LOCK HAVEN, Pa., (BRN) – Over the course of two months, a mother and a father escorted their four children and niece across four countries to reach the United States.
Their journey started in Kyiv, Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded and forced them, and millions more, to flee their homeland.
“The day Russia came over the border, they hopped in their car – everyone packed a bag – and drove to Poland.
From Poland, they went to Germany, from Germany they went to Portugal, [from] Portugal they went to Mexico and then they came up through Mexico into America,” shared Rachael Montei, a Lock Haven local and experienced missionary connected to Big Woods Bible Church (BWBC).
For months, Montei, along with other BWBC members – such as Dr. Art Gray, Jillian Best, Pastor Tim Boger and roughly 10 others – have been preparing to host a family of refugees through a partnership with Samaritan’s Purse.
“For some reason I received an email from Samaritan’s Purse with a video of Franklin Graham saying, ‘This is a real opportunity for us to show Christ’s love.’
I thought, yeah, he’s right. That’s great that those churches can do that and then I just went on to something else. Then it just kept coming back to me,” said Dr. Art Gray, BWBC member and former Lock Haven University professor.
Failing to shake the feeling that this was something he and his church should invest in, Gray shared the idea with Montei and his fellow elders at Big Woods.
After much thought and prayer, the church decided to move forward with the initiative and contacted Samaritan’s Purse.
“This is what is so unique about the church, that the church is counter-cultural. The church should function in a way that is different than all of society,” said BWBC Pastor Tim Boger.
“This is the church given an opportunity to do what we should be doing best. All of our mission opportunities have been shut down [and] we’ve not been able to go…[so] the Lord brings them to us.”
Initially, the Big Woods team was told they would be receiving an Afghan family – but then, on the other side of the world, war erupted.
With millions of Ukrainians forced to flee their homeland and seek shelter elsewhere, Samaritan’s Purse found itself seeking homes for displaced Ukrainian refugees.
On April 30, that search brought a Ukrainian family of seven to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. After nonstop travel for two months and passing through four countries, the family was grateful to have a place to call home.
“They are so pleased to be here; they feel very safe. They love their home…[and] the kids are excited they don’t have to share it with another family,” said Montei.
“They’re super excited that they have a place to stay in the country. They’ve never lived in the country before and so they feel very much at peace in Pennsylvania.”
In preparation for the family, Big Woods secured housing, furniture, food and provided a means of transportation to help the family get to appointments, social activities and run necessary errands. The church is also assisting the family in completing the appropriate immigration paperwork.
Currently, the family is here on a two-year visa.
“The paperwork could take anywhere from 3 months to 9 months. They’re in a window that if nothing is provided they have up to three years. They want to stay indefinitely in America and make their life here, but if the government doesn’t give them an avenue to stay, then they have three years to try every avenue available,” explained Montei.
In the hopes of achieving political asylum, the family and the BWBC team are working with Thrive International Programs of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Thrive provides legal assistance for immigrants as well as English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring and other essential services for those new to America in north central and northeastern Pennsylvania.
“They (Thrive) offer a lot of services and they have a price sheet that’s like a tenth of what you pay at a lawyer’s. The nice thing about them is they’re recognized by the government.
But, unfortunately, this (political asylum) is a lengthy and very emotional process, and definitely a last resort. We are praying the government makes an easier way for our new Ukrainian friends to establish citizenship,” expressed Montei.
Despite the challenges, Montei is hopeful that the Ukrainian family will stay in America as they have become dear friends to her, her family and the Big Woods community.
“They feel like family and that’s what we told them – ‘You’re family now. We’re going to take care of you like family’ – and we’re just super happy to integrate them into our lives.
And I think our team feels the same way, as we have been working together to love and invest our time to get to know the Ukrainian family better.”
With the exception of a language barrier, which technology apps such as Google Translate have helped overcome, Montei expressed that the Ukrainian family is otherwise “as American as the rest of us.”
“We laugh a lot at the silly translations our phones come up with. Laughter really is a wonderful way to draw close and enjoy each other’s company. This family is absolutely fun. They are very adventurous and if people do end up meeting them, they’re just going to meet kindred spirits.”
Financially, Samaritan’s Purse has contributed by giving the family a compassion grant; however, those funds will only go so far.
BWBC plans to sustain the family as much as possible, but ultimately the goal is to help the family receive working papers and to find employment for the husband, who worked as a businessman in Ukraine.
“Once they get all their paperwork, then we’ll hopefully find them a job. Thankfully, there are quite a few companies that are willing to hire right now. We are thankful so many employers have shown interest in giving them work, but he can’t work until he has this paperwork done,” clarified Montei.
The family is also starting the process of learning English. Several people from the church and community have stepped forward to provide ESL training.
“We have three people in our church that teach English. So, they’ll be helping them through the summer [to], hopefully, learn English.”
In the meantime, community members are welcome to get involved and help the family get acclimated to Lock Haven.
“Gift cards are a huge help! If they (community members) wanted to give gift cards to the church office for this family that would be a special blessing for them. Right now, I think they’re trying to not have a lot of stuff because they don’t know how long they’re here just yet,” shared Montei.
She also mentioned that gas cards would go a long way and prevent them from taking money out of the family’s compassion grant to pay for the ever-increasing gas prices.
Most recently, the family has started looking for a home to rent in town. This would allow them to be within walking distance of grocery stores, school, church and other essential places.
For the past two weeks, the family has been attending Big Woods and have expressed their established faith in Christ.
So, for her new brothers and sisters in Christ, Montei is asking for prayer as the family starts to settle into a new home and a new community with a plethora of new friends.
“Typically, once the honeymoon period is over, and you’re done being excited, it’s just a lot of hard work trying to figure out how you fit into a different way of life. So, [please pray] just for all of us to be patient and kind as they try to figure out life in America.”
Anyone interested in helping or giving to the Ukrainian family is asked to contact Big Woods Bible Church at info@bigwoods.org.
Churches preparing to host Ukrainian refugees themselves, or those wishing to support Ukrainian refugees, can do so by visiting the BRN’s resource page.
