ERC - Emergency Relief Committee

 You can go straight to the pictures at the bottom if you want to.  If you want more detail and better writing, be sure to read Nancy's email.

This week was a busy one for us.  The war in Ukraine has caused many people to flee from Ukraine into neighboring countries.  Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Maldova are recieving most of the refugees.  The church is partnering up with several reputable NGO's (non government organizations) such as the Red Cross and JRS (Jesuit Refugee Services) and others to help the refugees.  Nancy and I have been keeping inventory of sleeping bags, cots, and tents as the church sends them out from the warehouse in Frankfurt.  Along with that general humanitarian aid for all people, the church is also taking care of displaced members of the church itself.  Nancy and I are on a committee of 6 to help coordinate that effort.  We are the only missionaries on the committee.  It's been a steep, but good learning curve for us.  One of the things we do is to manage an email "hotline".  It's been inspiring to hear about and see the things that people are doing on their own to help.  The world is full of good people who want to help.  If you go to Newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org, there are articles about what is going on here.  This has kept us hopping.  

We were able to go to Celia's (the office secretaries) house on Wednesday night to participate in a self-reliance class.  She is from Spain and was teaching the class in Spanish.  There were 8 people at her house (including us) and more who were participating from Spain on a Zoom call.  There was laughter and tears, but it was inspiring to see how close these people were to each other.  I could tell, that they all enjoyed speaking their native language a lot.

We went to dinner with our WSR team on Tuesday night.  It was actually their Christmas dinner that had been postponed because of COVID.  We were glad they waited for us to get here!  We also had a new couple over for dinner.  They were suffering from jet lag, and we were glad to fix a meal for them.  He is a lawyer and will be an assistant to the Area General Council.

On Friday, we went to the Friedrichsberg Temple, and then to our friends, the Smarts, apartment afterwords for cookies, ice cream, and a long night of talking.  It was great to be back in the temple.

Here are some pictures for you:

Nancy and I at Celia's house.  She is from Spain, but also speaks German and English.  She is the secretary at our office.

Nancy and a friend at the class who she bonded with.

The actual inside of a German house.

More of the class and Celia's house.  There are more students on Zoom on the TV.


Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 6, 2022 at 11:29 AM

    It looks like and sounds like you're have many great experiences and working hard. You are meeting so many great people. Keep up the good work Love hea'ring from you and seeing lall the pictures. You both are looking great and happy. Love you both We had a great snow storm yesterday and today! Thankful! Thinking and praying for the people of both Ukraine and Russia

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