Last week I was able to drive into Ukraine to an area about 2 1/2 hours from the border.
I had three goals for this trip.
One Year Anniversary
Here is a link to our latest e-mail.
Driving to Ukraine...
Saturday April 16,2022, we had a wonderful day driving a load of aid into Ukraine.
Thank you to all who prayed and got involved in this project.
God is so faithful!
Thanks to you, our incredible supporters!
There were over $4,500 worth of food, clothing, diapers and some much needed medicines delivered in this transport.
We are already making plans for our next trip.
With more than 6.5 million people internally displaced having had to flee from areas of conflict. There is a huge need!
As we drove into the country there is a sadness over the land but there is also a fierce determination to succeed. This aid will be taken further north into the area of Chernobyl to help Christian communities.
Thank you so much for your prayers and for helping the people of Ukraine.
May the Lord Bless You!
6.5 Million People Are Internally Displaced In Ukraine
Almost 6.5 Million People Are Internally Displaced in Ukraine
As a direct result of the war, according to a study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted several weeks ago, almost 6.5 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine.
By now that number may be even higher! Many of those displaced are particularly vulnerable, pregnant and breastfeeding women, elderly persons, those with disabilities, chronic illnesses and people directly affected by violence.
Over 53 per cent of internally displaced people are women. According to the survey, the most pressing needs include medicines, health services and financial resources.
These people are among the nearly 10 million that have been forcibly displaced both in Ukraine and beyond the country’s borders in neighbouring countries.
People displaced within the country’s borders need urgent humanitarian assistance amidst the worsening situation in Ukraine, a cessation of hostilities and the creation of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to escape to safety.
“The scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning,” says IOM Director General António Vitorino.
(This above is an excerpt from a report I have been reading)
A few days ago my wife (Maria) was talking with a local firefighter that had just returned from Ukraine having been a part of an aid convoy. He told her that after what he saw on the ground, he believes the humanitarian situation is much worse than what the news channels are showing. This was quite disheartening because what we are seeing on our news seems to be quite bad.
This reconfirmed to us of the importance of helping to get aid into the country and helping these people where they are. God has positioned us far enough away to observe this but also close enough to act and be able to transport much needed goods into the country.
God has given us a connection that works within Christian communities helping to provide for their needs. Just this morning we were able to send $2,000 to them, enabling them to buy much needed medicines for people living in the area of Irpin and Chernobyl. We now are working to prepare a transport that will be sent within the next few weeks.
There is plenty of food and medicines here for us to purchase. But we are working with limited resources caring also for the needs of the work that we are doing here in Romania!
We are asking for donations from our community here, and they are giving to their ability. Many are helping refugees with no help from the government, while dealing with rising gas, utilities and food prices and cannot do more.
If you are looking to help the Ukrainian people in this crisis that is unfolding before our very eyes, this would be a wonderful opportunity. Every cash donation will enable us to be able to buy these supplies and get them to where they are needed.
We are continuing to help refugees that are in transit to Western European countries and are also looking to have three families of refugees come to stay with us at Casa Ezra for a longer length of time.
Would you please consider helping us? 100% of your donations designated for helping Ukraine will be used for that purpose!
You can either give to help care for refugees or for the purchase of medicines, aid and transport, by writing it on your check or specifying this on the online giving.
Thank you so much for being a part of what God is doing in this area of the world! Please pray that this war will end soon!
May the Lord Bless You!
Daniel H. Hurrelbrink
Executive Director
We would like to mention that the main activity of our ministry is to help people in need, regardless of nation and of our projects that we have been working towards, for the good of the Romanian people are ongoing in parallel with this campaign to help Ukrainians.
For financial contributions:
Please make checks payable to “Barnabas Ministries”.
Attach a note stating for "Ukrainian Refugees" and mail to this address:
Barnabas Ministries Inc.
P.O. Box 23
Emlenton, PA 16373
You can also give online via pay-pal by clicking on the Donate button above.
At the end of the year, you will receive a tax-deductible receipt for your giving!
Stand With Ukraine
Many of you have asked what you can do to help. We are asking this same question as this terrible situation unfolds just north of us in Ukraine.
The First Wave: Passing through to Europe
At the moment, an estimated 1,200,000 Ukrainians are mostly heading into Western Europe where they have family or other connections. This group is "the first wave." Approximately 70% of these people are passing through. They need help with information, food, shelter, and transport. The other 30% are displaced, and border towns are taking them into family homes, hotels and temporary shelters where people are volunteering to help.
The Second Wave: Longterm Housing Needs for 5 Million
The biggest preparation is yet to come. Ukraine has over 44 million citizens. An anticipated "second wave" will be from those who do not have western contacts and are displaced with no safe place to go.
This is the group that we are preparing for the most. Reports on major news media outlets and at the border say there will be 5 MILLION PEOPLE fleeing into Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, and Poland. These will be people who do not have a lot of resources or have had to leave everything behind. Most all ATMs are out of cash in Ukraine and infrastructure is being destroyed daily by the heavy bombardment.
