A Place Between Worlds

For many people in eastern Europe, life changed dramatically on February 24th when the Russians invaded Ukraine. OMN global worker, Kirstin Edinger, serves on a church planting team in Tallinn, Estonia, and is one of the relief workers who responded when war broke out in Ukraine. 

Prior to moving to Estonia, Kirstin developed the Convoy of Hope Europe’s response to the initial invasion of eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatist forces in 2014, so this invasion felt far too familiar to her. Since 2014, Kirstin has been working with the Emmanuil Organization and local pastors on agriculture programs to provide food security for families caught in the crossfire. Thanks to support from several OMN church families who have given to the SEED Program (Something to Eat Every Day), new churches have continued to grow amid ongoing conflict. 

Before the 2021 invasion, local partners were working with 48 church plants and over 200 established churches, so when Russia began its attack on February 24th, those pastors and ministries were able to respond in their communities immediately. The home gardens continue to help families and neighborhoods survive as the front-line shifts back and forth across their area, impacting access to food and supplies.

Shortly before the war broke out, AGWM instructed their workers in Ukraine to evacuate. Many evacuated back to the US, but AGWM’s Eurasia Northwest leadership asked Kirstin to travel to Poland and assist the workers that decided to stay. Kirstin began working with Jane Dollar and Dr. Nancy Wespetal, long-time workers who have been serving in Ukraine for over two decades. Together, these three worked to connect refugees to resources, supplied needed food and medical care to multiple pop-up refugee centers, and supported family, friends, and ministry networks across the impacted areas. 

In May, they teamed up with the Spichlerz Foundation, a Polish charity for refugees, to renovate an abandoned electrical company headquarters into refugee housing. They named the building CityHouse. Builders International signed up to help complete this project, and construction teams from all over the US, including a team from Ohio led by Pastor Dale Benyi of Akron First Assembly, came to assist with the enormous task of turning the building into a safe place for families to recover. 

The main level of the refugee center opened in August, and AGWM’s Markus and Helen Wolf (who had previously worked as children’s pastors at the International Church in Kyiv) joined the CityHouse team full-time to work with refugee children. In December, the second level opened for additional refugees. The team is thankful for all the hard work put in to make the expansion possible so that they can continue to minister to the families still in crisis due to this conflict. 

Most of the families in the center are waiting for their refugee visas to process so that they can travel to other countries. The waiting process is between 4-6 weeks, on average. The team has dubbed this season as a “place between worlds.” In this season, through the ministry of our AGWM team and Polish partners, refugees have a safe place to begin to process the trauma of their experiences. Their journey is long and painful as they have lost their homes and belongings, many had to leave family members behind, and they are all now recognizing that they must attempt to start a new life in a country where most of them do not speak the language. At CityHouse, refugees can attend English language classes, Bible studies, cultural education sessions, Lego club, and more. 

In the middle of a massive war response that continues on both sides of the border, CityHouse is a place between worlds where refugees will hopefully encounter the ultimate Savior and Healer!

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Kirstin Edinger

Global Worker, Estonia