Tyler natives reflect on month in Poland assisting Ukranian refugees

Published 5:45 am Wednesday, May 11, 2022

An East Texas man who, along with his wife, recently returned from a month in Poland assisting Ukrainian refugees said in spite of the haunting situations and enormity of need, he saw people and churches coming together to help the victims.

Tyler natives Robert and Mindy Watson, who now live in Flint, returned this past month from Chelm, Poland, about 9 miles from the Ukrainian border, where they traveled with the Texas Baptist Men’s relief efforts for refugees.

During their visit, Robert Watson said there were four teams that worked for two weeks each. Part of the team was at Chelm Baptist Church and another part was at a donated warehouse. At the church, he said the volunteers washed clothes, cleaned bathrooms, helped cook some meals and tried to spend time with some of the people fleeing their homeland.

He said he felt like one of the disciples in John 6.

“If we had millions of dollars, it would only be a drop in the bucket of what was needed. What we did have didn’t seem like much as I looked at the task,” he said. “I do not understand how man can be so cruel to our fellow men. We saw hundreds of women with children leaving everything they knew with nothing more than the clothes they had on, going to places they did not know, with people they did not know, and not knowing when or if they would ever come back.”

Robert Watson recently retired from First Baptist Church in Tyler as minister of missions, and the couple had worked with Texas Baptist Men before.

They were first trained for one of the Gulf Coast hurricanes and later to serve on chainsaw teams, Robert Watson said. They recently deployed after the Mount Enterprise tornadoes and to Louisiana for hurricane relief.

Watson said his wife became emotional when they got the call that the war in Ukraine had begun.

“We were sitting on the couch and as I discussed it with Mindy, I could see the tears well up in her eyes,” he said. “We agreed that the need there was great and the job matched our gift set. So, we moved our schedule around and made final plans to go to Poland for a little over a month, not really knowing the full extent of the assignment. But then it is a disaster, so the full extent is never really known until you face the issues first hand.”

Watson said their work began as routine but quickly grew into something powerful and personal. He said he would like for churches in the U.S. to see the kind of unity the couple saw in Poland.

“… Churches from all over the world came together to help,” he said. “People would take a weekend to bring a load of groceries from Germany or France or Latvia. An equestrian club loaded all their horse haulers and drove from England with literally tons of food.”

Watson said although language was an obstacle, the group was able to use modern technology to communicate, which helped with reading labels of food and other necessary information.

Seeing the children most haunted Watson.

“Many of them would come in late at night and be so tired after traveling. It would take them a while to get adjusted to sleeping on mattresses on the floor with other people in the room,” Watson recounted. “I remember one little girl was just sitting glumly at a small table. I walked over and sat down, and I really don’t even remember what we played, but I remember the smile that came on her face. We spoke different languages, but her smile was universal.”

Watson also talked about special gifts he took with him to share with refugees.

“A friend gave me 24 ‘Little Jesus Hearts’ she had made and told me to use them as I thought would be appropriate. I started giving them to women at first and ran out of them in about a week’s time,” he said. “I found some fabric and a sewing machine and made over 150 more Little Jesus Hearts. On Google Translate I translated, ‘We made this little heart for you to remind you Jesus loves you very much, and we are praying for you and your family.’

“Children, mothers and grandmothers would cry and hug me, and I would pray for them as we hugged. It was such a special way to open the line of communication with these dear women and children that had left everything materialistic in their lives and more than likely left behind a husband, a daddy, a grandfather, a brother, or an uncle in Ukraine not knowing if they would ever see them again,” he said.

Watson said the trip was a transformational experience for him.

“There are political issues that divide us. There are deep theological issues that divide us, and on and on. If we let those things affect us to the point of not doing what God has commanded us to do, then we are wrong,” he said. “I do not believe anyone can look on the Ukrainian people like we have and not have compassion and show mercy.

“This experience has certainly increased my prayer life. It has reminded me of so many things that I — we — take for granted. Shelter, safety, family, food, and utilities are a few that come to mind,” he added.