It is our hope and prayer that the Lord of Heaven’s armies will go before the Ukrainian soldiers to drive back the enemy, but we also want to have places prepared
Here’s what we’re doing:
We are opening Casa Ezra to those now in transit and will provide food, housing and transport to whomever comes to us. We have place for up to 15 people maximum.
We are working together with our city’s churches, businesses, and leadership to make ready for families that will most likely be displaced for a while.
The Children’s Camp we already have would be a great place for a group of refugees wanting to stay together in a safe and quiet area. Up to 45 people can stay fairly comfortably. However, we’ll need to invest in a better sewage system, water well, and emergency generator to handle that number of people for a longer period of time. These projects can be completed quickly, and they will continue to be useful in future.
These preparations will cost roughly $13,000. If you would like to help get the Children’s Camp ready for housing longer-term refugees, please note this as you give.
100% of your donations designated for helping Ukrainian refugees through Barnabas Ministries will be used for that purpose!
Please Pray:
First, for Ukraine, that it will stand as a free independent nation.
For the people of Ukraine and Russia, God loves them all!
Second, for us to connect with those the LORD wants us to help in any way possible.
When more is made clear, we will need monthly funds to assist the longer term Ukrainian refugees. When we have counted the cost, we will send out another email asking for your help and provide clear details as to what is needed.
Thank you so much for being a partner in the work that is being done here! Your faithful prayers, generous support and kind encouragement are bringing lasting change.
May the Lord Bless You!
Daniel H. Hurrelbrink
Executive Director
For financial contributions:
Please make checks payable to “Barnabas Ministries”.
Attach a note stating for "Ukrainian Refugees" and mail to this address:
Barnabas Ministries Inc.
P.O. Box 23
Emlenton, PA 16373
You can also give online via pay-pal by clicking on the Donate button below.
At the end of the year, you will receive a tax-deductible receipt for your giving!
July 2019 Newsletter
Greetings once again from Sebis, Romania! We hope that you are enjoying the summer, getting some rest and staying cool!
The last three months for us have been busy and many good things have been accomplished. Earlier in the year someone mentioned that our logo for the ministry seemed to appear outdated so we began to explore options to update it. The old logo has served us well and was created by a close friend, over 26 years ago so it is a bit sad to say goodbye to it, but in this life, change in inevitable… change often is good! Here is the new logo that we have come up with and it will be used from this time forward in our communication.
We have also made a separate logo for our children’s work which we are hoping for it to become very well known in our area as we seek to reach out to the children and teens here.
The last few months we have been distributing the toys that had been collected during the annual toy drive in the States. In total we were able to visit 5 kindergartens with a total of 11 classrooms and to leave behind plenty of toys for the children to play with. When we visit the classrooms we have the freedom, to share the message of the Gospel and we always ask the kids to say a prayer before bringing the boxes of toys inside . It is always a joy to see the kids faces as these boxes are opened. Thank you once again to all who helped with this outreach in any way. Please pray that many of these children will come to know the Lord!
June 2nd is Romania’s national day of adoption and we were once again able to help organize and participate in our county wide outreach to encourage adoptions on this day. Last year we came up with the idea of a balloon launch, with one balloon representing each child that is in the county system being raised without parents. This outreach was very effective in drawing attention to this problem so after last years event, we immediately decided that it was a worthy outreach to repeat this year. This year’s event was much easier to organize and involved more non-profit organizations working together, alongside our county child protection to bring awareness for the need of foster parents.
June is a difficult month for us as school is finishing and there are so many exams that each of the kids have to take. Sometimes it is a real challenge and everyone is always glad to get to the summer break. Ashley has finished her second year of university and is spending the summer months here at home. Jacqueline will now be a senior and is taking extra courses in preparation for medical school. Alexandra has just finished the eight grade, Annabelle and Adrian have finished seventh grade, Anna Maria has finished fifth grade, Claudiu has finished the forth grade and Ioana has finished the second grade. Here in Romania the hardest school years are the fifth grades, eighth grade and the twelfth grade, so this coming year will be a challenge for us as we have four of our kids entering into these grades.
In the month of July we hosted three short-term mission teams all from the same church (Leatherwood Church in Pennsylvania). Their Pastor and two of his children came with the first team and left with the third team after spending 24 days with us and working with Barnabas Ministries. For us the months of July and August are camp season so these teams were able to work with us doing camps and taking care of the camp. Each of the teams were an incredible blessing and much work was accomplished.
Team number one, worked with us doing our annual day camp at Casa Ezra, for the children ages 3-9. In total there were approximately 45-50 children that participated at this camp. One thing interesting to note about this camp is the fact that Maria and I were not involved in it, as we were away in the city each day attending some required counseling courses for Barnabas Ministries. This team worked very hard along with us cutting the grass, cleaning the rooms and getting the camp ready.
Team number two, worked with us to do the camp for ages 9-15, at our camp in Laz. The theme for this camp was, “Faith, Hope and Love” and there were 26 kids that attended this camp. This team also worked with us to take care of the camp, visited some of the needy families that we help and managed to paint a few halls at the camp.
