Christian and Jewish organisations which help Jewish people return to their homeland have been extra busy since February’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.
One Hungarian Christian who responded to the call to help fleeing Ukrainian Jews is Tünde Johanics. With an international team, Tünde, 33, welcomed Jewish people at the Polish border this summer.
Tünde has worked in the UK for the past few years but had developed a love for the Jewish people and a desire to help them. In late June she had just finished a prayer visit to Israel and was poised to visit her family in Hungary when she received a letter from Christian organisation Ebenezer Operation Exodus seeking help at the Ukrainian Polish border.
“It was heartbreaking to see what people were going through because of the war”
Tünde told HEART, “I prayed and the Holy Spirit confirmed I should go,” so she changed her plans and arrived at the Polish town of Przemysl on 15 July.
Jewish refugees
She found herself working with an international team of Christians from all over the world, including Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland and Britain; the nationalities varied as different volunteers came and went.
“Our job was to go to the Ukrainian border to receive the Jewish people and take them to a hotel which Ebenezer provided for them. We provided their accommodation, food and clothing and then took them to Warsaw for their flights to Israel.
As part of the team, Tünde cooked for them – including a full Shabbat meal each Friday night – and went to the train station to connect with other organisations to ‘fish’ for the Jews, as well as helping other Ukrainian refugees.
She added, “It was heartbreaking to see what people were going through because of the war, but for the Jews there is a hope for those who are willing to return to Israel to begin a new life in their homeland. Ebenezer is a great friend of those Jews who make a decision and leave their country, to fulfil God’s purposes for them. It was a privilege to be part of this great work to serve God’s people at such a time as this.”