The Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on for weeks. Subcarpathia is now the only secure refuge for the population of Ukraine. Many people, including many Transcarpathians, left the country when the fighting started. Géza Kacsó, the pastor of the Reformed church in Bátyú, stayed with his followers. His wife, Dóra Kacsó, a religious teacher and mother of four, is now a comforter for the refugees, she was asked about the situation by the Reformed newspaper.
Dóra Kacsó said: We woke up to an average day when the war broke out. We didn't watch the news, we didn't know what was happening in the country. As usual, my husband took the two older girls to the Nagydobronyi Reformed High School. The phone rang, my friend said: the war had broken out. Then the call came from the school: let's go quickly to get the girls, because the educational institutions are closing. I had a huge fear and panic, already in the morning I had a hundred calls, lots of messages, requests for advice, goodbyes. We were also touched by the departure of church members. Many people took their passports, jumped into the car and went to the border. Primarily families whose male members fled the conscription and the fighting.
My first reaction was to save the children, he said. The events shocked them too. At the time, no one knew how far the fighting would go. My husband said that we can go, but he is not leaving his church under any circumstances. In addition to staying at home, a Word from the book of Jeremiah helped: "Because only I know what I plan for you - says the Lord -: I plan peace and not destruction, and I give you a hopeful future." We thought that if God promised this, then let's be patient together.
The Kacsó Family/Source: reformatus.hu
At the beginning of the war, we took sandwiches, tea, coffee and sweets to the border crossing with the church members. Several people turned back crying, unable to mentally process what they had seen. Refugees are accommodated in one of the schools in Bátyú: children, mothers, and men who have not yet been drafted but were no longer allowed to cross the border. We provide them with food, we collected toys and clothes for the children, but a kind word also helps a lot. There are people here who believe that they will be able to rebuild their homes after the war, but we also know of someone who cried on the other side of the border and said: they will never come back.
We hope the weapons don't get here. Those who stayed at home trust us, they say: "The reverend will turn off the lights." On the first Sunday of the war, we thought there would be barely ten people at the service, there were about eighty, but last Sunday a little more people came, including some who had not attended before. If God has promised to take care of us, then he will protect us.
Source and full article: reformatus.hu
Featured image: Facebook/illustration
