"My experience in Ukraine reinforced something I learned as a child. What we have is not just our own. We are responsible to God for how we use it," said Randy Gehres, pastor of Christ UCC, Orrville.

Pastor Gehres was one of twenty people who traveled to Eastern Europe in April under the auspices of SARA–Sharing America’s Resources Abroad, the Ohio Conference program that distributes medical supplies, equipment and expertise throughout the world.

Ohio Conference groups travel to Eastern Europe often to observe SARA’s work, deliver supplies, install medical equipment, train medical personnel and present cash donations to individuals and groups.

SARA groups visit hospitals, clinics, orphanages, gypsy settlements and churches in a region plagued with 80% unemployment, bad transportation, a ruined economy, and out of date medical facilities. Witnessing the human results of these conditions is an experience that opens eyes and hearts.

Needed surgery can’t be done

"One doctor told me that he knows of 60 people who need surgery to treat hydrocephalus," said Gehres. The condition is an accumulation of fluid in the brain causing enlargement of the head, mental retardation and eventual death if not treated. The surgery requires a $70 plastic shunt to drain the excess fluid, but it cannot be done. "They don’t have the shunts," said Gehres.

Because of widespread poverty, many children in the region are malnourished. When hospitalized for illness, their recovery is limited because even hospitals cannot feed them nourishing meals. "Things like that are really stark to see," said Dave Schwab, Eastern Ohio Association Minister, another first-timer on the tour.

In one congregation, there is a young man whose body is twisted with severe scoliosis. "SARA will pay for him to travel to Hungary for possible surgery to straighten his spine," said Schwab. "He is currently 4’8" tall. After surgery, doctors estimate that he will stand 10" taller."

Basic supplies unavailable

Donations of medical equipment help, but it is often difficult to find people with the skill to operate or repair the equipment. Even if trained people are available, often "simple" things like soap or aspirin are missing. "The hospitals we visited are staffed with people who are pretty well trained and who want to help, but they have very little to work with," said Pastor Gehres. "We saw a hospital laundry room that looked worse than an old church’s boiler room. Wet diapers, sheets and blankets were draped over clotheslines around the room."

The linens had been washed in one of the laundry’s old, rusted washing machines—without detergent or bleach. There was none.

Dave Schwab added, "There are some clinics and hospitals in modern buildings with trained staff, but they have nothing to work with. A person scheduled for surgery is given a list of things to bring with them—items like scalpels, bandages, medications and sutures. It’s hard for us to imagine."

Pastor Gehres was struck by the contrast to his home community. "Orrville has the resources to make things work together for good. It’s really hard work when the economy is not good, transportation is not good, unemployment is high and the medical system is many years out of date…" he said.

Sense of ‘tangible hopefulness’

Even with overwhelming problems, "the sense of tangible hopefulness was a gift to me," said Gehres. "There wasn’t a lot of resignation. People are hopeful about what could happen, partly because of their own determination and partly because of their connection with us, the Reformed Church in Holland and the church in Germany. We were a conduit of help for them," he said.

The Good Samaritan Orphanage does much more than provide homes for girls without families. It helps the surrounding communities in many different ways, providing food to other orphanages, feeding the gypsies, running a large farm that employs many people. It sponsors cottage industries such as broom making. Soon, a bakery will produce bread that will be given away to those who need it. First UCC in New Philadelphia donated funds to build a greenhouse where food will be grown.

SARA’s help makes a difference

Help in many forms has been given. Churches have been built for several gypsy settlements. Funds to complete another church have been promised by the Pioneer Larger Parish in Monroe County.

Pastor Gehres delivered a $1200 donation from Christ Church, Orrville to the Christian Doctors Association to pay a year’s salary for a doctor who will open a clinic serving a 25-village area. SARA funds purchased a generator for a hospital in Serbia and will fund training in Hungary for two Serbian neurologists.

The group presented cash donations for a clinic’s new scanner, to repair a bus, and to help operate an orphanage. Funds were pledged to renovate an old building for use as a clinic. Donations were left with hospitals, a house orphanage and an alcoholic recovery ministry.

Both Ohio clergy came back from the trip with first-hand evidence of SARA’s vital mission—and of the need for more people to participate. "I have preached about our responsibility to share what God has given us," said Pastor Gehres, "but it becomes very real when I see that $1200 can allow that physician to start a clinic and the good the clinic can do for those 25 villages. It will make me think about how I spend $1,000. You can do some remarkable things with money you’ll never miss."

Not even pills for a headache

Dave Schwab’s family lived through a medical crisis recently when his daughter Julie had a stroke. "She was taken by helicopter to the Cleveland Clinic, helped by a team of seven doctors using the latest equipment, and had surgery so new it had been performed only six times before," said Schwab. "After seeing the conditions in Eastern Europe, I had to wonder why my family should be able to get the help we received when the people in these countries can’t get a Tylenol for a headache," he added. So he is helping to tell SARA’s story.

"I’d like others to go to Ukraine," said Pastor Gehres, "because the vision and the ministry will be enhanced by more people seeing it."