word. Thanks to generous friends who bought and sent slender large-print Russian Bibles we were able to give 3 women, Elvira, Tatiana and Lydia, access to Scriptures they can more easily read.
Lydia (our 68 year old upstairs neighbor who only since the beginning of the war, started attending church with us) opened her new Bible and began to read “In the beginning….” 😉 Andrea overheard her exclaim to her daughter in amazement, “People used to live so long! Some were hundreds of years old before dying!” Over the winter, Lydia learned that several of her closest friends from youth have passed, so death and life-after-death have been on her mind.
A few other comments regarding things we take for granted knowing:
“Wait, this scripture is saying that Jesus is actually God?”
“Jesus appeared and spoke face-to-face with His disciples AFTER He was raised from the dead?!”
(stated in the men’s Bible study while studying the Gospel of John)
Our lovely Ukrainian ladies at Wednesday Bible study May 17th ~ We’ve already dedicated several lessons to a basic timeline overview and explanation of how the Bible was written, compiled and arranged. And of course, we also discuss the over-arching theme of the Bible’s message: A Holy God promises a Messiah to redeem sinful humanity and reconcile them to Himself. Still, the order of the many books of the Bible, and the two major sections of Old and New Testaments are newer concepts for many, previously unchurched, folks attending our groups and church services.
We discover the Gospel afresh through their eyes and share in their excitement when they understand new truths!
Izmail Life Care Center
During Bob’s last few trips to Odessa, he’s brought his camera gear along and stopped off at the Izmail Life Care Center, a crisis pregnancy ministry we helped to begin more than 15 years ago.
The Life Care Center has not slowed in supporting pregnant women in the community (37 women completed the program over the past 15 months and 6 more are enrolled!)
Please pray for this life-saving ministry.
Bob, when able, is happy to provide photo-sessions to help each woman remember this time in their lives. It’s the goal of the LCC to educate women in child-care and parenting and help them physically and emotionally throughout their pregnancy, but also to uphold the beauty of life and how that is ultimately complete when they are in a relationship with God, Who created them and gave them life.
While women usually bring along outfits they feel comfortable wearing, over the years Bob has acquired quite a collection of colorful fabrics which gives each woman additional options. He wasn’t sure how black would look, but it turned out rather sophisticated!
Two weeks ago Bob was surprised to learn that one of the women he was photographing was the daughter of ANOTHER woman he photographed in 2009! Can you tell which of the young siblings she is?
The Next Generation
For three days Bob was asked to speak in morning chapel to students in elementary, middle and high school classes attending Brasov’s International Christian School (Greater Grace). He shared his testimony with them (age-appropriately), as well as lessons he’s learned about making big decisions for the future, starting with “who am I and how do I decide what to do with my life?” While it was well-received in all 3 levels, please pray especially for the somewhat disillusioned and aloof high schoolers, Iris’s peers, that God’s Spirit would grip them and draw them to Himself.
What’s Next?
Now that a year has elapsed since we evacuated from Ukraine, we are faced with re-registration in Romania. Knowing that several Ukrainians have left or plan to leave our community here in the next few months, we’ve been asking the question,
“What does God want us to do now?”
After much prayer and late night talks, we’ve come to the conclusion that God wants us to stay right where we are for the foreseeable future. There are still Ukrainians here and, if the intensity of war increases this summer, we have no doubt there will be others who come. Being in Brasov puts us in a perfect position - far enough away from the fighting, but close enough to receive the displaced and physically deliver much needed aid. As long as we’re able to continue serving, we want to do so.
Looking to buy a used car for Emily
Our middle daughter, Emily, returns from Japan in a couple of weeks and will settle again in Rock Hill, SC for her last year of college. She’s been able to get by without a car up until now, but it’s time she gets one. If you or someone you know is selling a reliable car, would you let us know? Not being in the States, we’re not able to physically check out cars, so a good recommendation would be very helpful for us. Thank you!!
