|
"Coincidences" seem to be a common occurrence around Midwest Mission, where the right items seem to show up at the right time in the right way. We call these "coincidences", "God Moments." Moments where it seems God has perfectly orchestrated materials or situations or people in His perfect timing.
We recently experienced a "God Moment" at Midwest Mission within the devastation in Turkey and Syria.
We watched as the earthquakes devastated the two countries, and waited to see if we would be called on to send disaster relief.
When a disaster strikes, we do not automatically begin sending items... we wait for a call from a partner. This is because we never want to cause more chaos in their crisis, and we never want to assume what they need.
After the earthquake, David Fowler, a Springfield Rotarian and Executive Director of Computer Banc, brought to our attention a donation they had received and they wanted to get to Turkey. Baja Bridges, an organization out of California, donated roughly $500,000 worth of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), a totally self-contained complete meal designed for Military use. Rotary knew these meals would be a great solution for those who were in desperate need of food and nutrients, and they knew Midwest Mission would be a great avenue for these meals to go through.
But, at that moment, we didn't have a route to get the meals into Turkey.
About an hour later, Brad Walton, Midwest Mission Operations Manager, called Inna Razmady, North Star Foundation Executive Director, to coordinate the details of their March 16 Ukraine shipment. While talking, she mentioned her and her sister were out in Boston collecting supplies for Turkey. She said her sister Dina married a man from Turkey and they had a contact through the Turkish consulate to get supplies into the country.
Within an hour, Midwest Mission and Springfield Rotary had a way to get the meals into Turkey. Plans were quickly made to get pallets of MREs from Arizona to Midwest Mission.
What. A. God. Moment.
We had the supplies, and we knew where they needed to go, but only God knew how they were going to get there.
Originally, the supplies were going to be flown to Turkey from the O’Hare airport, but as plans continued to develop, there was an even better solution.
We have been working with North Star Foundation to get supplies into Ukraine for about a year. We have sent eight shipments so far. The supplies reach a port in Poland, where they are split up among different humanitarian aid organizations, and distributed to different people - some to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, others to Ukrainians on the front lines of the war. They have a well-functioning distribution center right there in Poland.
So, it was decided that the supplies for Turkey would take a similar route. The container would arrive in Poland, and supplies would be driven from there to Turkey.
This opened up a lot of opportunities - one shipment from Midwest Mission could impact people in Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, and Syria. Instead of just helping one group of people, supplies could be driven to all sorts of people based on the need.
The organizations receiving the shipments are able to distribute supplies as they know is best. We are thankful to be able to contribute.
The first shipment of disaster relief left Midwest Mission on Friday, March 10.
The shipment contained 24,027 MREs
Value: $40,845.90
—
| 
