An amazing moment this week when Pastor Wayne Kent joined Direct Line’s Greg Taylor and Stephanie Spangler on 1490 WDAN. Pastor Kent hosted the Direct Line program on our sister station WSOY in Decatur for over 20 years, and will soon be retiring from First Christian Church in Decatur. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pastor Kent told his congregation that anyone who wants to help the Ukrainian people could leave funding in an envelop. What happened next was beyond amazing.
AUDIO: And I seriously was thinking, “oh, we might get $1,500, $2,500 dollars.” But the numbers became significantly larger than that very quickly. Other people inside the community, friends from around the country, a fellowship of churches called Deciple Heritage Fellowship; suddenly we were getting thousands of dollars, to the point where it’s now over $120,000.
Soon, Wayne Kent found himself traveling to Poland to view the Ukrainian refugee situation. A county of 38 million has already taken in 2.4 million, and it could be five million by the summer. He learned more about the people, their stories, and how the men and boys they left behind had to stay and fight, with very little training.
AUDIO: I met a young woman, 19 years of age, she and her boyfriend are both law students. They university was shuttered. And she got on a train with her mother. For 18 hours they stood in the aisle of a train, then they stood in line at the Polish border for five hours to get across the border, to get on a bus to get to Warsaw. Her boyfriend, he’s immediately put into the Ukrainian Army. You say, “well don’t you have to go through boot camp?” Boot camp was five hours long.
Kent says some hold on to hope that they can go back someday. Others know there’s nothing to return to.
AUDIO: Two big buses that were jam packed full of food arrived from Holland. They said “We have space to take 80 of you back to Holland, we’ll give you new life.” And no one got on the bus from that camp. You know why? Because they’re moving 12 hours further away from their husbands. They want to go home. But on the other hand some Fins arrived and said “We’ve got space for 13-14 people. We’ll put you on a plane.” And in that case two women said, “Our husbands are dead. We’ll go.”
Pastor Wayne Kent told Direct Line that much of the donated money is going to things like helping churches that have taken in refugees purchase new refrigerators and new washing machines. But most of it he says is going to help all the children that have come into Poland; helping keep them warm and healthy, and even to help them learn Polish.
If you would like to help, please e-mail the First Christian Church of Decatur at FirstDecatur.org.
To hear the entire Direct Line program, please go to: https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/direct-line/
