x
Breaking News
More () »

Two North Texas pastors helping Ukrainian refugees in Romania

Pastors Jeff Denton and John Robbins of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship are far from their homes in Wylie, Texas.

DALLAS — Pastors Jeff Denton and John Robbins of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship are far from their Wylie home.

Both North Texas pastors are helping with the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine. Refugees continue to pour into neighboring countries as Russian ground fighting and shelling continues.

Denton was watching the painful pictures on the news like everyone else and immediately reached out to his European church partners.

"This entire trip happened, was planned, and conceived, in less than a week...in about five days," said Denton.

They loaded up six crates of supplies and boarded flights totaling 24 hours and touched down in Romania. On Tuesday, Denton and Robbins were at the Romanian border in a port city called Isaccea.

Refugees come by ferry arrive to tents with hot food, hot drinks and warm welcomes.

"It's women, it's children, it can't be men between the ages of 18 and 60. So it is primarily women and children who are fleeing their own country right now," said Denton.

The pastors tell WFAA that sending over supplies through regular cargo would have taken three to four weeks. They traveled with the six crates and it all arrived within the week. 

Families from their Wylie church, local businesses and even other churches helped donate and loaded up the six crates with medical kits and medicines.

For youth pastor Robbins, the difficult part is seeing children his kids' ages.

"That hits home for me," said Robbins. "We'll get to bring hope, bring smiles, and bring laughter whether through games or activities."

Robbins tells WFAA that he can see the relief on the faces of the families crossing into safety. But with their home country in the throes of war so much, is unknown.

"Many of them are just looking for the next answer. Where do we go? Where do we get help? Can we find a job somewhere?" he said.

The pastors will soon head to Moldova and help at other refugee camps, and they are expected to return to North Texas after a week and a half.

Before You Leave, Check This Out