Rotary Club holds special program on relief work in Ukraine

Feb. 3—LENOIR — Finding Hope Ministries is an outreach program started more than 12 years ago in Sibiu, Romania by Nathan and Anca Merrill to provide guidance and aid to orphans and displaced families in Romania.

On Friday, Jan. 27, Dr. Stephen Merrill, Nathan's father, addressed the Rotary Club of Lenoir at First United Methodist Church (309 Church St NW) and shared his and his son's experiences with relief and mission work in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania.

Stephen Merrill is a retired medical doctor who since his retirement last fall has been traveling back and forth to Eastern Europe to assist his son, Nathan, and daughter-in-law Anca in their work with orphans and refugees in the area.

Nathan and Anca Merrill operate four orphanages in Romania and Moldovia through their nonprofit, Finding Hope Ministries.

Since Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, they have expanded the scope of their operation to provide relief and support to the refugees who have fled into Poland and Romania while also making regular trips into the war-torn Ukraine itself.

Merrill began his presentation to the Rotarians by explaining that he has raised his kids in mission work. His daughter, Jessica, was placed in Romania, where she saw firsthand how families were torn apart. Merrill said that she inspired him to begin adopting children. He now has a total of 11 children, six of whom are adopted.

"I don't regret it," he said. "I feel blessed to have the opportunity to do that."

Nathan went to Romania and found Anca, who was an orphan herself. Merrill related how Anca lost her parents and grandmother and eventually ended up in an orphanage, where she tried to kill herself. Ultimately, she became a Christian because of American Christian missionaries visiting the area.

Nathan has been in Romania for the last 15 to 20 years, running the orphanage homes where he takes in children who have been abandoned.

Along with the orphanage homes in Romania, Nathan and his wife are planning to open a number of orphanages in Brazil, as well as a Christian school there.

Merrill said he visited Nathan in Romania a few months after the conflict started.

"Nathan takes supplies up there, medical supplies, non-military items, of course, generators, and more," he said. "He works with pastors in the Kiev area and has funneled a lot of supplies to these pastors in Ukraine. What's interesting is that the people who transport these supplies are church people who put themselves consciously in harm's way to get these supplies out. When I went out there with my son, we went to a church and dropped off these supplies, and they told us four of the church members took supplies into Kiev. The Russians caught them and assassinated all four of them, including two teenagers, and took the supplies for themselves. The people of Ukraine, particularly the church people, are putting themselves in harm's way to get this needed aid into Ukraine."

He showed the Rotarians a slideshow of photos from his visit. One major hallmark of the military conflict is the destruction of high-rise apartments in the cities, which have been bombed and totally devastated. He also described his journey delivering supplies and picking up refugees. Merrill was able to talk with some refugees and give them limited medical treatment.

One family, a farming family in Ukraine, had been farming the land for generations. The grandparents steadfastly refused to leave their ancestral home even after Russia invaded. Merrill said he and his group brought the family food and blankets, and to show their gratitude, the family brought them into their home and served them crackers, salami, and soup.

"Then they came in with their grandchildren and sang some Christian hymns to us," Merrill recalled. "Hymns about their suffering, which was a real tear-jerker for me."

Strongly connected families and brave individuals fighting to protect others inspire Merrill and his son every day.

"If any of you want to go to Romania, Ukraine, or perhaps Brazil, or if you would like to sponsor any of these orphan children, please let me know," said Merrill.

Merrill and his wife have donated their home to Finding Hope Ministries. They live on the county line between Caldwell and Alexander counties.

"Because we've raised all these children, it's about the right size to raise another dozen children," Merrill said. "That will be an orphanage home. We are beginning the upgrades to that as we speak."

Merrill is also an author of mission-oriented and Christian-oriented books, and he donates proceeds from his writing to the ministry.

For more information, visit findinghopeministries.org.