Team number three, worked with us to do a three day camp for young adults, ages 16-22. The theme of this camp was, “The Holy Fire of God”! This team also worked with us to take care of the camp, visited some of the needy families that we help, painted a hall and did a ladies meeting.
In the last week of July, a short-term team of eight from Chapel on the Hill (our sending church in Pennsylvania) arrived to work with us for two weeks. The first week we held a camp for ages 13-22 and the theme of this camp was “Only Jesus”! All of the camps this year were very successful and during the last evening service of each camp, we were able to pray individually for each one of the participants. Some accepted the Lord for the first time and others made new commitments to the Lord. It is always a joy to see the Lord work at these camps. We are very grateful for each person that has come here to help, those that have given financially and those that have prayed to make these camps a success. Thank you!!!
At the moment the project that we are working towards for the afterschool program is being held up due to some structural problems that we must resolve before moving forward. With all of the camps we have not been able to resolve these issues. Please pray that the Lord will send the right person our way to help us to get this project moving as it is very needed!
Thank you so much for your prayers, support, encouragement and friendship!!!
Love,
Dan, Maria, and kids
April 2019 Newsletter
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26
Spring has finally come to Romania and the warmth of the sunshine is nice to feel once again after a rather long and hard winter. The winter has now passed and the trees will soon be in full bloom as we are now celebrating the Easter Season.
May you find great joy, hope and peace in the knowledge that we serve a Savior that is risen!!!
The last few months have been filled with many different projects and activities. The highlights of our weeks tend to be the Saturday afternoon kid’s outreach and the Saturday evening teen outreach. We have been blessed to be able to share the Gospel via this avenue, now for 10 years here in Sebis and it is always a joy to see the parents bringing their children. We have been discussing the life of Jesus at the kid’s outreach and have been really focusing upon “Knowing and Discerning the Will of God”, at the teen outreaches. God is doing a really good work within our teen group and this weekend we had a evangelistic outreach that went incredibly well with 10-15 new teens in attendance.
In a few weeks, 15 of the teens will be attending a national youth conference hosted by the church in which we are a part of in a city 1 ½ hours drive from Sebis. We are looking forward to what God will do in their lives while there. Please pray for the outreaches that we have for the Children and teens of Sebis.
With the arrival of spring comes much work for us at the kid’s camp in the village of Laz. Most of you know that the camp was originally an apple orchard with about 150 trees, which requires quite a bit of upkeep (trimming and treating for insects). With the fruit from this orchard we make 100% natural juice, in which we are able to use for ourselves, we also give to poor families, several children’s homes and sell some of it; investing the profit back into the costs of the camps. Most often right after the trimming is finished; the battle with cutting all of the grass begins and unfortunately continues throughout the summer.
During this time we also plan for and organize our summer camps. This summer our camps will have the theme, “Christmas in July”! We will organize three camps this summer in the month of July and will have approximately 100 kids attending. We are still in need of about 60 sponsors for these camps, which are $50 per child, for a week of a Christian camp experience.
Several other churches that we work with will be having camps at the property in the month of June, right after the school year finishes! We will also be hosting several mission teams that will be helping with the camps and will be doing some much needed renovation/construction projects.
In Romania, Woman’s day is celebrated on March 8th every year. For this special day, we talked with a local restaurant and were able to provide coupons to the children of our kid’s outreach. This coupon enabled the kids to take their Mothers out and enjoy a one-on-one time alone with them. Later in the afternoon we organized an outreach, working together with our church Pastors in which approximately 25 ladies were able to be ministered to and spiritually encouraged during a special service at Casa Ezra. While this was happening, us men provided a good Bible based program for their children as well.
Two weeks ago the boxes of toys collected from the December toy drive arrived at Casa Ezra from America. Since then we have sorted them and now have them boxed and prepared to be given out to our local pre-school, kindergarten, hospitals and poor families. This year our Easter is being celebrated two weeks later than in America, which makes perfect timing for us to distribute the toys and share the story of Jesus’ resurrection.
We will also be visiting many of the poor families that we help throughout the year during the next few weeks. Recently the Lord helped us to buy over $2,000 worth of food for about $500 so we will be able to bless these families even more. Please pray for these outreaches and home visits.
We have started the long difficult process (Phase 1 of 3), of renovating the building that we plan to use for an afterschool. We hope to have this phase done by September and start helping kids from there when school starts in the fall. At the moment this looks to be impossible, but we know that God is able to do the impossible! We still are in need of $10,000 to cover the costs of phase 1 which will allow us to finish the rooms for the afterschool program.
Last week as we were visiting a home, we heard of a situation where a father (Calin) is trying to care for his four children alone because his wife left over a year ago to another country. His youngest daughter is four years old and at the moment he is taking her to work with him every day as he has nobody to help him. He works in construction and it is not a good environment for a child.
The next day we heard of another situation where a 10 year old boy whose mother had passed away about 6 months ago is not doing well in school and is in great danger of being kicked out. There are so many situations like this here in our community and for this reason we feel that it is a worthy cause to invest in this building for an afterschool/daycare center. Please pray that the Lord will bring abundant provision for this project.
Thank you so much for your prayers, support, encouragement and friendship!!!
Love,
Dan, Maria, and kids
