Only one word can adequately describe the refugees: Desperate! Since Hungary built a fence and closed its borders during this refugee crisis in Europe, over 150,000 refugees have crossed into Croatia. These include families, teenagers, mothers, fathers, and single men fleeing war in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It’s 80-90 degrees in their homes in the Middle East. It’s 30 degrees and raining in Croatia. They show up shivering with no coats, wearing sandals with no socks. They have nothing, but maybe a small pack back. This is the scenario which AGWM personnel, Aaron and Winnie Horvat face as they involve themselves in trying to reach out to these people in need.
Winnie goes and buys a lot of supplies. Just picture her pushing two shopping carts at the same time loaded with 500 cans of tuna, diapers, water, etc. Aaron goes out to the refugee camp twice a week for 8 hour shifts, mostly the graveyard shift. All night refugees keep arriving.
They make hundreds of bag lunches. The other day they made 900 bag lunches. It took about 10 hours. But of course, it only fed 900 of the 5,000 refugees that arrived that day. Cameron, the Horvats’ son, passed out bubbles to the children who were overjoyed.
Aaron and Winnie hear horrible stories: fathers who have lost children in the sea, crossing from Turkey to Greece, a daughter separated from her mother when one got on the train and the other didn't.
Overwhelmed? Certainly! Winnie says “The work we do seems fruitless, removing a drop of rain doesn’t stop the dam from bursting. But we keep this verse in the forefront of our minds all the time, "...whatever you did for ONE of the least of these...you're doing for me." (Matt 25:40). It doesn't say, “whatever you did for 5,000 of the least of these", it says “one”. So, our help may seem to be only the size of a raindrop, but it is at least one.
Only one word can adequately describe the refugees: Desperate! Since Hungary built a fence and closed its borders during this refugee crisis in Europe, over 150,000 refugees have crossed into Croatia. These include families, teenagers, mothers, fathers, and single men fleeing war in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It’s 80-90 degrees in their homes in the Middle East. It’s 30 degrees and raining in Croatia. They show up shivering with no coats, wearing sandals with no socks. They have nothing, but maybe a small pack back.
This is the scenario which AGWM personnel, Aaron and Winnie Horvat face as they involve themselves in trying to reach out to these people in need.
Winnie goes and buys a lot of supplies. Just picture her pushing two shopping carts at the same time loaded with 500 cans of tuna, diapers, water, etc. Aaron goes out to the refugee camp twice a week for 8 hour shifts, mostly the graveyard shift. All night refugees keep arriving.
They make hundreds of bag lunches. The other day they made 900 bag lunches. It took about 10 hours. But of course, it only fed 900 of the 5,000 refugees that arrived that day. Cameron, the Horvats’ son, passed out bubbles to the children who were overjoyed.
Aaron and Winnie hear horrible stories: fathers who have lost children in the sea, crossing from Turkey to Greece, a daughter separated from her mother when one got on the train and the other didn't.
Overwhelmed? Certainly! Winnie says “The work we do seems fruitless, removing a drop of rain doesn’t stop the dam from bursting. But we keep this verse in the forefront of our minds all the time, "...whatever you did for ONE of the least of these...you're doing for me." (Matt 25:40). It doesn't say, “whatever you did for 5,000 of the least of these", it says “one”. So, our help may seem to be only the size of a raindrop, but it is at least one.
